List of State smoking bans in the United States with map - Kind of interesting

[astro]

List of smoking bans in the United States

Amsuingly North Carolina has a ban on smoking bans.

There are no smoking bans at the state level in North Carolina. A state law passed in 1993 expressly prohibits any smoking restrictions to be passed by any form of local government (counties, cities, towns, etc.)

[nikonikosuru]

Originally Posted by astro

List of smoking bans in the United States

I wish it was banned in Michigan. I get tired of smelling like an ashtray whenever I go out to eat. It's one of the things that makes me look forward to moving to California.

[astro]

Originally Posted by nikonikosuru

I wish it was banned in Michigan. I get tired of smelling like an ashtray whenever I go out to eat. It's one of the things that makes me look forward to moving to California.

We had our statewide ban happen earlier this year. It is great to be able to go out to any bar, club or restaurant in MD without ending up smelling like an ashtray at the end of the evening.

[AuntiePam]

The Iowa ban goes into effect on July 1. I'm a smoker, but I rarely go out to eat or drink, and I have no problem not smoking for a few hours.

What's interesting about the Iowa ban is that the only two exemptions are casinos and the Veterans Home in Marshalltown. I guess gamblers and old soldiers have some influence.

[The Them]

If it's your place, you don't want smoking? Fair. It's YOUR place. Elsewhere FUCK OFF.
Does it not occur to you ever-so-healthy-and-pure-[s]shitheads[/s]-puritans that there may be more to these laws than the well-being of people shoved outside to feed their monkey? Think control. The Prohibitionists and Drug Warriors claim to be doing good too.

To paraphrase Sam Kinnison: Give us back our heroin, we'll give you back your tobacco.

[Otto]

It's been banned in restaurants in Madison for at least as long as I've lived here. I remember visiting my parents after they moved to Iowa and being shocked at seeing (and smelling) someone smoking when we went out to dinner. Now it's banned in bars, for which I am quite thankful, but oh the bitching from bar owners about it when it went through, all terrified that they were going to go out of business (IIRC something like two did). There was talk of a statewide ban in the last legislative session but it didn't make it through because of the bar owners demanding an extended phase-in time.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by The Them

If it's your place, you don't want smoking? Fair. It's YOUR place. Elsewhere FUCK OFF.
Does it not occur to you ever-so-healthy-and-pure-[s]shitheads[/s]-puritans that there may be more to these laws than the well-being of people shoved outside to feed their monkey? Think control. The Prohibitionists and Drug Warriors claim to be doing good too.

I for one welcome our tobacco-snatching overlords.

[racer72]

Originally Posted by The Them

If it's your place, you don't want smoking? Fair. It's YOUR place. Elsewhere FUCK OFF.
Does it not occur to you ever-so-healthy-and-pure-[s]shitheads[/s]-puritans that there may be more to these laws than the well-being of people shoved outside to feed their monkey? Think control. The Prohibitionists and Drug Warriors claim to be doing good too.

To paraphrase Sam Kinnison: Give us back our heroin, we'll give you back your tobacco.

As a fair reply, take your cigarette butts and shove them up your ass. I consider the air that I breathe to be my place and I don't want anybody poluting it so they can slowly kill themselves. That includes anyplace open to the general public. My state has the strictest anti-smoking laws in the US and I don't think they are strict enough. Personally I won't be happy till the use of any and all tobacco products are outlawed.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by The Them

If it's your place, you don't want smoking? Fair. It's YOUR place. Elsewhere FUCK OFF.

Originally Posted by racer72

As a fair reply, take your cigarette butts and shove them up your ass.

This is NOT appropriate in MPSIMS or anywhere outside the Pit. Stop it now.

[Ephemera]

When did you become a moderator, Marley?

[Chefguy]

While Alaska doesn't have a statewide ban (fat chance!), at least Anchorage has a city-wide ban. It's wonderful.

[nikonikosuru]

Originally Posted by The Them

If it's your place, you don't want smoking? Fair. It's YOUR place. Elsewhere FUCK OFF.
Does it not occur to you ever-so-healthy-and-pure-[s]shitheads[/s]-puritans that there may be more to these laws than the well-being of people shoved outside to feed their monkey? Think control. The Prohibitionists and Drug Warriors claim to be doing good too.

Wow. Sounds like somebody needs their cigarette.

Originally Posted by Otto

I for one welcome our tobacco-snatching overlords.

