Starting as soon as they say "Happy New Year" tonight, revelers in bars and clubs that permitted cigarettes and cigars will have to step outside to welcome 2009 with a smoke.
The few night-life establishments that haven't already banned smoking have to impose it as of midnight Thursday, when the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act becomes fully implemented, pushing the last vestige of unabashed indoor smokers outside.
Utah, which has the lowest per capita tobacco use in the country — barely 10 percent of adults are smokers — is one of the last states to make all indoor public gathering places smoke-free. And as the list of health risks associated with tobacco use just keeps getting longer, public health administrators and state government officials say the ban was long overdue when it was approved.
Not necessarily, said a club owner who petitioned the state Department of Health to review and clarify the law's scope, specifically an apparent loophole regarding cigarettes. Bob Brown, owner of Cheers to You, a private club at 315 S. Main, says Utah can't ban cigarettes because they are excluded from the state's technical definition of a "tobacco product."
However, the statute by intent prohibits tobacco in any form.
Brown said he wants to continue to allow smoking at his club and would like an exception made for cigarettes. Otherwise, he states in the petition, he will lose money due to the ban and the penalties associated with it.
Smokers, and some nonsmokers, have argued that the ban is a perfect example of government going too far into people's personal lives. Bars were the last refuge of cigarette and cigar smokers who have gladly invited nonsmokers who can't tolerate smoke to just stay away.
The problem is smoking isn't just a choice for the smoker, it affects a lot of people around them, said David Neville, a spokesman for the state's decade-long anti-tobacco public awareness campaign — "Just as the Clean Air Act is intended to help improve the public's health, not limit the choices people make."
Concern for the air quality inside a club is fine, and employees probably shouldn't have to spend hours breathing tainted air, said a clerk who refused to be identified at a downtown magazine store. He said saying anything in print or even out loud that isn't lock step with the anti-tobacco campaigns "can make you a target for abuse in a big hurry."
The clerk, who said he is a smoker from way back, said all the scary facts used against smoking "amounts to voodoo." In the process, he said, smokers become second-class citizens or kids see them as "bad" people.
Smokers aren't bad, but they're being a little stupid to open themselves up to the serious health risks in breathing tobacco smoke on a regular basis, said Teri James, who smoked for 30 years and was diagnosed with cancer on Christmas Eve 2002.
"There isn't 100 percent proof that ultra-light menthol cigarettes caused my cancer, but it's pretty likely," James said. "And drawing hundreds of known cancer-causing compounds contained in cigarette smoke into your lungs over and over is certainly not going to promote good health," she said. "It's toxic; it's burning dried plant leaves and paper, and anything burning throws off a lot of elements that are poisonous to humans. Even nicotine, the compound believed to make tobacco addictive, is very poisonous."
There's no safe level of smoke, either firsthand or secondhand, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. As far as the public health is concerned, the ban makes the air healthier for those who don't smoke, for smokers and for people's health in general, Neville said.
"Everybody recognizes that it's probably a good health thing," said state Senate President-elect Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, and sponsor of the bill approved by lawmakers in 2006 creating the ban. "It puts those people who want to commit tobacco suicide on their own."
Implementation of the ban was delayed at request of the taverns and clubs, Waddoups said. "Some people thought it was too much too soon," he said. Now, though, Waddoups said he expects the ban to be well-received, especially by employees tired of being exposed to customers' smoking.
Some private clubs didn't wait for the law's effective date. Club Bambara, located inside downtown's Hotel Monaco, became smoke-free a year ago, Bambara manager Guy Wheelwright said.
"We've quite enjoyed it because of the proximity of our bar to our restaurant," he said. "We had problems with ventilation, and (smoke) would carry over to the dining room."
Wheelwright said there haven't been any complaints about the change. "It definitely has not hurt our business," he said. "I can't attribute an increase to that, but it's definitely more enticing to the majority of people who don't smoke."
Not all private clubs are happy they're going to have to send smokers outside. Dave Morris, owner of Piper Down on State Street, said he was worried about losing business as a result of the smoking ban.
"A large portion of my customers are smokers," Morris said. "All of them are members and paid dues to be member of this private place, and now they can't enjoy a cigar or a cigarette."
But there's always the chance new customers will turn up, he said. "I'm hopeful there's a lot of people who have stayed away from smoky bars in Utah."
The Utah Hospitality Association didn't take a position on the smoking ban because members were split, said Lisa Marcy McGarry, legal counsel for the group. "I personally said, 'Yippee!' But others said it was going to kill their business."
Under the act, tavern owners are expected to tell patrons to put out their cigarettes or smoke outside. If a customer refuses then local police or health officials can be called. Bar owners who allow smoking inside could be fined up to $5,000.
E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com, lisa@desnews.com