Last puff looms for
N.J. smokers
in bars, eateries
By GINA VERGEL, Home
News Tribune Online, From the Web, January 10, 2006
EDISON, NJ -- If the "Marlboro
man" wants to smoke at JB's Tavern, he's only got a few more months to do so.
State lawmakers yesterday approved a law banning smoking indoors at restaurants,
nightclubs and bars. Acting Gov. Richard Codey has said he will sign the
law on Sunday. The ban begins in mid-April.
"How can you have a nonsmoking bar?" asked Phillip Pellicane, 43, of New
Brunswick, as he nursed a bottle of Budweiser at JB's Tavern on Woodbridge
Avenue yesterday afternoon.
Pellicane said he looks forward to lighting up when he goes out. "I don't
smoke at home. I like to come to the bar, have a couple of beers, have a
couple of cigarettes, and then go home."
The ban, which prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces, will start on April 15.
Cigar bars, tobacco retailers and casino gaming floors are exempt.
"It's all about money," said Pellicane. "Casinos have a lot of money, and
the law won't affect them. It's not fair."
The measure is intended to protect people from the dangers associated with
smoking. But Nicole Genova, 26, a bartender at JB's Tavern, said those who
work at bars know smoking is an occupational hazard.
"It's part of the territory. There are people that work here and don't
smoke. I've never heard any of them complain," said Genova, a North
Brunswick resident who smokes.
Jack Nemeth, another JB's patron, questioned if the law would extend the lives
of those working at bars and restaurants.
"How many cases, really, are there where someone gets sick off secondhand
smoke?" asked the 49-year-old, shaking his head and blowing smoke out of his
mouth.
At least one nonsmoking Central Jerseyan said she looked forward to the day when
smoke was no longer in the air at bars and restaurants.
"It's got to be harmful for those working at these places," said Miriam Weiss,
37. "I realize that this is America and we make personal health choices,
but in a closed environment, I shouldn't have to breathe in the carcinogens that
come from your cigarette."
The New Brunswick lawyer said she has passed up going to certain restaurants and
most bars because of smoking.
"I prefer not to go, because whenever I do, my hair and my whole outfit smell
like smoke," Weiss said.
Mirta Diaz, 46, another nonsmoker from New Brunswick, smiled upon hearing about
the ban. "I love it," she said while waiting at a bus stop in the downtown
area of the Hub City. "It's probably not fair, but I love it."
Smoker Joseph Hughes, 38, said not a lot is fair anymore for those who enjoy to
smoke. "I feel like an outcast, but it's a new world," he said as he took
a smoke break outside of the Dunkin' Donuts in New Brunswick. "I'm used to
smoking outside anyway. Most restaurants don't even have smoking sections
anymore."
For locksmith and smoker Steve Faulkner, 39, the ban will not change a thing.
He goes to bars or restaurants near his home in Pennsylvania where there is no
smoking ban.
A person who smokes in violation of the law and a person in control of an indoor
workplace who doesn't comply can be fined $250 for a first offense, $500 for a
second offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.
The Assembly also voted 58-16, with four abstentions, to raise from 18 to 19 the
minimum age for purchasing tobacco products. That bill is also on Codey's
desk and will take effect in mid-April.
gvergel@thnt.com
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