Breath of Fresh Air

Perhaps there is no clearer sign of the tobacco industry’s waning clout than the fact that come Jan. 1 most bars and taverns in California will be smoke-free. Count us among those who had been skeptical that this change would ever come to pass, and among those now thankful that it is indeed at hand.

Passage of the 1994 law barring smoking in most workplaces--but temporarily exempting bars, including those in restaurants--was a cliffhanger, with a phalanx of tobacco lobbyists ringing the legislative chamber as the final vote was called.

Since then, the Legislature approved one postponement of the bar and tavern ban, and the past legislative session at first promised more of the same. One of the special pleadings that lawmakers considered would have permitted smoking indefinitely in bars, including those in restaurants. Passage of one version or another looked likely. But the unexpectedly sensible can still happen in Sacramento, and the session ended without another reprieve for smokers.

At the instant the new year begins, revelers in the state’s 35,596 bars, over 30,000 of which also serve meals, will be obliged to stub out their cigarettes--for good. California is about to become the first state with smoke-free bars and casinos, except on Indian lands.

While compliance with the 1994 law barring smoking in essentially all offices, factories, restaurants and commercial establishments has gone relatively smoothly, many fear resistance by barroom smokers. Old habits can be hard to break. For some, a smoke and a beer go together like coffee and the morning paper. But as every schoolchild now knows, smoking is a potentially fatal habit for the nearby nonsmoker as well as the smoker.

Persuasive scientific evidence about the dangers of secondhand smoke helped pass the original workplace smoke ban and win Gov. Pete Wilson’s signature. Since then, the medical consensus about the threat has grown firmer. The health risks range from lung cancer to respiratory problems such as asthma.

This evidence, highlighted in recent state-funded television ads, should encourage smokers and bar owners to comply with the new law. But city and county officers responsible for enforcing the law are bracing for defiance and other problems. A lawsuit to block enforcement of the ban is pending.

Smokers will still have a few refuges, including bar and restaurant patios, outdoor workplaces, designated hotel rooms and lobbies and private smoking lounges attached to tobacco shops. But 82% of California adults are nonsmokers, potential victims of someone else’s dumb habit, and this law is in everyone’s best interest.