2008 Woodie Awards
Get ready to go smokeless at local venues
Jay Baker
Issue date: 9/4/07 Section: Campus News
- Page 1 of 1
Most Martin bars will become nonsmoking when a new statewide indoor smoking ban becomes effective Oct. 1, owners say.
The law signed this summer by Gov. Phil Bredesen bans most indoor smoking in public places but makes allowances for private clubs - like The Pub and The American Legion - and bars that only allow customers and employees who are at least 21 years old.
All restaurants have no choice but to ban smoking under the new law.
The Watering Hole, located at 111 Church St., will continue to allow smoking but will have to only allow customers who are at least 21 years old to do so.
"We are going 21 and up," The Watering Hole employee David Huntsman said. "On midnight that night on the first, we'll become 21 and up. We'll follow the law."
"It wasn't really a tough decision," he said. "A lot of the bars are going nonsmoking so we figured we'd stay smoking for the kids that wanted to smoke."
Calls by The Pacer to Cheers, another Martin bar, were not returned on Friday or Monday. Cheers allows customers 18 and up, which would mean they would have to bar smoking unless they change their age policy.
The person who answered the phone Monday at Cadillac's hung up without giving any information about their plans and did not give his name.
Cadillac's also allows patrons 18 and older.
Restaurants and bars that do not follow the new law may face hefty penalties. The first offense will result in a letter of warning, and the second and third offenses carry fines of $100 and $500, respectively. Individuals who are caught violating the ban can be fined $50.
The ban also includes public and private schools, health care facilities, hotels and motels, retail stores and shopping malls and sports arenas. Hotels and motels may still have smoking rooms, but they can only constitute 25 percent of their rooms.
With the smoking ban going into effect and a more than doubled tax increase on cigarettes passed this summer by the Tennessee Legislature, now may seem a better time than ever to quit.
Tennessee's quit smoking hotline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, has received 2,000 calls since its creation in August 2006.
With more than one in four Tennesseans smoking _ a rate that outpaces the national average_ now may be a better time than ever to quit.
The law signed this summer by Gov. Phil Bredesen bans most indoor smoking in public places but makes allowances for private clubs - like The Pub and The American Legion - and bars that only allow customers and employees who are at least 21 years old.
All restaurants have no choice but to ban smoking under the new law.
The Watering Hole, located at 111 Church St., will continue to allow smoking but will have to only allow customers who are at least 21 years old to do so.
"We are going 21 and up," The Watering Hole employee David Huntsman said. "On midnight that night on the first, we'll become 21 and up. We'll follow the law."
"It wasn't really a tough decision," he said. "A lot of the bars are going nonsmoking so we figured we'd stay smoking for the kids that wanted to smoke."
Calls by The Pacer to Cheers, another Martin bar, were not returned on Friday or Monday. Cheers allows customers 18 and up, which would mean they would have to bar smoking unless they change their age policy.
The person who answered the phone Monday at Cadillac's hung up without giving any information about their plans and did not give his name.
Cadillac's also allows patrons 18 and older.
Restaurants and bars that do not follow the new law may face hefty penalties. The first offense will result in a letter of warning, and the second and third offenses carry fines of $100 and $500, respectively. Individuals who are caught violating the ban can be fined $50.
The ban also includes public and private schools, health care facilities, hotels and motels, retail stores and shopping malls and sports arenas. Hotels and motels may still have smoking rooms, but they can only constitute 25 percent of their rooms.
With the smoking ban going into effect and a more than doubled tax increase on cigarettes passed this summer by the Tennessee Legislature, now may seem a better time than ever to quit.
Tennessee's quit smoking hotline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, has received 2,000 calls since its creation in August 2006.
With more than one in four Tennesseans smoking _ a rate that outpaces the national average_ now may be a better time than ever to quit.
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