I like you. I like the cut of your jib.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by Aesiron

When did you become a moderator, Marley?

About a month ago. Kneel before Zod!

[beanpod]

A semi-hijacking question: What's wrong with allowing "smoking" licenses to certain businesses, like liquor licenses? They'd have to advertise it outside and all that jazz.

There'd be a tax and some overhead they'd have to go through, so it would discourage the average family restaurant from allowing smoking, but businesses that want to cater to smokers could. That way us non-smokers could happily avoid smoking places, but smokers would still have plenty of places they could go to. Without the license, smoking would be prohibited. Then maybe with all this good will floating around, smokers might be a little bit less touchy when visiting non-smoking places, too.

[LurkMeister]

North Carolina may have a state law against smoking restrictions by local government, but there are apparently a lot of voluntary non-smoking areas. Just about all the restaurants I go to are non-smoking, much of the UNC campus is non-smoking as of last year (even outside the buildings).

I do like beanpod's idea, though. I have no problem with people who want to smoke, as long as I have the option of not inhaling the by-products of their habit.

[nashiitashii]

Originally Posted by astro

Amsuingly North Carolina has a ban on smoking bans.

In contrast, Washington State's ban is the strictest in the country and even goes as far as banning smoking in cigar bars. That's a bit strange; what do people do in cigar bars in WA, then?

Personally, I don't think it's necessary to be able to smoke in restaurants, shops that aren't purveyors of tobacco and offices. Though smoking is a very addictive habit, it can and should be something that isn't forced on everyone else who doesn't smoke, and allowing people to smoke in all public places forces a lot of us to have to deal with smokers who force the ill effects of their habits on us when we don't smoke.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Originally Posted by nashiitashii

In contrast, Washington State's ban is the strictest in the country and even goes as far as banning smoking in cigar bars. That's a bit strange; what do people do in cigar bars in WA, then?

Drool, longingly and cry in their scotch? Seriously, are there any actual cigar bars (not tobacco shops, but actual bars) left in WA? It seems kind of pointless and cruel.

I've grown used to the smoking ban. I don't go out much anyway and when I do and want to smoke, I step outside. But I just don't get removal of butt cans and built into trashcans ashtrays outside the buildings. Now, I have no place to get rid of my butt, except throw it in the trash can. (I do try to roll out the spent tobacco though, but not everyone does.) And I have noticed a lot more cigarette butt litter outside establishments since the ban took effect. Just give us some butt cans back, please?

[amarinth]

Originally Posted by nashiitashii

In contrast, Washington State's ban is the strictest in the country and even goes as far as banning smoking in cigar bars. That's a bit strange; what do people do in cigar bars in WA, then?

The one I knew of closed.

In my last workplace, there was a sad, little, open sided tent all the way across the parking lot so that the smokers could have something to stand under when they needed a nicotine hit in the Seattle mist & rain. If having to trudge out there and get rained on (not to mention the price of cigarettes) wasn't a deterrent...well, it was easy to see how hard it must be to quit smoking.

I just can't imagine being able to smoke inside an office building. That's just insane. And apparently, good percentage of the country can.

[picunurse]

We have the most restrictive smoking ban yet. Before it went into effect there was a lot of woe is me by bar owners. Since it was inacted there has been little or no change in the number of people in bars and restuarants. Compliance has been very good. There's one seedy bar we go to for breakfast that still allows smoking, under the table... literally.

[neutron star]

Originally Posted by beanpod

A semi-hijacking question: What's wrong with allowing "smoking" licenses to certain businesses, like liquor licenses? They'd have to advertise it outside and all that jazz.

Because that's a rational idea, but the people who push smoking bans sound like this:

Originally Posted by racer72

I consider the air that I breathe to be my place and I don't want anybody poluting it so they can slowly kill themselves. That includes anyplace open to the general public. My state has the strictest anti-smoking laws in the US and I don't think they are strict enough. Personally I won't be happy till the use of any and all tobacco products are outlawed.

Originally Posted by amarinth

I just can't imagine being able to smoke inside an office building. That's just insane. And apparently, good percentage of the country can.

There's a smoking room where I work, and it's a state building! The one thing I actually don't agree with, though, is that the vending machines are in the smoking room, so if you want a snack you've got to smell my cigarette smoke.

You know, looking at the linked map, Pennsylvania is starting to look a little lonely up there...

