A smoke-free Oregon.

Byline: The Register-Guard

No, the sky won't fall when Oregon's new smoking ban goes into effect after midnight New Year's Eve - but it will be a bit clearer. So will the lungs of 35,000 workers who have too long been exposed to the secondhand smoke that kills an estimated 800 people in this state each year.

For years, opponents argued a comprehensive statewide ban on smoking in the workplace would drive away patrons, force businesses to shut down and spawn Big Brother anti-tobacco enforcement.

By the time the 2007 Oregon Legislature expanded an earlier smoking ban to include bars, taverns, bowling alleys and bingo halls, those dire predictions had been silenced. It was impossible to argue with the overwhelmingly positive experiences of the 15 Oregon cities, including Eugene, and the three counties that already had enacted similar bans.

As most businesses found out, the fear that customers would hightail it for bars and taverns in other towns where they could light up proved a myth. Some businesses actually found that they had more patrons, as people were drawn to healthier, smoke-free environments.

A statewide smoking ban eliminates even the possibility of boundary-crossing smokers. Anyone wanting to cross a state boundary to smoke will have to drive to Idaho, because Washington state and California already have bans in place.

Smoking-ban opponents also made a spurious "freedom of choice" argument, insisting that business patrons and employees should be able to decide on their own whether to patronize or work in a business where smoking is allowed. The argument had some merit in respect to smoking patrons, but it glibly overstated the ability of workers to quit their jobs and find new ones in smoke-free workplaces. It also ignored the inconvenience to non-smoking patrons who either had to endure smoking or leave.

Oregon lawmakers gave businesses plenty of time - too much, in our estimation - to prepare for the expanded ban. Under the new law, smoking will not be allowed outside within 10 feet of doors or windows, and motels and hotels must designate at least 75 percent of their rooms as nonsmoking. Businesses can be fined up to $500 a day and $2,000 a month for violations.

Lawmakers prudently resisted most pleas for exceptions to the smoking ban, with the exception of cigar bars and smoke shops - rarities in most communities. Tribal casinos aren't subject to the prohibition, although their operators may find themselves under increasing pressure to join the rest of the state in banning smoking and giving customers clean air to breathe.

The smoking ban will result in a slight reduction in state revenues. State officials estimate lottery revenues will drop by up to $15 million a year and cigarette tax revenues by roughly $25 million. But those losses are outweighed by the public-health benefits of a smoking ban. The Institute of Medicine estimates that tobacco kills a half-million smokers in this country every year - and that secondhand smoke claims the lives of another 50,000 people who either work or live with regular smokers.

That's not to mention the benefits for Oregonians who will now get to come home after a night out without their clothes, hair - and even their skin - reeking of stale cigarette smoke.

Welcome to 2009 - and a smoke-free Oregon.