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No Butts About It: Smoking Ban Goes into Effect Today

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By Nicole Nascenzi, Tulsa World, Okla.

Mar. 1--After a 30-month reprieve, most Oklahoma restaurants go smoke-free Wednesday, complying with a 2003 statewide smoking ban. Some eateries will be allowed to have smoking rooms if establishments comply with extensive smoking room guidelines.

At the Silver Flame Steakhouse, 6100 S Sheridan Road, the noise of a new ventilation system is barely audible above the usual lunch-time din of customer conversation and radio music.

Owner Abdul Alhlou said he spent more than $35,000 to build a smoking room in his restaurant. Alhlou said he decided to invest in the smoking room because about 15 percent of his customers smoke and the smoking section, which includes a piano bar, is the source of more than 25 percent of his revenue.

Beverly Holt a longtime Silver Flame customer and smoker said the ban makes her mad.

"They are stripping away my rights," Holt said.

She said she is glad Alhlou decided to construct a smoking room in the Silver Flame and her husband, Jim Holt, said he believed it would be a boon for business.

State and city health department officials believe most of the restaurants in the state will go completely smoke-free Wednesday, but no data is available to say for certain how many establishments built smoking rooms.

Restaurant inspectors working for the Tulsa City-County Health Department will begin to examine smoking rooms Wednesday during the course of normal restaurant inspections, said Elizabeth Nutt, division director for consumer protection.

Inspectors will also inspect restaurants for smoking ban compliance in response to consumer complaints, Nutt said.

Each restaurant in the Tulsa area is usually inspected between three and six times per year, she said.

Nutt said it is the Health Department's aim is to educate restaurant owners about the smoking ban and law enforcement officials will be in charge of issuing fines for noncompliance. Fines for breaking the ban will cost offenders between $10 and $100.

Smoking sections must be completely enclosed, have separate entrances, dedicated ventilation systems and be under negative air pressure so no smoke escapes when a door is opened, said Bob Miner, clean air coordinator for the Oklahoma State Health Department.

Eventually the Tulsa Health Department plans to use specially designed smoke bombs to test restaurants' ventilation systems, Nutt said.

Nutt said it is the responsibility of restaurant owners and managers to enforce the smoking ban.

Some entities including veterans' organizations, charitable bingo games and stand-alone bars are exempt from the smoking ban, Miner said. The law also specifies that smoking may be permitted in outdoor dining areas of restaurants, but not within 15 feet of any exterior public doorway.

Private clubs are not exempt from the ban, Miner said.

Come Wednesday, smokers at Southern Hills Country Club will be forced to puff outside, said general manager Nick Sidorakis.

Sidorakis said the membership was informed of the ban and everyone planned to comply with the law.

Some Tulsa eateries will not have smoking room renovations completed in time and plan to go smoke-free while the finishing touches are put on new smoking rooms.

Kelly Milam, manager of two Tulsa International House of Pancakes locations, said his 3130 S. Memorial Drive restaurant will eventually include a smoking room, but renovations are still under way. Milam said a new Broken Arrow IHOP is being built to accommodate a smoking room.

"It is all business -- we try to cater to customers," he said.

Because it is costly to build and maintain a smoking room, Milam said he chose to make his 11020 East 71st St. location smoke-free because there was little demand at that location for a smoking room.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Tulsa World, Okla.

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Source: Tulsa World

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