DEBATE SMOLDERS AS BAN ON SMOKING LOOMS IN MD.
After four years of debating the smoking bill and weeks of
wrangling over who should be exempted, state lawmakers passed
one of the most stringent bans in the nation.
Under the final version, bars and restaurants next year will be
required to be smoke-free, as will private clubs such as
American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars halls.
Establishments might be able to secure hardship waivers from the
state, but those would expire in 2011. Tobacco shops will be
almost the only public indoor places where smoking will be
allowed.
Reaction at bars and restaurants yesterday ran the gamut from
relief to anger, from those who think customers and employees
have a right to a smoke-free environment to those who think the
state is trampling individual rights.
Caught in the middle are people such as Mark Colberg, general
manager and bartender at Rams Head.
