 "Photo: Jordan Jessop")
As of yesterday, New Hampshire smelled a lot better than it did the day before for non-smoking citizens throughout the state.
Ninety days ago Governor Lynch signed a bill into law that bans smoking in all New Hampshire restaurants, bars and cocktail lounges in addition to a number of other public places including hospitals and grocery stores.
This new law came into effect Monday, and now when you go out with your friends there are going to be a few changes among some Main Street businesses.
While some downtown restaurants had already banned smoking, both Libby's Bar & Grill and Murphy's Tin Palace had been havens for the town's smokers. "It is what it is," said Ian Halpin, co-owner of Murphy's Tin Palace. "I think it's better for the health of our employees." Halpin looked over at Chris from his staff. "Right bud?" he asked. "Right," replied Chris, who likes to smoke.
"As long as it is an equal-playing field then it's fine," said Peter Marcoux, the general manager of Libby's Bar and Grill. "It's a non-issue… Most restaurants are non-smoking anyways."
Halpin estimates that perhaps 80 to 90 percent of his customers are smokers, and as the lunch hours passed the Tin Palace steadily began to fill up with glowing butts and drifting streams of burnt tobacco. "We're lucky we got the patio," says Halpin.
It is on the patio that his customers who want to light up will have to go from now on. If they did not, the customer could face a $100 fine and the restaurant could be fined the same amount for a first offense and a $200 fine if caught a second time.
Having to go out on the patio or stand outside the door whenever one needs to smoke will create some vexing problems some attest. "[The ban] is good, but it sucks 'cause you'll have to get back in and wait in line [to get into the bar]," says Andrew Glimenakis, a UNH senior. He also adds that the lines into the bars could get longer and spill out onto the street because of this and perhaps necessitate the intervention of the police.
Joe Devirgilio, a Durham resident who frequents the Tin Palace also mentioned that the number of bar fights in Massachusetts actually increased after the state enacted their own smoking ban. "You're already outside," says Devirgilio. "You've gotten drunk. What's left you know?"
The Durham Police under whose jurisdiction the restaurants and bars on Main Street are under were not available for comment.
The chances of smokers spilling out onto the street from Tin Palace is unlikely because they are situated away from the street and have a large patio. Libby's Bar and Grill, on the other hand, is right on the street. However, they do not foresee any problems. According to Marcoux, they are opening up an area behind the restaurant where their smoking customer's can go to relieve their craving.
Only six people at a time will be allowed in the alley and they will need to surrender their IDs to a man who will be posted at the door before they can go outside. Overcrowding shouldn't be an issue at Libby's either for Marcoax says that the majority of his customers are not smokers.
What to do during the harsh New England winters is another concern for smokers many point out. "It's gonna suck," said Krista, a UNH senior wishing to remain anonymous. There may be a plus, however. "It gets pretty hot inside anyways, so maybe it will be refreshing."
While many smokers are upset about the ban, many students and residents who do not smoke are breathing a relieved sigh of fresh air. Andrew Collins, an environmental conservation major, says he is all for the ban.
"I don't like the idea of walking through clouds of smoke," said Collins. It is not a problem to step out for a smoke and then go back inside he noted, citing people he saw doing so the previous night at the Knot, which is one of the downtown businesses that had a no-smoking policy before the state-wide ban was enacted.
Franz Gust, the owner of Franz Food, also commented on the smelly impact of cigarette smoke on his clothes saying, "There are restaurants in this town where I wouldn't eat because my clothes would smell and I can't breath." He confesses as a former smoker that the smell can be appealing after eating but beyond that, he says, "it is revolting."
Gust also pointed out that business will make an even greater profit with the ban, remarking how businesses in Massachusetts drew more customers after the state passed their own state-wide ban.
"The people who were against it are going to be very surprised," said Gust. "They're going to have so much more business." Marcoux also believes that the ban will have a positive effect on his food sales because people cannot stand the smoke.
Anne Jackson, a bartender at Libby's, switched to the dayshift to avoid the smoke in the bar at night. She mentioned one local family who will certainly take advantage of the ban, saying that they had been upset that Libby's reeked of smoke during the restaurant's Friday "happy hour." The family wanted to take their son out to dinner at Libby's. Unfortunately, they couldn't because their son has asthma. The smoke would aggravate his health.
Second-hand smoke aggravates the health of more people than asthmatics. According to Ann-Marie Matteucci, an Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Educator/Counselor from Health and Human Services, people who have prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer. Children, people with health problems, and especially wait staff are especially at risk.
According to Matteucci, one of the impacts on the creation of the ban was the research done on the effects of second-hand smoke on the wait staff of restaurants where smoking was allowed. The researchers discovered that restaurant staff who worked in smoky environments were out sick more. The smoke weakened their immune systems, making them more susceptible to the flu, colds, and other illnesses.
Another reason why there is opposition to the ban is because some people feel that this law violates the spirit of the state's motto, "Live free or die."
Both Halpin and Jackson mentioned that this was a point that many customers have raised. Jackson said that she was surprised that the state passed this law when we do not even have a mandatory seatbelt or helmet law. "I was like 'why don't they pass a seatbelt or a helmet law first?'"
John Mattis, a Virginia resident who was in Durham visiting his native state, would add that seatbelt and helmet laws were different because they only affected an individual. Smoking affects everyone not just the smoker.
Krista at the Tin Palace said that a ban on smoking is not the government's decision to make. It should be the choice of the businesses.
While there is still debate among New Hampshire's citizens as to whether the new law is in keeping with the state's commitment to personal freedom or not, one thing is crystal clear. You can't smoke in restaurants or bars in New Hampshire anymore, and says Devirgilio, thinking about smoking outside of the Tin Palace in the chill of winter, "For me it's going to be a drag."
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