At the stroke of midnight last night many Virginian smokers took their last gasp in their favorite bar or restaurant as the smoking ban came into effect.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s soon to be erstwhile Governor, Timothy M. Kaine, plans a tour today to celebrate the Commonwealth’s still controversial decision to go smoke-free by visiting several venues around the state.
For Virginia, the state built on tobacco, this ban is significant given the history involving English Settler John Rolfe who planted tobacco in Jamestown in 1612. A mere two years later the first shipment headed off to the old country and was sold in London and tobacco went on to become the American colonies’ chief export. Rolfe later went on to marry native American princess Pocahontas.
So tobacco in the Commonwealth carries some 400 years of history.
The Director of the Virginia Department of Health’s division of food and environmental services said “December 1st is an historic day in that we are enacting a smoking ban across the Commonwealth which is a tobacco state.”
So Governor Kaine tours a series of bars and restaurants today to further encourage Virginians to support those venues that are smoke-free. The law is nuanced in that it law states that if there is a separate room with ventilation and a door people are allowed to smoke. This loophole will allow those who feel the need to light up a window of opportunity to have that much hallowed ‘drink and a smoke’ while allowing non-smokers the opportunity to enjoy a meal without a side ordering of second hand smoke.
According to the Governor’s website he kicks off in Charlottesville launching the Smoking Ban with an event at Hamilton’s at First and Main at 11am. This is to ‘recognize the enactment of the Virginia smoking ban and encourage Virginians to go out and support their local smoke-free restaurants and bars’.
Kaine then travels to NoVa to Chadwick’s in Alexandria at 2pm, followed by the Home Team Grill in Richmond at 4pm on 1630 Main Street.'
As the NO SMOKING signs go up around the Commonwealth those who wish to smoke can breathe easy in the knowledge they can go out and have a smoke in certain venues and those who do not wish to be in a smoking environment can breathe easy safe in the knowledge that the overwhelming majority of bars and restaurants they frequent will be smoke-free.
According to the Commonwealth’s “Breath Easy” website the new regulations are in brief as follows:
What are the key provisions of the law?
Effective December 1, 2009, smoking will be prohibited in restaurants that are open to the public with a few exceptions.
What kinds of establishments are exempt from the law?
--Any outdoor area of a restaurant, with or without a roof covering, provided the outdoor area is not enclosed by temporary enclosures.
--Any portion of a restaurant that is constructed in a manner that the area where smoking is permitted is (i) structurally separated from the non-smoking areas of the restaurant and (ii) separately vented to prevent the recirculation of air from the smoking area to the non-smoking area. At least one public entrance must be into an area where smoking is not permitted.
Does the ban prohibit smoking in restaurants operated in private clubs?
No. Private clubs are exempt from the ban.
To what extent will smoking be allowed in outdoor areas?
Smoking can be permitted in outdoor areas of a restaurant provided the outdoor area is not enclosed by any screened wall, roll-up doors or other temporary enclosures. However, if the outdoor area is enclosed, smoking may be permitted if the enclosed smoking area is structurally separate from the non-smoking areas of the restaurant and is vented to prevent recirculation of air from the smoking area into the non-smoking area.
Does the law affect bars and lounges?
Yes. There are no stand alone bars in Virginia. In Virginia to receive an on-premises ABC license from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, the establishment must serve food and be able to show a set percentage of sales attributable to food.
Comments
So, the solution to all these exceptions, provisions, and ABC rules is to get the government out of private property. Governor-elect McDonnell, if he's truly committed to freedom, ought to work to have Smoke-Sensitive Kaine's triumph repealed. And if "second-hand smoke sensitive" citizens don't wish to enter a smoking establishment, they can go elsewhere. The "right" to a smoke-free environment -- anywhere -- is as fictive as the "right" to a welfare or "health care."
How does a person report a restaurant that is not complying with the "Smoke Free" ban that became effective today, 12/01/2009?
Steve Carmichael: Unless your question is improperly put, and you mean no malicious intent, do you really think anyone who is certain that Kaine's seizure of private property to benefit a certain class of individuals is a violation of property rights, is going to help you turn informer? Perhaps you could form a vigilante group to take your own tour of bars and restaurants and turn in violators.
This new law is a job killer. And that's all we need now.
If someone doesn't like the smoke smell in a restaurant, they can go somewhere else. I saw it in the UK over the summer. Plenty of pubs are suffering or have gone out of business because of a similar law that banned smoking inside. Customers don't go to these places anymore because they cannot relax the way they want. A lot of the pub sports have suffered, too.
Gee, I think it will beneficial to peoples' over-all health, + the employees' of these restaurants + bars+ grills. I am a struggling ex-smoker. I couldn't stand tobacco-smoke indoors when I did Smoke!
What about if people smoked Crown7 Electronic cigarettes? There is no tar, carcinogens or nasty smoke, just the pleasure of getting your nicotine fix!
Once again, people's liberty is being stripped, from a pub owner to an individual. It is self-evident that the Democrats of the USA and the Great Commonwealth of Virginia have succumbed to the belief of a "Government Over the People". They fail to comprehend that the USA and the Commonwealth of Virginia was established of a ”Government Of the People." Tim Kaine, you are worthless. Ms. McDermott, an exceptional article!
There is a simple solution to all of this!
If smokers embrace electronic cigarettes, then the issue of smoking bans will be mute. There is no second-hand smoke, no odor, no carcinogens, no CO2, and no mess like ashes, butts, etc. from electronic cigarettes. If smokers of tobacco cigarettes would switch their habit to a non-tobacco electronic cigarette, we would have no further need to further infringe on the personal freedoms of any one group.
If you are smoker, consider it as an option.You won't be inhaling all the chemicals and carcinogens that you currently do from your tobacco cigarette. If you are a non-smoker, learn about the technology, and pass the information on to your friends who are smokers. The electronic cigarette is a win-win in so many ways.
You can learn all about this technology including the contents of electronic cigarette vapor and other information such as scientific studies fully documented at my informational website, www.NoTobacco.net/Blog
Thank yo
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