GETTING EVENING TO CLEAR THE AIR; 13 COUNTY BARS TO TRY SMOKE-FREE EVENING.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

Local pub patrons will have to put out their cigarettes Thursday night when more than a dozen taverns take part in Ventura County's first smoke-free evening.

Teaming up with county public health agencies and other area businesses, 13 bars across the county will give out door prizes and movie tickets while raising awareness of a new smoking law that prohibits people from lighting up in bars across California beginning Jan. 1.

``We knew this was coming and we're in favor of this law,'' said Rosita Duta, spokesperson for two Alamo restaurant-bars in Newbury Park and Camarillo that will take part in the smoke-free event.

``The American public and especially people in this area are very family- and health-oriented and are looking for healthier environments,'' she said. ``We are trying to accommodate all of our clients and help everyone get used to the new law.''

The smoking ban on bars is part of a broader state smoking law that took effect in 1995 and prohibited smoking in workplaces. The provision on smoking in pubs was expected to take effect in January 1997 but was postponed until 1998.

Anti-smoking advocates said the new ban is sure to bring a breath of fresh air to thousands of nonsmokers, especially to bar employees.

``Most of us think of restaurants and bars and nightclubs as places we go after work. But bars are workplaces, too. And those workers have a right to a smoke-free environment,'' said Nan Waltman, senior health educator with the Ventura County Department of Public Health.

In recent weeks, Waltman said, dozens of bar managers and owners have dropped by the department with questions or to pick up free no-smoking signs to post in their pubs at the beginning of the year.

``We are also requesting that they remove ashtrays from the tables and place sand ashcans outside their buildings,'' she said. ``People can smoke, but they're going to have to go outside.''

Waltman added that the new state law will help even out a patchwork of ordinances with varying requirements worked out by neighboring municipalities over the years.

Some of the strictest local ordinances - such as those passed in Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, the city of Ventura, Ojai and in unincorporated parts of the county - already prohibit smoking in bars that are not separate from restaurants.

The Hungry Hunter restaurant and bar in Thousand Oaks, for instance, has been smoke free for more than four years.

``At this point it's not a big deal. People at the bar often come to see the entertainment. People know they can't smoke inside, so they go outside during the breaks,'' said Brian Cox, general manager of Hungry Hunter, which will participate in Thursday's smoke-free night.

And after 20 years of work at various restaurants and bars throughout Southern California, Cox said he is glad to see a change in policy in favor of employees.

``I used to go home smelling like cigarette smoke,'' he said. ``From an employee's perspective, this will be better. And members of the band also won't have to sit in smoke for hours and sing.''

But other neighboring communities with less stringent smoking laws for bars may have the greatest changes in store after the state law takes effect in January.

Waltman said such county municipalities as Fillmore and Santa Paula, for instance, have never implemented smoking ordinances. And Simi Valley and Oxnard, which implemented limited smoking laws in 1987 and 1988 respectively, got only as far as distinguishing smoking areas from nonsmoking areas in restaurants.