[Harmonious Discord]

I love going to eat in Madison and the malls. I stay away from some of the Dells restaurants, because of the horrid smoke filled rooms. In a number of towns I've seen restaurants go from smoking to non-smoking because of the loss of business. You'd go in and there were long waits in line. The smoking section might have 25% occupied at the most. They made a monetary judgment to go 100% non-smoking. they still fill up so you have to wait, but they now use 100% of their seating, during the peak meal times.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Originally Posted by picunurse

We have the most restrictive smoking ban yet. Before it went into effect there was a lot of woe is me by bar owners. Since it was inacted there has been little or no change in the number of people in bars and restuarants. Compliance has been very good. There's one seedy bar we go to for breakfast that still allows smoking, under the table... literally.

You go to a seedy bar for breakfast?

I've had Bloody Mary's for breakfast after a late night out clubbing, but I didn't really call it breakfast.

[amarinth]

Originally Posted by neutron star

There's a smoking room where I work, and it's a state building! The one thing I actually don't agree with, though, is that the vending machines are in the smoking room, so if you want a snack you've got to smell my cigarette smoke.

When smoking was allowed in bars, on the rare occasion I went to bars, I'd come home with my hair full of smoke and my clothes full of smoke. It was unpleasant - but hey, I could avoid it by just not going.

But at work...I can't avoid work. So having to come home every day and wash out all of my clothing or have everything dry cleaned after every time you wear it (which becomes a bit expensive and wasteful) and having to wash my hair every day (which will not be good for my hair. Or my mood). That would be really annoying. And I'm not even one of the people who gets sick from smoke. Thinking that it's totally ok to smoke in the office...that's very different.

[Spectre of Pithecanthropus]

I was surprised to see from the link that some places apparently ban smoking in bars, but not restaurants. That makes no kind of sense to me at all.

[Cisco]

Originally Posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus

I was surprised to see from the link that some places apparently ban smoking in bars, but not restaurants. That makes no kind of sense to me at all.

No, that would be blue. There aren't any blue states on that map.

I grew up in NC, and when I was a kid you could smoke EVERYWHERE. Teachers smoked in the teacher's lounge with the door open (it was right next to the office), people smoked in the grocery store while shopping. Even in high school (mid/late-90s) I smoked inside gas stations. I'm glad it's not like that anymore, but some of the bans are getting a little ridiculous in the other direction. I wasn't even aware of the ban here until more than a year after it took effect, because I don't smoke anymore, but someone was telling me it's illegal to smoke within 150 feet of any entrance to any building, or somesuch pish posh. That's absurd.

[Amblydoper]

A bit off topic, but why do so many smokers get so defensive about their right to smoke, then complain about how hard is it to quit, and how horrible it is to puff in the cold and rain? Do cigarettes cause lung cancer AND hypocrisy?

*not referring to anyone in this thread*

[Rick]

Originally Posted by beanpod

A semi-hijacking question: What's wrong with allowing "smoking" licenses to certain businesses, like liquor licenses? They'd have to advertise it outside and all that jazz.

There'd be a tax and some overhead they'd have to go through, so it would discourage the average family restaurant from allowing smoking, but businesses that want to cater to smokers could. That way us non-smokers could happily avoid smoking places, but smokers would still have plenty of places they could go to. Without the license, smoking would be prohibited. Then maybe with all this good will floating around, smokers might be a little bit less touchy when visiting non-smoking places, too.

Wouldn't fly in California. the smoking ban in restaurants/bars was enacted as a workplace safety measure due to increased lung cancer deaths among restaurant and bar workers.
Cal OSHA would make such an idea an non-starter.

[VarlosZ]

"I can't stand cigarette smoke, but no one seems to care down at the Drink & Smoke & Drink & Smoke Tavern." -- Tom Epstein

Seriously though, just on principle I'm not a fan of smoking bans applying to private businesses, but I can see where the other side is coming from on that issue.


This type of attitude, on the other hand, drives me up a damn wall:

Personally I won't be happy till the use of any and all tobacco products are outlawed.

Ew, ew, ewww. I want to buy a cigar, and that guy wants to sell me one. You don't get a say in the matter, and if you insist on obtaining one then you forfeit the right to complain when I start crossing items off of your shopping list.

[Noone Special]

Originally Posted by The Them

If it's your place, you don't want smoking? Fair. It's YOUR place. Elsewhere FUCK OFF.
Does it not occur to you ever-so-healthy-and-pure-[s]shitheads[/s]-puritans that there may be more to these laws than the well-being of people shoved outside to feed their monkey? Think control. The Prohibitionists and Drug Warriors claim to be doing good too.

