New ban in bars has veteran smokers fuming

November 9, 2006 John Wainscott is a Vietnam War vet and long-haul trucker who enjoys smoking two packs of cigarettes a day - some of them at his favorite bar, The Buffet, at 538 E. Ninth St. Because Propositions 201 and 203 were approved by voters Tuesday, he'll have to smoke cigarettes outside the bar come Jan. 1 and also pay 82 cents more for a pack for cheap cigarettes. The two propositions raised the state tax on a pack of diacount cigarettes to $2. The Buffet, which opened in 1935, is a classic bar with no patio and no frills. When the new law takes effect, smokers will have to step outside to smoke cigarettes. Owner Ted Bair, a World War II vet, said about half his clientele are smokers of cigarettes and he doesn't know what to expect when the new law banning smoking in bars takes effect in less than eight weeks. He said the new law is one more example of "the government telling you what to do." "I don't approve of that," he said. "The government's always sticking its nose in everything, thinking they know what's best for people." He doubts the restrictions on smoking inside the bar will hurt business much. The bar is open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. "Where else are they going to go?" he said. Bair said he was at his polling place at 6 a.m. on Election Day voting against Prop. 201. He said he thought 206, the measure bankrolled by the tobacco industry, would pass and was surprised the more restrictive measure, Prop. 201, was approved. He said secondhand smoke "will not hurt you none" and cited a World Health Organization study from 10 years ago to support his assertion. Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona disagrees. He called smoking and secondhand smoke both key threats to public health. Bair recalled paying $1 a carton to buy cigarettes in 1945 when he was in the Army in Vienna, Austria, with occupation forces. He said the additional 82 cents a pack that will be levied "is a tax on the poor." "It's outrageous," he said. Wainscott, 57, who pays $4.40 a pack for his cigarettes, said he favored neither smokers or nonsmokers. "I think every bar should have a patio," he said. He didn't vote Tuesday. "I don't deal with politics," he said, as he lit up a Marlboro Light. He suspects smokers will buy cigarettes at duty-free stores in Nogales to get around the 82-cents-a-pack increase. Colleen Kirby, 50, said she enjoys smoking and socializing with friends at The Buffet - although she doesn't drink - because restaurants don't allow smoking. Kirby said she's been smoking since age 13. Her $3.38 one-pack-a-day cigarettes habit will cost her $126 a month instead of $101.40 when the new law takes effect. She said she doubts the new 82-cents tax designated for early childhood education will actually get to those education programs and help children. "The politicians will use it to pad their paychecks," she said. Two cents of the 82 cents in new tobacco taxes will be used to enforce the smoking ban in bars and for smoking prevention efforts. Gary Welch, owner of Dirtbags, a popular campus bar and grill at 1800 E. Speedway Blvd., is a step ahead of local bars that don't have patios. Dirtbags has a swamp-cooled enclosed patio that accommodates 50. The bar's indoor capacity is 200. Welch said more than 70 percent of his nighttime customers - many of them University of Arizona students - smoke while they drink. "People like to belly up to the bar and have a drink and a cigarette," he said. About 65 percent of his lunchtime and happy hour clientele - UA employees and business people - also smoke. Welch voted for 206, the proposition that would have allowed smoking in bars, and against 201, the measure supported by the American Lung Association. "I thought 206 was going to pass hands down. I thought it was a no-brainer," he said Wednesday. "I didn't think 201 was going to pass." He said he thinks Maricopa County had the majority of the votes for 201. "There are so many people up there from California, where they already have laws like that," he said. Welch said he can't guess what the economic impact of the new smoking ban in bars will be on his business. "There's just no way to figure it out until it happens." The new antismoking law bans smoking in all businesses with few exceptions, such as veterans' halls and Indian casinos.