Restaurants, taverns prepare for smoking ban

On May 1, Michigan will become the nation's 38th state to enforce a smoking ban in public places. For some, Ann Arbor band Brownsville Station's 1973 anthem may come to mind: "Smokin' in the Boys Room."

Some metro Detroit restaurant and bar owners who enacted the ban ahead of time say a few full-fledged adults have performed similar hideaway maneuvers to the adolescents in the song.

Most are heading outdoors, but Nick Piunti of Sibley Gardens, 916 W. Jefferson Ave. in Trenton, is among establishment owners who have discovered a patron smoking in the men's room. Piunti opted not to make a fuss, at least for now.

"This wasn't an ambassador from another country or anything like that, so no big problem," Piunti says with a chuckle. "Hopefully, by May 1, people will realize they shouldn't do that."

One of the final states to act

After years of debate, the Michigan Smoke-Free Air Law won the Legislature's approval and Gov. Jennifer Granholm's signature last December.

Some provisions are clear-cut. As of May 1, residents may smoke tobacco products indoors only in their homes or apartments, in their personal motor vehicles, in one-person business offices, in tobacco specialty stores, in cigar bars, or on casino floors. Restaurants and taverns are getting the most smoking ban attention, but public places from concert halls to bowling centers also are included.

Other provisions aren't so clear, and authorities must tighten them by May 1, acknowledges James McCurtis, a Michigan Department of Community Health spokesman. For example, the law doesn't precisely state how many feet from a door an outdoor smoker must move. More important, the statute doesn't say exactly what an owner such as Piunti should do if a problem patron continues to smoke in the bathroom.

Steps outlined in a Community Health "frequently asked questions" Web location direct owners to put up no-smoking signs, remove ashtrays, politely inform someone who lights up that he is violating state law, and refuse service if the patron persists. Final steps are to ask the person to leave and record any incidents.

Owners don't know if they're supposed to call the state health department, the local health department or the police, says Andy Deloney, spokesman for the Lansing-based Michigan Restaurant Association, which opposed the new law. They also fear that they could be subject to fines of $100 for a first violation or $500 for repeated violations, in essence taking blame for a customer's misconduct.

"There remain tons of questions, and May 1 is approaching fast," Deloney says. "Our members want to be in compliance with the law, to know what is required of them so that they can follow the law, but we are not hearing one clear voice (from state government)."

Smoke-free was already trendy

Of Michigan's 16,000-plus restaurants, more than 6,000 are smoke-free, says Delaney, nearly triple the count in 1998. He asserts that the smoke-free number would have continued to rise by hundreds per year without the new law, but now another level of regulation is added.

Back in 1990, Detroit's Traffic Jam & Snug at 511 W. Canfield St. made the smoke-free transition.

"We were ahead of the trend, and our clientele supported the decision overwhelming," says owner Carolyn Howard. "I can't speak for other places, but at this restaurant, it's never been an issue."

Cook Antwon Williams at Parks Old Style Bar-B-Q, 7444 Beaubien St. in Detroit, had not been aware of the statewide smoking ban in public places.

"Nobody ever smokes here anyway, so it's not going to affect us at all," Williams says.

Specific groups that still are protesting include Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion organizations, and hookah bars where patrons inhale from water pipes.

Delaney notes that on the flip side, many restaurant owners - including some of the Michigan Restaurant Association's 4,500 members - supported the legislation. They had desired to go smoke-free, and state action allows them to do so without facing wrath from customers who smoke.

Smoke-free sections didn't work well

At Sibley Gardens, Piunti estimates that 95 percent of customers are pleased with the change to no smoking. He previously had divided the 160-seat restaurant, leaving about two-thirds non-smoking, but he says the smoke still spread.

"We have low ceilings, and so there wasn't a lot of room for the smoke to go," he says. "One person could light a cigarette, and you could tell throughout the whole restaurant."

Smoking patrons now will have to head outside. He recalls one table which the people departed "six or seven times" to go outdoors for cigarettes, and then returned.

Piunti also had one customer who was bolder than the gentleman who smoked in the bathroom.

"She lit up a cigar at the bar, just to test me," he says, "but she's about 80 years old, and she will do things like that. I just asked her, 'Come on, put the cigar out,' and she did."

Sources:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch/FAQMISmokeFreeFINAL_314723_7.pdf

http://www.freep.com/article/20100401/NEWS06/4010450/Michigan-eateries-snuff-out-smoking-before-ban

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20100405/BIZ/4050319/1040/Cloud-of-confusion-envelops-Michigan-smoking-ban