Statewide smoking ban to begin in May

By Sebastian Fryer
Western Herald

A bill banning smoking inside Michigan businesses has passed in the House and the Senate Friday, Dec. 11.

The bill, which prohibits smoking inside all business establishments except for cigar shops, tobacco specialty shops, motor vehicles, home offices, and three Detroit casinos, is set to go into effect in May. Native American owned casinos are also exempt.

The smoking ban will take effect May 1, 2010. Michigan will become the 38th state with some form of ban on smoking in public areas. Across the country, smoking in state and/or local government buildings is banned in 33 states; Smoking in private workplaces, excluding restaurants or bars, is banned in 24 states; smoking in restaurants is banned in 28 states and smoking in stand-alone bars is banned in 23 states.

In Kalamazoo the bill has been met with mixed responses.

“It [was] bound to happen,” Brent Hermiz, the owner of Blaze Hookah Lounge, said. As a tobacco specialty shop, Blaze will not fall under the new bill.

“All it [will do] is push people to tobacco specialty places like hookah lounges, which I guess is good for us,” Hermiz said.

Hermiz, who does not smoke cigarettes, has mixed feelings about the issue.

“If you know there’s a place that allows smoking, [and you don’t smoke,] why go?” Hermiz said.

Fourth Coast Café, a coffee shop located in downtown Kalamazoo, allows smoking inside. Come May, the establishment will be forced to ban smoking inside the building.

According to Adam Smith, a barista at the cafe, there have been talks amongst customers of ways that Fourth Coast could sidestep the new law, such as having the business become a specialty tobacco shop.

Sean Stoto, a WMU sophomore majoring in creative writing who frequents Fourth Coast, speculated on what could happen to Fourth Coast after the bill goes into effect.

“There are a couple things that could happen,” Stoto said. “They could become a private club and have a membership because it’s a private establishment. Or they could just bite the bullet.”

Smith does want not Fourth Coast making any major changes to keep smoker indoors.

“I think [Fourth Coast is] just going to roll with it,” Smith said.

Smith disagrees with the new bill.

“I feel like it’s a bit of an infringement on the owner’s property rights,” Smith said. “It’s an overstep for the government to do that.”

As a smoker, Stoto said that despite the smoking ban, he would still visit Fourth Coast often.

“It’s still a good social outlet,” Stoto said.

However, Stoto is opposed to the bill.

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to control what we consume and how a business runs its business,” Stoto said. “I don’t understand the logic behind the ban.”

Andrew Brittingham, a WMU freshman majoring in business, also visits Fourth Coast.  As a smoker, Brittingham is against the bill.

“It’s stupid,” Brittingham said. “I think it’s silly because if business owners want their businesses to allow smoking, they should be allowed to. Maybe they cater to certain needs.”

Brittingham stated that the bill would affect how often he visits businesses that allow smoking.

“I probably won’t go to Fourth Coast as much,” Brittingham said.

“It’s inconvenient,” Brittingham added. “You have to get up and leave the place of business to smoke. If it was in a restaurant, it would really ruin your dining experience.”

Editor’s note: In the original Dec. 14 version of this article, it was reported that Brent Hermiz, the owner of Blaze Hookah Lounge, smokes cigarettes. He does not smoke them.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Dec 13 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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