By WES KAPPELMAN
The Oskaloosa Herald
OSKALOOSA
July 01, 2008 10:18 am
—
The smoking ban, which went into effect today, is causing grief for many of Oskaloosa’s smokers.
As part of the ban, at every entrance to public places, bars and places of employment, “no smoking” signs or the international “no smoking” symbols have to be placed. These signs also have to be placed on vehicles used for employment and be visible from outside a vehicle. All of the signs must contain the telephone number for reporting complaints, 1-888-944-2247, and the Web site www.IowaSmokefreeAir.gov.
The penalty for an individual violating the act is a $50 fine. The penalty for a business for the first offense is a $100 fine, for the second offense, a $200 fine, and for subsequent offenses, a $500 fine. Tobacco and alcohol permits and licenses can also be pulled from noncompliant businesses, according to the act. The penalty for firing an employee who makes a complaint can result in a $10,000 fine.
The Department of Public Health is in charge of enforcing the ban. People wishing to file complaints can do so with the department or the department’s designee.
The funds from fines is deposited into the state’s general fund, unless a local authority is involved in the enforcement. In that case, the civil penalties will be deposited into the general fund of the city or county.
Patrons at The Rock Island Depot on Monday were not in favor of the impending ban.
Pat, a non-smoker, said a person should expect smoke when walking into a bar.
“There are way too many laws,” Pat said. “I know what I’m getting into when I walk into a place that has smoke.”
Longtime smokers Dean and Corine were also against the ban. Corine said she thinks the ban will cut into the bars’ profits. She sees the ban as an infringement on her rights. She expects that the majority of people will comply and some may decide it is time to quit smoking because of the ban. She and Dean, who have been smoking for more than 30 years, plan to continue smoking.
Oscar Caraway, a smoker and VFW member, said the smoking ban is an example of another right that has been taken away, like the right to not wear seat belts.
“They let us down on this one,” Caraway said. “Prisoners have more rights than we do.”
Prisons and casinos are allowed to have smoking in some areas.
“If they let the casinos still smoke, it has nothing to do with public health,” Caraway said.
VFW and American Legion posts are included in the ban.
American Legion Post Canteen Manager Jennifer Hanigan said approximately 75 percent of the people that come into the bar are smokers. She said the non-smokers that she has spoken to are also in favor of allowing smoking.
“I disagree with it completely,” Hanigan said. “I think it should be up to the bar owner.”
Oskaloosa Police Chief John “Jake” McGee said he would like to see owners deal with issues. He advised owners and proprietors to check the Web site www.iowasmokefreeair.gov for more information.
“We will comply with the law enforcement requirements that the Legislature put into the bill,” McGee said.
Areas outside the Courthouse and City Hall will be affected, as the act bans smoking on most public grounds. The ban also applies to school grounds.
“If it’s a structure the public has access to, you can’t smoke in it,” McGee said.
It is also illegal to smoke inside a vehicle parked on school grounds, according to the act.
The police department gets funding from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division to perform compliance checks for selling tobacco to minors that could eventually include compliance checks for the smoking ban.
According to House File 2212, the reason for the act was that the general assembly found that tobacco smoke “causes and exacerbates disease in nonsmoking adults and children.” The goal of the act is to reduce the general public’s exposure to tobacco smoke to improve the health of Iowans, according to the act.
Bars, employers and public facilities are among those affected by the act, while private residences are not included in the smoking ban. Some exceptions to the ban include some hotel and motel rooms, retail tobacco stores, private and semi-private rooms in long-term care facilities, private clubs with no employees, some outdoor areas that are places of employment, limousines under private hire, an enclosed area in a business or public place that provides a smoking cessation program if smoking is an integral part of that program, farm tractors and implements of husbandry, the gaming floor of a casino and the Iowa veterans home. Also, corrections facilities, fairgrounds and Iowa National Guard facilities are not included in the ban.
Even if a place has an exempted status, “an owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of an area otherwise exempt from the prohibitions of section 142D.3 may declare the entire area as a nonsmoking place,” according to the act.
Herald staff writer Wes Kappelman can be reached by e-mail at news2@oskyherald.com
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