The smoking ban 3 years later- your thoughts/observations

Thank you Robin for letting me post this. I'm planning a trip to Frankfort next week to talk about Smokefree KY and how the smoking ban has affected me personally. I would like to share some feedback from bar and restaurant owners, workers as well as patrons....so that is all of you!

1. How has business been affected?
2. How has the atmosphere changed?
3. Has the client base changed?

Any and all comments are welcome. I don't want this to get into a heated argument, please, I just want to hear honest opinions. Thank you!

Being a patron of many local restaurants I can certainly say that it has made the dining experience much more enjoyable! Even though there were nonsmoking areas in the past you could still smell smoke in the entire business no matter what. Additionally if you have to wait for a table the waiting area and the bar were always very smoky. From my point of view I see no downside to the smoking ban.

Thank you Robin for letting me post this. I'm planning a trip to Frankfort next week to talk about Smokefree KY and how the smoking ban has affected me personally. I would like to share some feedback from bar and restaurant owners, workers as well as patrons....so that is all of you!

1. How has business been affected?
2. How has the atmosphere changed?
3. Has the client base changed?

Any and all comments are welcome. I don't want this to get into a heated argument, please, I just want to hear honest opinions. Thank you!

As a patron, I like it. But it was unnecessary, as NABC has shown. Also, was sitting on the patio at BSB the other night wishing it was smoke free too.

I'll check in as a former smoker that is thrilled to see smoke free dining in Louisville. No lectures or soapbox standing, just happy to be able to dine smoke free.

As a (cough-cough) current smoker, it doesn't bother me at all that that restaurants went smoke free... Just one of those things ya deal with...No big deal.

I love it and have yet to see any bar/restaurant close because of it. What I remember most about the introduction of the ban was it was going to put every bar in Louisville out of business, not so much.

[Robin Garr]

Without stirring up any flames, I'll say that some of my favorite places (like BBC) are even more favorite now that there's no smoking in the building. The bar and entranceway used to be so intensely smoky that I'd come home with tobacco-scented clothes just from passing through it. Sorry, but that's a problem for me.

Without stirring up any flames, I'll say that some of my favorite places (like BBC) are even more favorite now that there's no smoking in the building. The bar and entrance way used to be so intensely smoky that I'd come home with tobacco-scented clothes just from passing through it. Sorry, but that's a problem for me.

The back bar at BBC St. Matthews was considered "non smoking" but the smoke in the rest of the building still got in clothes and skin to the point that a shower was necessary after going home.
I can remember many places like that where the smoke did not seem so bad until later on when the stench was discovered in clothing on the ride home.

However, I think the term smoking "ban" is a bit of a misnomer.

All that is required is take cigarettes outside to be considerate of fellow diners and staff.
The food tastes better and people who want to smoke are not "deprived of their rights."
Just go outside away from the doors where the smoke can blow in and people are free to smoke.
( I understand it is a shame that consideration for others required this legislation!)

Even hospitals and other progressive companies require smokers go to their cars if they want a cig.

(Kudos to NABC for voluntarily asking smokers to go outside on January 3, 2011! I can appreciate this was not an easy decision by Roger Baylor - http://www.newalbanian.com/article917.html)

We've seen no decline in business, but then again, we were smoke free before the ban. Food just tastes better when you can experience it with your sense of smell.

As a patron, I love it. It still takes me aback when we dine in Shelbyville and we are asked "smoking or non."

Here is an old BT point of view. It was a point of service that if a cig appeared, I lit it!! Pouring Chivas with 1 hand and lighting a smoke with the other. Cleaning ashtrays, (1 butt) was also part of the routine in those days. The look on a guys face when I was lighting him up was total appreciation, and "wow", that was fast". It was all part of, "To Insure Perfect Service". Takes something away from the art of tending bar. BTW smoker.

As an ex-smoker for two months so far, The thing that you don't notice as a smoker is just how bad you smell to everyone else that dent smoke.
After going to a bar in Indiana where you can still smoke inside, I now noticed how bad my clothes and hair smell from the smoke.
As far as the ordinance goes, I think that smokers have just gotten used to going outside. I know I did when I was still smoking.

As an occasional-pipe-and-cigar smoker, I don't have a problem with restaurants being smoke-free, and I admit it makes for a more pleasurable dining experience. I'll leave out my political opinions about the proper role of government, but I do think that NABC's example is instructive and shows government action isn't always necessary.

My biggest problem with the smoking ban is that it doesn't allow for any exceptions whatsoever. You can't smoke in tobacco stores, for goodness' sake! That's just unreasonable. Nobody patronizes (or works in) a cigar shop without being OK with smoke. The smoking ban also means you can't have a dedicated cigar bar or lounge like I've enjoyed in other cities--even ones like DC and NYC which also have smoking bans.

I was against the ban, but honestly, since everywhere was made smoke free, it was a level playing field. People are still going to eat out and drink. I would always go outside and smoke if I couldn't wait 1-2 hours between smokes. Going outside really sucks if it is really cold or there is other bad weather.

That being said, I still disagree with the ban. I don't like government telling what private businesses can and can't do down to the smoking or non-smoking level. Of course I am a smoker and I am biased on this matter. I really didn't care so much on the restaurant ban as I do on the ban in bars. My alcohol consumption has taken a real hit in the past 3 years.

I didn't realize how much I appreciated the "ban" until I spent New Year's in Atlanta. New Year's is bad enough without having to spend it in a smokey bar.

The argument that government shouldn't tell private businesses what to do cracks me up to this day. There are food codes. And fire codes. And tax codes. And access codes. And so on and so on. And on and on and on. Why government shouldn't also establish a "smoking code" that is in the best interest of citizens is beyond me.

I actually used the "ban" 3 years ago as a motivation to quit smoking and it worked.
I just figured if I was out in a restaurant or tavern and the person sitting next to me was not lighting up I would not be motivated to do the same and vice versa ( bourbon and tobacco for some reason were just made for each other )
And the obvious at work with no one smoking inside it made it easier also.

When it comes to loss of revenue there has been no signs in the numbers, of course we modified our outside bar to be "smoker friendly" in the winter like almost all of Jefferson Co. did to accommodate the smoking crowd.