Pennsylvania proposed smoking ban lights fire under State College smoking lounges
A bill in consideration by the state legislature that would ban smoking in more indoor venues in Pennsylvania could affect several Centre County businesses.
House Bill 2298, sponsored by Allegheny County Democrat State Rep. Dan Frankel, aims to expand the Clean Indoor Air Act of 2008, which prohibits smoking in public places and work places, with some exceptions.
In a memo, Frankel said he hopes to “close the loopholes” found in the Clean Indoor Air Act that allow people to smoke in outdoor spaces, cigar bars, private clubs, cigar lounges, casinos and drinking establishments where less than 20% of the revenue comes from food sales.
Tony Ghaffari, owner of Your Cigar Den in State College, thinks the ban is just another example of government overreach.
“If you look around, the people that come in (the shop), they come in and they have a cigar, they’re able to make a decision on their own if they want to smoke a cigar or not,” he said.
He added, “Literally, (the ban) will put this shop out of business. If we say no smoking here, then where are you going to smoke when it’s 13 degrees outside, and your wife won’t let you smoke in the house?”
Frankel’s bill also wants to add e-cigarettes to the definition of smoking and give municipalities power to enact their own smoke-free ordinances that are stricter than the state law.
Besides Your Cigar Den, five other Centre County establishments are exempt from the smoking ban, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. But several other private clubs that allow smoking, including Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, could also be affected by the proposed ban.
But the tide against smoking inside has already started turning.
One of the bars on the exemption list, the Shandygaff Saloon, no longer allows patrons to smoke in the bar. They stopped allowing smoking inside around three years ago, the bar’s general manager said in an email.
The Bar in Boalsburg, one of the last remaining smoking bars in Centre County, banned smoking inside last May.
“We wanted to have a much healthier environment for people to come by and enjoy themselves without their eyes burning from the smoke or leaving here smelling like an ashtray,” The Bar manager Chyers Myers told the CDT last year.
Myers also said the bar has seen sales increase since it banned smoking.
Omar Bar in Bellefonte, the lower floor of Champs Sports Bar and Grill on North Atherton Street and the lower floor of Sharkies Bar and Thrifty Bottle Shop still allow smoking, as does tobacco shop and hookah bar Chronic Town in State College.
Tor Michaels, spokesperson for state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, said Conklin wants to hear from all the clubs and businesses that would be affected by the proposed ban.
“Many of the clubs have gone non-smoking but ... we would like to hear from all the veterans organizations and clubs to see what their feelings are on it,” he said. “And of course we are open to all the ideas that they have and of course what the sponsors (of the bill) have.”
He added that Conklin voted in support of the last proposal to expand the Clean Indoor Air Act.
Ghaffari said he drew up a petition opposing the proposed smoking ban and asked patrons of Your Cigar Den to sign it. It garnered over 30 signatures in about two days, he said.
“People just come to hang out, that’s part of it,” he said. “If you take the smoking out of it, why would anyone come and buy a cigar here? You can buy them online cheaper.”
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