So I gather that you won't mind me scattering some asbestos fibers in your general direction while you're smoking in my presence?

Passive Smoking (in closed quarters) is detrimental to health. It makes sense to me that laws can and should regulate one's activities that impact negatively on uninvolved bystanders, and smoking in closed areas is such a case.

[Tamex]

Originally Posted by neutron star

There's a smoking room where I work, and it's a state building! The one thing I actually don't agree with, though, is that the vending machines are in the smoking room, so if you want a snack you've got to smell my cigarette smoke.

You know, looking at the linked map, Pennsylvania is starting to look a little lonely up there...

I went to a wedding in PA in 2001. The cigarette smoke in the lobby of the place where they had the reception was horrendous. I was definitely not used to it--smoking had already long been banned in most indoor places except bars and restaurants in MN at that time (from that link, looks like it's been since 1975!) Nobody went outside to smoke because it was raining and, of course, they didn't have to. Really turned me off and I was glad to get back home. I don't think I'd get used to smoky bars and restaurants in places that still have those, either.

[jjimm]

I am a smoker but I support the bans. It's not about the patrons, it's about the staff. Patrons can vote with their feet; staff not so much. People who work in catering and hospitality are often the lowest paid and most vulnerable members of society, with less chance for them to move jobs, and the chance for coercion into an unhealthy working environment is great. They shouldn't have to breathe it in.

Sure it sucks on a personal basis to have to go outside, but if I have the chance to smoke in bars or restaurants (like whenever I go to Asia) I do, and I love it. Someone needs to protect the workers from my selfishness.

[Sticks and Scones]

Originally Posted by Cisco

I wasn't even aware of the ban here until more than a year after it took effect, because I don't smoke anymore, but someone was telling me it's illegal to smoke within 150 feet of any entrance to any building, or somesuch pish posh. That's absurd.

But this part makes sense to me. There's nothing like leaving a non-smoking business and having to 'run the gauntlet' of smokers by the entrance. Yes, it may only be for a few brisk seconds, but tell that to my hair which is fairly long and thick and will grab the scent of cigarette smoke seemingly instantly.

[Boozahol Squid, P.I.]

Originally Posted by LurkMeister

North Carolina may have a state law against smoking restrictions by local government, but there are apparently a lot of voluntary non-smoking areas. Just about all the restaurants I go to are non-smoking, much of the UNC campus is non-smoking as of last year (even outside the buildings).

I do like beanpod's idea, though. I have no problem with people who want to smoke, as long as I have the option of not inhaling the by-products of their habit.

It is a little bit telling that a bar opened up in Durham in a place where three or four drinking holes had failed. This bar wasn't particularly different from any of the bars before it, other than the proprietor made it a non-smoking bar. It's been hugely successful here for pretty much no reason other than that. Even as an occasional smoker, I enjoy going out to a bar where I don't come home smelling like an ashtray.

It's a wonderful option. And there's great reasons to ban smoking in public buildings and hospitals. I wouldn't go to eat in a restaurant that didn't have a non-smoking section where I couldn't smell cigarette smoke.

But banning smoking? Where the hell do people get the idea that the few venues that do allow smoking are the only source of jobs for people? And more importantly, where do they get the idea that it's a good idea to give the government the power to regulate the consumption of a legal item on private property?

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Originally Posted by CoG888

A bit off topic, but why do so many smokers get so defensive about their right to smoke, then complain about how hard is it to quit, and how horrible it is to puff in the cold and rain? Do cigarettes cause lung cancer AND hypocrisy?

*not referring to anyone in this thread*

Why do drivers complain about traffic and yet continue to drive in it?

Smokers don't want other people, more specifically governments, telling them what to do with regard to smoking. They want control over whether they smoke or not.

[Sigmagirl]

There's nothing like leaving a non-smoking business and having to 'run the gauntlet' of smokers by the entrance. Yes, it may only be for a few brisk seconds

I'm with Always Brings Pie. I shouldn't have to go through a cloud of poison gas to get from my office to my car.

[Otto]

There was a report on the radio this morning that mentioned one of the more vociferous opponents of the recently-enacted smoking ban in Fitchburg (next door to Madison). She feared that she would lose all of her business if the ban were enacted. Instead, she's seeing increased profits from food sales.

