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Home > What's New > Lexington, Kentucky, Passes Smoking Ban
Lexington, Kentucky, Passes Smoking Ban
Posted: Monday, April 26, 2004
By Michael S. Marsh
It may be located in one of the largest tobacco-producing areas in the United States, but Lexington, Kentucky, is no longer smoker-friendly. Beginning April 27 at 12:01 a.m., the city will become the first in Kentucky to prohibit smoking in almost all public buildings, including restaurants, bars and offices.
The smoking ban was originally passed last July, but opponents of the bill went to the courts to prevent its enforcement with the claim that a smoking ban would be detrimental to business. However, last Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court voted to uphold the ban and ruled that violators will face a $100 fine for a first offense, $250 for a second and $500 for a third.
Beginning tomorrow, the only places in Lexington where you will be able to light up legally will be at private social functions, in private residences or in the designated smoking areas of some government buildings. Retail tobacco shops and warehouses can also allow smoking, but they must be able to prove that 51 percent of their sales comes from tobacco.
Cigar bars, on the other hand, do not have the luxury of an exemption. For Nicholson's Cigar Bar in downtown Lexington, the writing is on the wall. Established in 1996, Nicholson's is the first and only full-service cigar bar in the city. As it looks, it will also be the last.
"Obviously, we're not happy with the decision," said Tony Atwood, the director of marketing and special events for Nicholson's. "We've been fighting it for so long and it's had time to sink in, but we're still irritated."
According to Atwood, Nicholson's fought for a grandfather clause, but says the city never seriously considered an exemption. Though Nicholson's plans on staying a cigar bar for a little while (cigars will still be sold there), Atwood says plans are already being discussed to go in a new direction, possibly an English-style pub under a new name. He says the owners still plan to highlight the bar's cozy atmosphere and selection of 53 Bourbons, but that it's hard to know what the future will bring.
"It'll be curious to see what happens," says Atwood, an avid cigar smoker himself. "We just have to look to the future. What will the future hold? I don't know, but it's not going to hold a cigar in its hand." Also in Cigar News:
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