Jul 16, 2008 11:26 pm US/Eastern
Md. Bars Find Ways Around Smoking Ban
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Sufficient outdoor seating is another way bars are still attracting regulars who smoke.
Maryland bars and restaurants are trying to find their way around the smoking ban, six months after it was put in place.
Kelly McPherson reports bar and restaurant owners have different opinions on how no-smoking has impacted business, but it's clear some are finding ways around the ban.
"Nothing. The bar would be empty, just me and the bartender," business owner Tim Brandenburg said.
In Keymar, a 15-minute drive from a state with smoking allowed in bars, customers are back.
"The atmosphere. I can compare it to Cheers from TV," Larry Lakota, a customer, said.
This is only after the owner got a waiver from the state. He had to prove he was losing big business. It took four months, and it worked.
"We went from nobody back to everybody again. Our business more or less tripled since we got the smoking back," Brandenburg said.
Sufficient outdoor seating is another way bars are still attracting regulars who smoke.
"Well of course they would still like to sit at the bar inside and smoke, but they cannot do that. So they get their drink and come outside," Barbara Lytle, manager of Bay Cafe, said.
Smoking under covered areas is not addressed under the new regulations. The state says it hopes owners will simply try to keep the second-hand smoke outside.
The Maryland legislature had a bill that would have allowed smoking in a semi-permanent structure. That did not go through, so the only way a bar can get around the ban is outside.
"We're doing pretty well, but our winter time hasn't come yet, so we won't know until then," Lytle said.
As for those who are granted a waiver, it's only good until 2011.
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