Bars go smoke-free Oct. 1

Call it another milestone in Montana's colorful history — Sept. 30 is the last day smoking will be allowed in Montana's bars and casinos.

House Bill 643, introduced to the 2005 Legislature by Rep. Tim Dowell, D-Kalispell, gave bars and casinos four years to make the transition. But the bill put limitations on what the holdouts could do.

- If a bar banned smoking on some weekdays, like the Great Northern Bar and Grill tried at the time on Thursdays, under-18 customers could not come into the bar at any time.

-If a bar banned smoking for most of the day, like the Paddle and Axe tried, allowing smoking only after 10 p.m., no under-18 customers could come into the bar at any time.

-But if a bar allowed smoking in an outdoor area — a courtyard or a deck — under-18 customers could come into the rest of the establishment.

The Bulldog Saloon, Great Northern Bar and Paddle and Axe opted to go smoke-free right away so families could continue to come in for dining.

Kathy McGrath said she and Great Northern Bar co-owner Doug Rommerein were concerned about losing customers, but it turned out to be a great decision for everyone — including her smoking customers, she said, who readily adapted.

Banning smoking doesn't necessarily translate into fewer customers, as was proven by Scott McIntosh and Greg Burger when they banned smoking at the Dire Wolf in 1996.

About half a dozen Whitefish bars and casinos held out for the past four years. But the owners accept the big change coming their way.

"I can't wait," said Richard Kramer, owner of Casey's Bar, one of the holdouts on Central Avenue. "No more ash trays, burn holes in my carpet and changing $30 air filters every week."

Kramer said he wished he had an outdoor patio where patrons could smoke.

"Business will be unchanged — maybe more people will dine at the bar," he said. "Hopefully, more people will quit."

Although he looks forward to the ban, Kramer also noted that "I believe our guests and employees should have a choice and not have it mandated by our government."

Robert Marcuvitz, owner of the Palace Bar, another downtown holdout, is also looking forward to the no-smoking ban.

"It should be good for everyone, including the smokers," he said.

Robin Sherwood, owner of Sherwood Sports Bar and Grill, however, had some concerns. Gamblers like to smoke, and he hoped to provide a heated and covered outdoor deck for them. That might involve installing a new door in the casino area, he said.

Health officials organized events to celebrate the law.

"By adopting the Clean Indoor Air Act, the Montana legislature recognized the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air and concluded that the need to breathe clean air takes priority over the desire to smoke," said Leslie Deck, the tobacco-use prevention program coordinator at the Flathead City-County Health Department. "The legislature chose to protect public health, supporting every Montanan's right to breathe smoke-free air."

Deck cited a 2006 report by the U.S. Surgeon General that concluded there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke, and the only way to protect public health is to eliminate exposure.

Tobacco smoke contains at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic and can cause lung cancer, heart disease, stroke and other fatal ailments. Commercial tobacco addiction is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the U.S. and accounts for 1,500 deaths in Montana alone.

The Montana Tavern Association, which would not support a lone legislator this past session who tried to delay the outright ban, does however have a concern about the Clean Indoor Air Act.

In the August 2009 "Tavern Times," Cole Boehler reported that an amendment to the act would allow anyone to anonymously file a smoking-violation complaint against a business, in writing or electronically.

At a July 16 hearing of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Tavern Association representative Mark Staples said the amendment "appears to insinuate that our folks will act punitively to anyone complaining."

He called that an abridgment of due process that supported mere speculation.

"Let's go on as we have," Staples said. "It's working. If we run into problems, we'll deal with them then."