Salt Lake City – Standing behind the nautical-theme bar at Veterans of Foreign War Post 3586, Sandy Bonner savors the Newport cigarette she’s smoking while a small crowd of customers in their 20s watches a basketball game in a nearly empty room.
Business is slow, she says, but two weeks ago it was worse.
That’s because on April 30 a ban on smoking in VFW halls and other fraternal organizations that had been in place since January was lifted.
“We’d lost probably 50 percent of our customers,” Bonner said between cigarettes. “It’s coming back – but it’s not completely back.” As cities and states nationwide increasingly ban smoking in bars, restaurants and public parks, Utah has taken the uncommon approach of temporarily lifting a ban.
Lawmakers and VFW officials say it was the right thing to do to make sure VFW posts are playing by the same rules as other bars, which must go smoke-free in 2009.
“We knew that this was coming eventually,” said Norm Nelson, state VFW commander. “We don’t really care that it came, we just wanted everyone to be treated fair. That’s why we wanted to get smoking back in.” Public health advocates, however, are dismayed that Utah – which has the nation’s lowest percentage of adult smokers – would retreat from a law intended to protect the public’s health.
“We haven’t seen something like this where an implementation date is actually postponed,” said Steve Weiss, spokesman for the American Cancer Society. “We were certainly hoping that the Legislature would hold firm in protecting workers and patrons from second hand smoke.” But after a slew of veterans descended on the Capitol in February complaining that post revenues were plummeting as a result of the smoking ban, lawmakers agreed to allow smoking in VFW halls and other fraternal organizations again.
“No one is disputing the health issue of tobacco today. We know it’s dangerous. That’s not the issue here. At this point we’re strictly looking to give businesses the economic parity to the clubs,” Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, said during legislative debate.
At the time, Oda said one VFW hall was forced to close because it lost so much revenue after the smoking ban was put in place.
That doesn’t tell the whole story, Nelson said.
“They were having trouble before. I think this was just the icing on the cake for them to close,” he said.
At other posts, including one in Ogden, north of Salt Lake City, business improved after the smoking ban was instituted, Nelson said.
“They decided to stay with the no-smoking ban and their participation hasm increased. Those who smoke just run outside for a minute and come back in,” he said.
But at Post 3586, bartenders and customers say allowing smoking again has already had a significant impact. Most of the post’s customers who drink aren’t veterans, but people in their 20s and 30s who live or work nearby.
“It killed our business when it was nonsmoking,” said Brian Bateman, who tends bar at the post’s upstairs bar where people come to play pool and sing karaoke. “It was like tumbleweed blowing through here.” Bateman said he had to get a second job to pay his bills during the smoking ban. Even his friends who smoke, like John Anderson, stopped coming in as frequently to see him.
“We would just go down the street to another bar,” Anderson said. “I sure watched a lot of people leave. Now, they’re coming back.” Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, sponsored the state’s original ban on smoking in bars and fraternal organizations. He opposed allowing smoking again in VFWs, but says he’s not worried about it having a widespread effect on public health.
“I think it was a minor step backward,” he said. “But it probably will not create a lot of added death.” However, as Bateman lit up cigarette after cigarette behind the bar, he said he knew his health was suffering because of it.
“If you work in a bar, you’ve got to be a smoker. It’s peer pressure,” he said. “I actually liked the ban because it cut down on how much smoking I do.”
