Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Non-Smoking is Officially a Non-Issue in Pennsylvania

At least in most places it will be a non-issue...and virtually anywhere that we who enjoy good beer and good food will be frequenting in the future in the State of Pennsylvania. I'm surprised for all of the impassioned imploring for smoke-free bars, that once the announcement was made of the passed legislation, there wasn't much in the way of trumpeting on blogs, forums, or the like. I mean...we do care, right? What happened? No celebrations planned for this week as (most) Pennsylvania bars and restaurants are forced to go smoke-free? Though, I have noticed scattered e-mails from and home pages of businesses announcing their upcoming transition to a smoke-free environment. (Edit: and as I type, I trip upon a thread from our friends at BA who seem to have taken notice.) What might be interesting to see is which bars will continue to light up, coming in under the 20% food revenue threshold exemption. I also find it curious that the language of the state law appears to prohibit local municipalities from enacting stricter smoke-free policies. Apparently, this and other details of the law have forced the American Lung Association to withhold its endorsement (link to NBC news item). Still, most of us who enjoy quality food and beer will be able to do so unimpeded across Pennsylvania in a smoke-free environment beginning this coming Thursday, September 11th. And, that's a pretty good thing.

7 comments:

Dan Bengel said...

Some other blog guy wrote about this too at The Last Bottle. I agree about seeing who might be cutting back on food to stay smoking. That could be very interesting.

Bryan Kolesar said...

Hey look at this! Someone else cares about non-smoking....who knew?! Nice f#$%^ post, Dan!

Adam said...

I'm guessing that it was in a way a bigger issue when some bars broke the seal on their own and went smoke free. You know polarizing the scene into the smokers and non smokers. The chatter and fights began.

Now a ruling from on high is the great equalizer. We're all in this together now.

Who will be in and who will be out? How will they regulate it? I think I'll fall over dead the next time I walk into The Flying Pig and don't get permeated with smoke instantly. I know...it would be ironic.

Honestly I think I'm in a state of shock and disbelief.

Dave said...

Colorado went through the same thing a few years ago. But you know, after all the complaining died down, it's pretty much an accepted thing and I believe most people are thankful for it. No more do I have to endure smoky rooms to enjoy a nice beer or meal. Even the casinos are smoke free now (they had an exemption for a while). There were many bars that protested and got fined for violating the law but they eventually abided. Business really didn't drop that much initially and then went back to normal.

Bryan Kolesar said...

Very cool, looks like the Capone crew is on board with celebrating smoke-free:

Capone's wants to thank all of it's customers for bearing with us during the smoking era! We will be completely smoke free on Thursday September 11th.

We have decided to have a free sampling from 7-10pm of the following beers:

Grimbergen Blonde Ale & Dubbel
Rogue: Smoke Ale, Double Dead Guy
Uinta: Geland Amber, Pumpkin Ale
Victory: Golden Monkey, V-12
Ithaca: Old Habbit, Brute

Anonymous said...

I heard a rumor that Flying Pig will continue to allow smoking (perhaps they qualify for tavern status?).

Can anyone confirm or deny?

Adam said...

Well tonight they were....

...wait for it...

...

SMOKE FREE!

For now at least :-)