Many Bars Fail to Keep Patrons From Lighting Up, Survey Finds

Two years after a state measure banned smoking in bars, a substantial number of tavern owners and patrons are still ignoring the law.

Amid spotty enforcement and fears of declining sales, a good 40% of the state’s free-standing bars, those not attached to restaurants, are failing to comply with California’s indoor smoking ban, according to a recent statewide survey by the California Smoke-Free Bar Program, an offshoot of the American Lung Assn.

But the survey indicates compliance is much higher in Orange County, about 80%, while in Los Angeles County half the stand-alone taverns appear to be flouting the law.

One explanation for this gap: Enforcement in Orange County generally began earlier and has been more aggressive.

For example, San Clemente formed a special enforcement unit in May 1998 just five months into the ban and within weeks wrote more than 50 citations to patrons found smoking in various bars. Since then, the city has been issuing one to two tickets a month,

“I believe for the most part we have 100% compliance,” said Orange County Sheriff Lt. Fred Lisanti in San Clemente, who oversees the inspections.

Rick Anderson, owner of Rick’s Tropicana Bar and Grill in San Clemente, noticed the difference right away. He said his business plummeted by almost 40% after he enforced the smoking ban, because customers switched to nearby bars that ignored the law.

But after San Clemente officials began their enforcement, he said, “it became a level playing field and business stabilized.”

Marilyn Pritchard, director of the Orange County Tobacco Use Prevention Program, said there is a “hard-core group of bar owners that continues to flout the law.” That group is apparently spread throughout the state.

“It’s something that is just going to take time, much like the seat belt law did,” said Dian Kiser, director of the program, which released its survey results after more than 10,000 bars statewide were inspected by various city and county officials.

Many of those bars were in restaurants. In those drinking establishments, the survey found more than 90% were observing the ban.

But the stand-alone bars have been far more resistant to the law, and some say that’s because they are suffering more from the ban. While some restaurants have converted bars into dining areas, free-standing taverns can’t rely on bigger food sales to shore up lost liquor business.

Tom Humber, president of the National Smoker’s Alliance, a group founded in 1994, contends at least two dozen bars in the state have closed because of the smoking ban. But Kiser disputed that statement, saying she was unaware of a single such closing related to California’s Smoke-Free Workplace Act of 1994.

The act, still the only statewide indoor smoking ban in the nation, was enacted against a backdrop of increasing hostility toward smokers and concerns about the health effects of secondhand smoke. The law requires bar owners to post no-smoking signs, remove all ashtrays and tell smoking patrons to put out their cigarettes or cigars. For restaurants and most all other workplaces, the ban took effect in January 1995, but bars were given an extension until January 1998.

Smokers defying the law can be fined up to $500, depending on the number of violations and other factors. For businesses violating the law, fines began at less than $100 and can rise as high as $7,000. Thus far, no one has been fined the maximum, say those who monitor the law.

The latest state data suggest that the smoking law may have slightly reduced the number of bars inside restaurants. In July 1999, there were 19,285 bars in restaurants--100 fewer than a year earlier, even though the overall number of restaurants increased by about 1,500 in that one-year period, according to the state Board of Equalization.

The state does not track the number of stand-alone bars annually, although the lung association estimates there are 4,200 of these taverns in California.

The relatively low rate of compliance in Los Angeles County may be a reflection of the delayed enforcement in the city of Los Angeles. The city turned the inspections over to fire officials, who only last year began checking bars for smokers. The city also initially favored a softer, educational approach rather than issuing fines.

In contrast, San Diego has been among the most aggressive in enforcing the ban, at times sending undercover police officers to make sweeps of bars. Orange County officials have been sending letters to bars suspected of condoning smoking, and a number of cities have actively followed up complaints by patrons.

Many customers couldn’t be happier. “I love it here,” said Lee Danbara, an accountant who was in the bar of an El Torito Grill in Costa Mesa. “There’s no smoke at all.”

But some bar and restaurant owners are still embittered and complain that sales haven’t bounced back.

Mike Doyle, owner of Revere House in Tustin and an outspoken critic of the smoking ban, says he has posted no-smoking signs but doesn’t object if someone lights up. He says his bar business has dropped by 20% since the ban.

Doyle, who is a member of the Tustin City Council, said that only one of his customers has been cited. But the bar was the target of repeat inspections over a two-week period last month after police received six complaints about the establishment. Doyle himself has not been cited, Tustin Police Capt. Bob Schoenkopf said.

Even in Los Angeles, there are signs that compliance will increase, as inspectors are beginning to crack down.

Los Angeles Fire Capt. Mark Gozawa said this week that so far, five bar owners have been ordered to appear before the city attorney after ignoring the law and receiving substantial fines. “We want to make sure they are making the effort.”

At Kane, a bar in Hollywood, manager Ivan Kane says he’s seeing more visits from fire officials. Not that Kane has been taking the smoking ban lightly.

“We have security, and if anyone tries to light up, we direct them outside,” he said. “There’s a lot of grumbling.”