[pbbth]

If other people smoking didn't effect me at all I wouldn't care what they did. I don't mind people drinking or chewing tobacco around me. I don't do either of those things and I think that chewing tobacco is gross but they aren't forcing me to do it so I couldn't care less. Smokers, however, are forcing me to inhale all the toxins and carcinogens in their cigarettes if I am with them in an enclosed space. I don't mind you stepping outside for a smoke if you step away from the front door a few feet. 150 feet is a bit much, but stepping back to provide 3 feet of space on either side of the door prevents the smoke from wafting back inside when the door opens and stops people from feeling like they are "running the gauntlet" to get in and out.

[Cisco]

Originally Posted by Always Brings Pie

But this part makes sense to me. There's nothing like leaving a non-smoking business and having to 'run the gauntlet' of smokers by the entrance. Yes, it may only be for a few brisk seconds, but tell that to my hair which is fairly long and thick and will grab the scent of cigarette smoke seemingly instantly.

Find me a spot that is 150 feet from any building entrance in a city of 4 million. It's like Dennis Leary said: eventually people will only be able to smoke in their bedroom, under the covers, with the lights off.

[beanpod]

Originally Posted by Rick

Wouldn't fly in California. the smoking ban in restaurants/bars was enacted as a workplace safety measure due to increased lung cancer deaths among restaurant and bar workers.
Cal OSHA would make such an idea an non-starter.

Very good point that I didn't think of. I depise cigarette smoke and in general I'm for smoking bans, (My parents smoke and I grew up around it--and their denials that it was harmful or even smelled bad. riiiight.) but stilll...I can't help but try to think of it from the other side here. We allow all kinds of other vices to have their place in public society. But smoking is kind of in a class by itself. Even all employees being smokers wouldn't work, because they're still exposed to very high levels of smoke, plus if they quit they'd have to find another job...say it's a very small business? What if the owner is the only worker there and they don't care? Guess not.

Also, re: entrances. I don't want to walk through a cloud of smoke when I'm leaving a business any more than I want to step in some drunk's vomit. I can definitely see banning smoking in certain public places like banning public drinking in certain places. But then you've got to take into account all the other disgusting and/or potentially harmful things people do in public that aren't against the law...

I'm torn. On one hand, I can see the reasoning behind searching for a compromise, but on the other hand I think "Ew, go away!"

I guess that's a very long post to say what pbbth said:

If other people smoking didn't effect me at all I wouldn't care what they did.

[iamthewalrus(:3=]

Originally Posted by beanpod

A semi-hijacking question: What's wrong with allowing "smoking" licenses to certain businesses, like liquor licenses? They'd have to advertise it outside and all that jazz.

There'd be a tax and some overhead they'd have to go through, so it would discourage the average family restaurant from allowing smoking, but businesses that want to cater to smokers could. That way us non-smokers could happily avoid smoking places, but smokers would still have plenty of places they could go to. Without the license, smoking would be prohibited. Then maybe with all this good will floating around, smokers might be a little bit less touchy when visiting non-smoking places, too.

Personally, I hate the idea. The last thing we need is more local bureaucracy screwing with the ability of people to enjoy their vices in peace. If such licenses were unlimited, then it just amounts to a cash grab from local businesses. If they're limited, then you end up with yet another way that established interests and petty bureaucrats can set up barriers to entry and screw with newcomers.

I've seen first-hand evidence of this in Santa Barbara, where, in order to cut down on drunken disorderliness down town, they limited the number of dancing licenses. Dance in a bar that doesn't have one, and they get a fine. There are still lots of bars down town, but now the new ones are at a disadvantage, and there's endless small town politics involved in obtaining a permit for something that should never have required one anyway.

Of course, I'm also a non-smoker who thinks that the smoking bans are a bad idea. Bars and restaurants were always able to choose to "cater to smokers" before, and they all did. It's unfortunate if you like a smoke-free experience, but I don't see why, if there really are that many people who feel that way, then we could just let the restaurant owners decide to cater to them. If we want to discourage smoking in general (a fine public policy objective), then hike up the sin tax on cigarettes.

[Harmonious Discord]

The British individual's fag license.

[Ghanima]

I'm all for restaurant and workplace smoking bans, but not smoking in bars seems a little ridiculous. Bars should be able to have designated smoking areas. You're there to kill brain cells anyway, why not go the full monty?

