Smoking Ban

We are less than a month from  a smoking ban taking effect with our neighbor to the east. July 5, 2010 Wisconsin  will ban smoking in  workplaces,  bars and restaurants.

October 1, 2007 the Minnesota smoking ban went into effect. That was big news. The Freedom to Breath Act was signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty in May of 2007.

There was much concern that the ban would be the downfall of many bars and restaurants. I remember many, many years ago when cigarette advertising was banned from being shown on television. The Marlboro man disappeared from the screen! Tobacco commercials were the top advertisers and there were those who feared this might be the death of television due to the loss of these revenues.

At least now Wisconsin is on a level playing field with Minnesota. Minnesota smokers can no longer justify  crossing  the border to enjoy the pleasure of smoking in a bar or restaurant.

I am a non-smoker so it's easy for me to say this has been a good law. I know several people who used the smoking ban as a reason to quit smoking. I also know of others who have adapted to the ban and you don't hear many complaints from smokers today.

Remember when bars/restaurants had smoking and non-smoking areas?At some establishments that worked and in others it was almost a joke. A table would be "non-smoking" and the next table over smoking was allowed It's not like the smoke was being contained to the smoking area only. The only difference was the smoking table had an ash tray and the non-smoking one did not.
Daniel's Restaurant and Northwoods Lounge were  one of the first in the area to voluntarily go  non-smoking before the ban. I think that actually helped their business when they made that move. Many times people would go there because there was no smoking.

I have also talked to bar owners who have said the smoking ban had no long term effect on business. The move proved to very good for keeping the bar/restaurant cleaner thereafter.
How many of you would want to go back to the "good old days" when smoking was allowed in public places? When traveling to different states it is a slight shock to enter a restaurant and smell cigarette smoke. Clean air is something we now take for granted when entering a public place. Thank you Governor Pawlenty for clearing the air in public establishments like bars and restaurants. That had to be an easy decision compared to cleaning up our economic mess.