Some hot about new smoking law

On one hand, a smoker has a right to smoke, but on the other, a non-smoker should be guaranteed the right to breathe clean air.

Second-hand smoke is at the heart of a new state law that takes effect Saturday, when customers of most bars and restaurants will no longer be able to light up inside the businesses.

Those who oppose the law call it yet another strike against personal rights and freedoms.

“I think at 21 years of age, you’ve got the right to decide if you want to smoke or not,” said Gloria Jean Bergman, owner of Jean’s Place in Havelock. “They are invading on our rights as citizens.”

Only private country clubs and private non-profit bars, such as a VFW for example, are exempt from the new law. Though Jean’s Place is a private club, it will have to abide by the new law.

“Over 90 percent of the people in here are smokers,” said Ward Eysaman, a member at Jean’s Place for the last 20 years. “My question is ‘Why does second-hand smoke affect people here but it doesn’t affect people in country clubs or cigar bars?’”

Bergman said the law doesn’t make sense.

“You can go to the pool and a country club and smoke all you can around all those kids,” she said.

She blames Gov. Bev Perdue for signing the bill into law.

“She’s segregating the private clubs from the country clubs,” Bergman said. “Just because they’ve got a golf course, a tennis court or a swimming pool, they’re above the law. There’s no way to get around it unless I put in a regulation pool or a tennis court.”

Down the street from Jean’s Place is the Bayside Restaurant, a favorite place for the smoking crowd in Havelock.

Co-owner Donna Adams said that come Saturday that’s going to change.

“The signs are up and the ashtrays are gone,” Adams said.

The new law demands that no smoking signs be erected and all interior ashtrays be removed.

“I think it’s great because I don’t smoke and I’ve put up with it for 25 years,” Adams said. “I think there are going to be more customers. I know people who don’t come just because of the smoking. Probably 90 percent of our customers smoke.”

Bayside waitress Renee Schmucker, a smoker, doesn’t like the new law.

“Honestly, I think it should be left up to the owners,” she said. “It’s their business and they should have a choice of whether to allow it or not.

“It’s not fair. Nobody’s twisting your arms to smoke, and nobody’s twisting your arms not to.”

Adams did say she worries about the precedent the new law sets.

“What are they going to do next, ban it in your house and in your car?” she said.

Tyrone Frazier, a Bayside customer, also said the government has gone too far.

“I don’t smoke, but it’s unfair,” he said. “It’s like the gun law. What more are they going to take next? That’s what America’s built on, people’s rights.”

Joseph Richardson, another Bayside customer, believes the current standard in which restaurants have smoking and non-smoking sections works.

“I understand that they’re doing it for health reasons, but I think you should be able to choose on you own,” he said.

His wife, Holly Richardson, agrees with the new law.

“I think it’s a good thing because I have a kid now,” she said. “Even if you have smoking and non-smoking sections, the smoke is still going to waft through the air. I’m a smoker, but I still think it’s a good thing.”

Ham’s restaurant in Havelock opened as a non-smoking business in 2008. Amy Picciano, restaurant manager, said a lot of customers say they like that the restaurant is a non-smoking facility.

“I’m a smoker myself, but the law is fair.” she said.

Ham’s customer Glenda Trenholm called the law long overdue.

“I don’t like the smell of smoke for health reasons,” she said.

Constance Andrews, another Ham’s customer, also said she liked the new law.

“I’m originally from Florida, a state where smoking has been prohibited for a long time,” she said. “When you go to other states where they try to separate the smokers from the non-smokers, it never really works.”

Andrews’ dinner partner, Maggie Smith, didn’t think smokers should be banned from lighting up, just separated from the non-smokers. To Smith, it’s an issue of rights.

“They keep chipping away at our rights,” she said. “What’s next? They start small, and then slowly but surely they go for something else.”

David Horlick, a smoker from Newport, said the new law won’t keep him from eating at the Waffle House in Havelock.

“It’s the way the government does it. The government wants to control everything,” he said.

Dovid Kohn said he didn’t think the new law would have a huge economic impact on restaurants.

“I don’t think it will affect this place but the bars and clubs it will,” he said at the Waffle House. “Bars will have to raise prices because the guys are going to be outside smoking and they’re not going to be inside buying drinks.”

Back at Jean’s, the fear is that the law will impact business.

“It’s definitely going to affect our sales,” Bergman said.

Bergman said she will reluctantly comply with the new regulations to avoid the $200 fine for business owners if found in violation. Individuals can be fined $50 for a violation.

Bergman said local residents should have had more of a say in the matter.

“The people get to vote on whether or not to have mixed drinks,” Bergman said. “Why can’t the cities vote for this?”

She said the decision should be left to the adult to make.

“When you’ve worked all day and you want a drink, a drink goes with a cigarette,” Bergman said.

Her customers tend to agree.

“I can’t come in here and have a beer and not smoke,” said Cathy Vermillion, of Havelock. “It’s not happening.”