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Home > What's New > New Jersey to Ban Indoor Smoking
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New Jersey to Ban Indoor Smoking
Posted: Monday, January 09, 2006
By Michael Moretti
After years of deliberation, the New Jersey State Assembly passed the Smoke-Free Air Act today by a 64-12 vote, with two abstentions.
The bill now goes before Acting Gov. Richard Codey, who is expected to sign it before leaving office on January 17. The measure would become law 90 days after he signs it.
Lovers of the leaf are not relegated to the dark corners of their basements just yet. The New Jersey bill includes conditions that would allow some establishments, as well as casinos, to remain somewhat smoke-friendly.
The Garden State law is less stringent than a statewide smoking ban passed in Washington State in November, which cleared smoke completely from indoor spaces. New Jersey cigar bars or lounges located inside a bar or other establishment -- where smoking is prohibited -- would be allowed to cater to puffing patrons as long as the space is completely enclosed with a door and equipped with a separate ventilation and exhaust system. In addition, these establishments would have to have generated 15 percent or more of total annual gross income from the on-site sale of tobacco products in the calendar year ending December 31, 2004.
"We will lose a lot of clients who come here exclusively to smoke cigars," said Carmen Lazarich, manager of Smoke Chophouse and Cigar Emporium in Englewood.
However, Smoke Chophouse could keep some of those clients because of the smoking-room measure. The restaurant already has the equipment in place to set up a separate smoking room and would do so if the measure becomes law, said Lazarich. Aside from that, she said the ban could in some ways have a positive effect. "We would probably get more female clients and people who couldn't tolerate the cigar smoke would come in." Currently, the restaurant allows patrons to smoke a cigar right at the table in the main dining area.
Stand-alone cigar bars and lounges would get some leeway as well. If they could attribute at least 15 percent of gross income in the calendar year ending December 31, 2004, to the sale of tobacco (which includes humidor rentals), they would be off the hook. Tobacco retailers and manufacturers would also be spared. Regular stand-alone bars and bowling alleys would not be given any exemption, to the dismay of some owners who claim the ban would force them to lay off some employees.
The New Jersey Office of Legislative Services did a fiscal estimate, reported July 15th, on the possible impact of the smoking ban based on review of information on bans instituted elsewhere. The OLS stated that it expects the smoking ban to have no economic impact on restaurants and bars as a whole, but does not suggest that a ban would not affect the sales of any particular establishment.
Aside from bars and restaurants, New Jersey's smoking ban would outlaw indoor puffing in all public indoor work places, including office buildings, sports arenas, waiting rooms and public conveyances. Hotels and motels could allocate 20 percent of their rooms to smoking regardless of availability.
One stipulation in the bill, which has also been a bone of contention for some New Jersey businesses, is that casinos are exempt. Casino-hotels in Atlantic City, for example, would still be able to allow smoking on the gambling floor.
Sponsors of the New Jersey bill acknowledged frustration with the casino exemption but claimed it allowed the bill to pass, and as it reads now, would protect many other workers in the state from secondhand smoke.
"I am not going to create more cigar smokers," said Jorge Armanteros, owner of A Little Taste of Cuba, a retail cigar shop in Princeton. "I think I will just hear more complaining."
"The exemption [for casinos] does undermine the credibility of the legislation," he said.
The state expects most enforcement of the law would take place at a local level. Violators would be subject to a fine of up to $250 for the first offense and $500 for the second. Following the second offense, fines would go up to $1000.
If the governor signs the bill, New Jersey would join neighboring New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the fraternity of statewide smoking-ban states.
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