I wish I could institute a smoking ban outside our apartment. Until recently I was convinced I was hallucinating the smell of cigarettes in our apartment every now and then. Turns out our neighbor comes outside to smoke sometimes and it blows in under our door! I didn't notice as much until I was pregnant. How do you politely tell your neighbor to stop stinking up the outdoors?

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by Ghanima

I'm all for restaurant and workplace smoking bans, but not smoking in bars seems a little ridiculous. Bars should be able to have designated smoking areas. You're there to kill brain cells anyway, why not go the full monty?

[Eddie Izzard] No smoking in bars in California, and pretty soon no drinking and no talking! [/Izzard]

I'm fine with banning it in restaurants. I'll go outside. However, if you want me to stop littering, put a fucking ashtray outside. If you want me to stay more than three feet from the door, put the effing ashtray more than three feet from the door. And...

Originally Posted by Sigmagirl

I'm with Always Brings Pie. I shouldn't have to go through a cloud of poison gas to get from my office to my car.

... please get over yourself. One whiff twice a day isn't going to kill you, believe it or not. It isn't even going to make you smell bad. The sky isn't falling, promise.

[bouv]

I'm generally in favor of smoking bans. I agree that 150 feet from an entrance is too much, and whoever came up with that distance had no adequate knowledge of how close buildings and their entrances are. But, like many have said before me, I used to hate being dragged out by my friends to go to a smoke-filled bar. I would stink when I got back and had to shower or else the smell would then get onto my sheets, would would then need a washing the next day. Sure, I could have avoided the whole problem by not going out, and that's what I did most of the time. But if it's a friends' birthday, and he decides he wants to celebrate it at XYZ bar, then yeah, I'll go with them to buy him a few rounds.

Now that bars don't allow smoking, I've found I can enjoy going out. I was reminded the other weekend of how much I really didn't like it when I was visiting a friend in S. Carolina, and we went into N. Carolina to go bar hopping.

Smokers like to say that non-smokers can "vote with their feet" by not going to bars that allow smoking...well, most of us did! That's why, despite the crying to the contrary, a lot of establishments saw an increase in business when the laws were enacted. And why can't it be the other way around? Why don't all the smokers vote with their feet and not go to places that don't allow smoking, to try to get the bans lifted? I think it's because it's a lot less of a hassle for them to step outside for five minutes to have a smoke than it is for us to be in a smoke-filled bar for two hours.

[Merneith]

I live in Ohio. That wiki page says that smoking is banned in all restaurants and bars in OH and yet every time I go to a restaurant, I'm asked, "Smoking or Non?"

Is it just reflex that people still ask this? I didn't even know about the ban. Maybe I need to get out more. Or maybe that page is not accurate?

[LilShieste]

We moved to California back in 2004, but every time we go back to Missouri to visit with friends/family it still surprises me how much my clothes smell like cigarette smoke at the end of the day. I absolutely love being able to go to restaurants and bars (and especially bowling alleys) in CA, without having to worry about that.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by bouv

Why don't all the smokers vote with their feet and not go to places that don't allow smoking, to try to get the bans lifted? I think it's because it's a lot less of a hassle for them to step outside for five minutes to have a smoke than it is for us to be in a smoke-filled bar for two hours.

Uh... because then we wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

There were plenty of restaurants pre-ban that didn't allow smoking or only allowed it on outdoor patio thingies. There are no restaurants post-ban that allow smoking, because they can't.

[psycat90]

It's banned outside as well in our town. No smoking pretty much anywhere downtown. It's banned on all city/public property, the parks, the transit mall, and around all of the businesses downtown. Our favorite bar downtown has outside seating where smoking was allowed until the new law went into effect a couple of years ago.

I'm not really a smoker so it doesn't make a difference to me one way or another. My husband just quit and I only smoked every now and then when he did.

[Duckster]

Originally Posted by Otto

It's been banned in restaurants in Madison for at least as long as I've lived here.

MadCity's original smoking ban dates back to the 1970s when smoking was banned in retail stores, other than tobacco stores. I can't count the number of times while shopping with my mother that when she smelled tobacco smoke in a store, she went up to the store manager and demanded the manager tell the offender to stop or leave, or she would call the police and file a complaint against the store.

She never lost a case.

[silenus]

Originally Posted by Brown Eyed Girl

You go to a seedy bar for breakfast?

I've had Bloody Mary's for breakfast after a late night out clubbing, but I didn't really call it breakfast.

The Alger Bar & Grill has a really good breakfast/brunch buffet on Sundays, so the idea isn't unheard of.