Most of public gives support to smoking ban.

Byline: SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard

Four out of five Eugene voters support the city's 16-month-old ban on smoking in all workplaces, including bars and taverns, according to a survey by the Tobacco-Free Coalition of Oregon.

Most said health concerns, including the harmful effects of secondhand smoke and allergies, were why they liked the city's smoke-free workplace ordinance.

Coalition leaders suspected as much but wanted to confirm public sentiment about the city's smoking ban.

"It was mostly to let the policy-makers in town feel comfortable with the decision that they made and that they're fairly well supported," said Dana Kaye, of the coalition.

The City Council voted 7-1 to adopt the ordinance in November 2000, and it went into effect in July 2001.

The most vocal critics of the ban have been bar and tavern owners. Many claimed that their businesses should be exempted, as is the case with a year-old state law that applies where stricter local ordinances weren't already in effect.

In another recent survey, the Lane County Public Health Department asked owners and managers of 400 restaurants and bars what they think now of Eugene's ordinance. Of the 214 who responded, 86 percent reported having no problems enforcing the smoking ban, and 84 percent said they have no concerns about the law.

Of those who said they initially were apprehensive about the law, 30 percent had changed their minds after it was enforced.

The results clearly show that local businesses and their customers see the benefits of forbidding indoor smoking, said Stephanie Young-Peterson, the county's tobacco prevention coordinator.

Steve Briggs, manager of the East 19th Street Cafe, a McMenamins pub just south of the University of Oregon campus, said the smoking ban has made the workplace nicer and the crew healthier. "I don't miss it at all," Briggs said.

He used to feel the smoke in his chest after a busy shift. "It's just so great not to have to feel like that anymore," he said.

And though some opponents of the ordinance worried that it would drive away patrons to bars in Springfield or outside the city limits, where smoking is still allowed, that didn't happen at his business, Briggs said.

"In fact, it's been busier than heck since school started," he said. "Initially it may have hurt us for sales, but that backlash wore off pretty quick."

That hasn't happened at the Brew & Cue on Highway 99 North, owner Bob McCabe said. He reports that his business is down 40 percent since the ban took effect.

"It's like somebody turned the lights off," said McCabe, adding that he had to let go six employees, or half his staff.

"All of them were single mothers making decent income with wages and tips, and now they're on unemployment or welfare," he said. "And no one else is hiring."

The survey of Eugene voters showed that 29 percent visit bars and taverns in the city more often, and 15 percent visit them less often since the ban began. In addition, 84 percent said they did not go to a bar or tavern outside city limits because of the ordinance.

"People aren't leaving town in droves, and more people are going out, so our community should be better," said Pat Cookson of the American Cancer Society. "On the whole, it is better."

But Patty McCall, owner of The Cooler Pub & Grill on Centennial Loop, said the prohibition on indoor smoking has chased away so many customers that she probably will pull the plug on the business soon.

"It's bankrupted me," McCall said. "I can't continue on."

The dropoff in business at The Cooler - it's down 43 percent, she said - also may doom her first place, The Blarney Stone on College View Road.

McCall said she didn't have room to add an outdoor seating area as many taverns have done to accommodate smokers.

"People just don't like having to go outside in the cold and smoke," she said. "I really feel that it's not been a well thought-out decision on the City Council's part. It was a rash decision, and they do not know how to back out of it."

In Springfield, business has picked up about 25 percent at the O.K. Tavern and Lounge, said owner Marcia Kivela, who attributes it to the Eugene ordinance.

"I think almost all the bars in Springfield have seen an increase in business," Kivela said. "A lot of times people will come in and say, `Oh, that's right, we can smoke here.' '

She said the ordinance also has kept her and her husband from frequenting bars on the other side of Interstate 5.

"I wouldn't want to own a bar in Eugene at this time," Kivela said.

A minority of business owners have continued to knock the smoking ban, but it's working well most everywhere, Young-Peterson said. "A large group of businesses are fine with it or don't care one way or another," she said.

Restaurants and bars routinely open and close, and it would be difficult to pin the blame squarely on the smoking policy, she said. "But what we do know from a public health standpoint is everyone is protected," she said.

Compliance with the law also has improved appreciably this year. The county health department, which fields complaints, took 53 calls about violations in the last half of 2001 and another 63 calls in the first half of this year. Since then, it has received only three complaints.

Likewise, the city has not issued a single civil penalty to any Eugene business since May. Before that, 14 penalties had been issued to 12 businesses.

The telephone survey of 250 likely voters was conducted Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 by the Portland polling firm of Davis, Hibbits & McCaig.

It had a margin of error of 6 percent.

More than half of the respondents said they never smoked, and just 9 percent said they now smoke.

Forty-four percent were 55 or older and 38 percent were ages 35 to 54. For the other survey, the health department mailed a questionnaire to restaurants in September.

SMOKING SURVEYS

Likely Eugene voters:

Support Eugene's workplace smoke ban? 69 percent - strongly

support

13 percent - somewhat support

6 percent - somewhat oppose

11 percent - strongly oppose

How often visit bars and taverns now? 29 percent - more often

15 percent - less often

52 percent - about as often

Go to bars and taverns outside city limits because of smoking ban? 15 percent - yes

84 percent - no

Restaurant and bar/tavern owners and managers:

Problems with employee compliance? 96 percent - no

Problems with customer compliance? 86 percent - no

Concerns about smoke-free law? 78 percent - no concerns before law passed

84 percent - no concerns since law passed

Lost business because of law? 9 percent - lost business

5 percent - lost significant business

- Tobacco-Free Coalition of Oregon; Lane County Public Health Department