It sure didn't work with liquor, did it? heh!
Posted on 02/14/2004 6:00:37 AM PST by SheLion
Two bars in southern Maine have been issued citations alleging that they violated the state's month-old anti-smoking law, a sign that the state plans to aggressively enforce the new health initiative.
Authorities said complaints registered with the Attorney General's Office led to investigations that found McGillicuddy's in Brunswick and Caswell House in Harrison were not in compliance with the law, which went into effect Jan. 1.
Anti-smoking advocates said Thursday that the citations, which could lead to thousands of dollars in fines, show that Maine is committed to a healthier environment for workers as well as bar patrons.
An official at the Attorney General's Office said the state is using local police, county sheriffs, state police and other agencies to enforce the law.
Investigators allege that both bars were violating the smoking ban as of Jan. 16.
Under the law, businesses face fines of $100 a day for allowing smoking and $100 for not posting "no smoking" signs. The total fine for each bar could exceed $5,000.
Officials say the enforcement efforts should put bar owners and smokers on notice: If you puff indoors, you will be caught.
"We hope this says to them they shouldn't do it," said John Archard, coordinator of the tobacco control program for the Attorney General's Office. "There's a compelling public health reason why it's now the law. And it's the job of this office to enforce the law."
Mike Molloy, owner of Caswell House, declined to comment on the citation. An employee at McGillicuddy's said the owner, Joann Gillie, was out of the country.
Enforcement of the new law is coordinated by the Attorney General's Office in conjunction with the state Department of Human Services.
Complaints can be submitted using an 800 number or a form on the Web site of the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine.
Archard's office coordinates with local police agencies to investigate the complaints. In rural areas with no local police, or in certain other cases, inspectors from DHS or the Attorney General's Office will look into complaints.
Archard said the state has received 20 complaints since the law went into effect. He said four or five cases are under active investigation, in addition to the bars named Thursday.
Commander Rick Desjardins of the Brunswick Police Department said police had no difficulty adding the investigation of smoking complaints to the tasks they already perform in random sweeps at local bars.
"Cops are great at multitasking," he said. "We just put it on the shopping list of things we have to do."
Desjardins said uniformed officers made checks at McGillicuddy's on Jan. 23 and Feb. 10. On both occasions, they found no posted signs, and ashtrays provided by the bar, he said.
In January, Maine became just the fifth state to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, joining California, Delaware, Connecticut and New York.
Becky Smith, a spokeswoman for the Maine Coalition on Smoking or Health, said she's not surprised by the complaints the state has seen as a result of the law.
Smith said the group's own polling, conducted before the law went into effect, showed that non-smokers who avoided smoky bars would begin patronizing those places after Jan. 1.
Dick Grotton, president of the Maine Restaurant Association, said restaurant and bar owners simply want a level playing field for smoking regulation.
In 1999, when the state passed its ban on smoking in restaurants, Grotton said many restaurants with bars decided to change their licenses to become lounges, where smoking was still allowed.
Grotton said owners don't want to feel they are at a disadvantage to places where smoking is still legal. Under Maine's law, those places include designated smoking areas in off-track betting parlors, as well as private service clubs such as an Amvets or Elks lodge.
"We can't encourage folks to break the law," Grotton said. "But we certainly understand their feelings as they watch their customer base walk across the street to the local service club."
Violating the new law is a civil offense. Archard, at the Attorney General's Office, said the owners of the bars named Thursday will have a chance to contest the citations in District Court. Continued violation of the law could result in a suspension or revocation of a bar's liquor license, he said.
Staff Writer Justin Ellis can be contacted at 791-6380 or at:
Why doesn't the state of Maine just ban tobacco altogether and be done with it?
It's a legal product and yet, they are forbidding smokers to smoke anywhere!
I think it's a sin for Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine to take power into their own hands to go into a private business and tell them how to run it. This should be left up to the owner and his patrons to allow smoking or not. And NOT the state government.
If Maine doesn't want smoking, then I think the billions of dollars filling the state coffers from the Tobacco Settlement Money should stop right now! Smokers are paying for this personal abuse when they pay taxes on cigarettes, and they are fed up.
We are telling everyone we know that come to Maine for vacations, not to come here anymore. To take their money to a more friendly smoking allowed states.
The Maine lawmakers and the Maine Healthy Partnerships are CHOKING the economy of Maine with the smoking bans.
Thank you!
Darlene
President, Forces Maine
For sure! But with the winters we have here, I don't think many will venture out to their local watering holes if they have to step outside in sub-zero temps to grab a quick cigarette. What fun is there in THAT? I know "I" sure wouldn't do it! Chill brrrrrrr
And have you heard the latest from NYC's Nanny Bloomberg, now he's trying to force some bars and clubs to get a new, additional license to stay open after 1 am. 1 am! Even here in sleepy NJ the bars are open until 2. And you can smoke in them, even.
Yes, but still the Boards of Health have this covered. There can be NO employees working if there are people smoking! So what's a bar owner to do? Wait on everyone himself? And I, too, can remember that bars usually have last call at 1, people ordered "4" more drinks, and then the lights came on at 2. Who is Blooming Idiot trying to fool?!
One fellow on National Review Online said it is becoming clear that Bloomberg is a deep cover mole, sent from Beantown to destroy NY and put Boston on top! LOL, I'm almost ready to believe it.
The only thing wrong with this is: Boston went smoke free as well. Pity. I sure loved Bean Town!!!
Kill 44 million babies - no problem!
Smut everywhere - keep it coming!
Smoke in a bar - no way, Jose!
In other words, ban the lesser sin to cover up the guilt for commiting the greater one.
There you go!
It usually takes a year to realize the loss of revenue when a private business is forced to go smoke-free.
And what these "5" smoke free states do not realize is......smokers who live next to borders ARE crossing over for their rest and relaxation and to spend their money where they are welcome.
Also, since cigarettes are a legal commodity and the state raises the taxes on cigarettes so high, smokers ARE finding cheaper alternatives! And the states aren't getting all that big cash flow into their state coffers anymore.
Actually, I think our lawmakers are getting dumber by the week, and it's becoming harder to trust any of them if their mentality is this low.
I'm VERY suspicious. What with the War on the Smokers, and keeping us busy with this, what ELSE are "they" working on that will stick it to the American public?
Know what I mean? I'm very suspicious.
These smoking bans are nothing more than a back door to prohibition.
The smoking bans cover every workplace and every business, yet it is only those with liquor licenses that face total loss of their business.
This is not about health, it is a loophole way to get around the 21st Amendment.
Gabz! It's still sticking with me about one guy saying: "If it's illegal to drink and drive, then why do bars still have parking lots?"
heh!
That RATS are a filthy bunch. That's for sure!
Hey! No kidding! Don't forget to add that the ones who voted for the ban is choking the economy of Maine!!!!
...yeah, underground. Can anyone say "speakeasies"? The sun and moon may change their course but never human nature -- the more you forcefully deny something the more people will crave it.
Makes a lot of sense! Why DO they still have parking lots?
And this liquor license business is going to be something else. If a bar owner loses THAT, he's finished. I'm just shaking my head here.
It sure didn't work with liquor, did it? heh!
Only one way to beat these guys. Grow your own tobbaco and bring in a couple Dominicans under the new immigration laws to roll cigars.
I plan on doing just that, this year!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.