Smoking in Utah’s bars and private clubs may be on it’s way out.
Due to a proposed bill, which would amend the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act, smoking in Utah’s bars and private clubs may soon be a thing of the past.
Senate Bill 19, would amend the clean air act that previously excluded private clubs and bars from the original law that banned smoking in public places in 1995. According to the bill, smoking in all social clubs, bars and private clubs would be banned, while hotel rooms and airport smoking areas would remain exempt.
It is an issue of worker’s rights and public health, according to SB 19’s sponsor, Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville.
“None of the employees I know of are in favor of it,” Farrukh Malik, a bartender at the White Owl in Logan, said. “I think all the employees, whether smokers or non-smokers, would rather see it stay a smoking place.”
Malik estimates that almost two-thirds of the patrons smoke. In order to accommodate non-smokers, the White Owl offers a no-smoking area, he said.
“The decision should be left to business owners, but not to city or state officials,” Malik said.
Malik said if people are going outside to smoke, it will likely create a public disturbance with smokers crowding the sidewalks and making noise. This could disturb patrons of nearby businesses, such as the Ellen Eccles Theatre, and it’s possible that police could issue the smokers citations for public intoxication, he said.
“It creates almost a public peace problem,” Malik said. “It will create a whole plethora of other problems.”
According to a recent statewide poll commissioned by the Utah Hospitality Association and conducted by Better Consumer Research, 69 percent of those questioned think smoking should be allowed in private clubs, 79 percent are satisfied with the current restrictions and concerning the question of who should make restrictions, 69 percent think the decision should be left to managers and owners. In another poll conducted in January by The Salt Lake Tribune, three out five people who responded were against the ban.
The bill passed the Utah Senate last year, but was defeated in the Utah House of Representatives.
This year, the Senate approved the bill with a 17-12 vote. It now must go before the house to be voted on for final approval.
In England, a similar bill is seeking approval by the House of Lords, which, if approved, would ban smoking in England’s public places, which include its bars and pubs, by summer 2007.
Several other countries, including Ireland, Norway and New Zealand, ban smoking in all public places and several more are attempting to pass similar laws.
In the United States, 11 states, including California and New York, currently ban smoking in all public places, including bars. Other states, such as Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona are attempting to pass similar bans.
“I’d like it if bars were smoke-free,” said Bill Hugo, a non-smoker, “but I shouldn’t have to go out of my way to associate with my friends who want to smoke.”
Hugo added that he and his non-smoker friends are not bothered by the smoke. However, the thing that really bothers him and the reason he does not support the ban is the lack of representation, he said.
“The people who want to pass it have absolutely no concept – they don’t smoke, don’t go to bars, they are completely out of the loop,” Hugo said. “They are supposedly our representatives, but they don’t represent me, because they don’t know me.”
-jason.givens@usu.edu