Smoke out

Welcome to the era of the $25 cigarette. That’s how much a first-offense ticket will cost a smoker found puffing in a Louisiana restaurant beginning Jan. 1. Fines climb from there: $50 for a second offense and $100 for a third. And in a gray area as hazy as a cloud of Marlboro smoke, the restaurant, too, can be fined up to $300 if it does not formally ask the smoker to extinguish the offending cigarette.

The Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act applies to any confined space open to the public except outdoor patios, riverboat casinos and bars that don’t serve food—that is, those not operating with an [R] liquor license.

Dining al fresco may have just become the default smoking section. Caught in the middle is Baton Rouge’s comely staple, the bar-and-grill. Most notably The Chimes, Chelsea’s Café, George’s, Ivar’s Sport Bar, The Pastime Lounge, Sammy’s and Walk-Ons. These will be smoke-free, too.

But will the law be strictly enforced? And if so, will these joints known for a smoker-friendly atmosphere suffer from withdrawals?

“We’re not the smoking police,” says Murphy Painter, Commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. “We’ll certainly enforce the law when there is a complaint, but we’re not planning to do any sweeps of restaurants.”

In November the Louisiana Restaurant Association met to discuss details of the new law. There, Painter assured owners that it was the Louisiana Council for Tobacco-Free Living, and not his office, that pushed for the ban. Frustrated restaurateurs asked him about the chances of a repeal. His prediction was rather sobering.

“There’s really no chance of this kind of law being repealed in the next legislative session,” Painter explains. “If anything, we’ll see an even bigger attempt with laws passed that eliminate smoking in bars and all the other exceptions we have now.”

This certainly has been the case across the country. California pioneered anti-smoking legislation in the 1990s, and since then 20 states have passed laws like Louisiana’s Smoke-Free Air Act. Many, like New York, eventually passed broader bans on smoking in bars just a few years after their restaurants went smoke-free. Ten states have outlawed smoking in bars.

But other than a libertarian free-market argument against legislative intrusion on all fronts, what can be said against the restaurant ban? Most people accept (and appreciate) that the Department of Health and Hospitals regulates how clean a restaurant’s kitchen, food and dishes need to be, so is it that unreasonable for the government to regulate how clean a restaurant’s air should be? That depends on whom you ask.

George’s owner Smokey Bourgeois has thrown his hands up over the issue. The ban has him planning for an additional location soon, one equipped with a large outdoor patio for his smokers to enjoy.

“I just want to congratulate the Louisiana Legislature on bringing California to my front doorstep,” Bourgeois says. “They say second-hand smoke isn’t good for you. Well, living in Louisiana isn’t good for you either.”

Slightly more democratic is Coffee Call owner John Cannatella. Before moving across the Wal-Mart parking lot in January 2004, Coffee Call on College Drive was a haven for those looking for coffee and a cigarette. After a while, Cannatella says the younger smokers kept coming and the older non-smokers stopped. He found that non-smokers spent more money, so with the relocation Cannatella decided to make Coffee Call smoke-free.

“It was the best thing we’ve done—the best business decision I’ve personally ever made,” Cannatella says. “Sales are way up. But I’m not in the enforcement business. I’m against the ban.”

Still, as smokers fear a loss of freedom, owners fear losing business. The issue is sticky, and from state-to-state Big Tobacco and anti-smoking groups each have survey data and statistics to back their position. But what seems to happen is that what patronage a restaurant loses from diehard smokers it picks up from non-smokers who shiver at the first whiff of smoke. True, turnover at tables is often greater as smokers tend to linger longer after meals, but here in Baton Rouge, turning off potential diners who may instead choose a restaurant with an outdoor patio remains a real threat to owners.

Conversely, many local non-smokers—and some smokers too—look forward to eating out and not coming home smelling like an ashtray. Other than an increased focus on outdoor dining where smoking will still be legal, diners could also be in for some creative menu changes. One bar in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., soaks tobacco leaves in vodka and sells the “nicotini” to those in need of a fix.

Whether the new law excites or disgusts Baton Rougeans, this much is clear: In a city that rarely sees sweeping, immediate change, the smoking ban will be a huge issue for diners and owners in 2007. But only time will tell how long stand-alone bars can hold legislators at bay, and if the city’s restaurants have what it takes to quit cold turkey.