[July 01, 2011] One year later, smoking ban gains popularity, but Tavern League says it's bad for business Tweet Jul 01, 2011 (La Crosse Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A year after taking effect, Wisconsin's smoking ban appears to be gaining support -- even from the governor -- though bar owners complain it's bad for business. Three quarters of voters support the ban on workplace smoking, according to a poll commissioned by two public health advocacy groups. That's up slightly from 2008 when the law was under debate. And nine out of 10 people say they go out at least as often to bars or restaurants. It's the rest that worry tavern owners. "How many businesses can take a 10 percent cut and survive?" said Mike Brown, president of the La Crosse County Tavern League. Brown said there are 11 bars in the county that may be closing this year, at least in part because of the smoking ban. At his Logan Bar, he said business has bounced back from last summer when the first months of the ban were the worst in a decade. "A lot of our members say it's hurt business up to 20 percent," he said. "I'm not saying it's the only reason bars are going out of business, but it's hurt a lot." Brown said bars that serve food have fared better under the smoking ban. Sales are down at Chucks Bar on La Crosse Street, but owner Tom Hudson said he can't blame the smoking ban. "With the economy, you couldn't tell anyway," he said. "I put it toward the economy." Regardless of the law's popularity, public health officials say compliance hasn't been a problem. In the first 11 months after implementation, the state received 1,163 complaints about smoking violations at about 600 businesses. There were only half a dozen complaints in La Crosse County. After a surge during winter months, complaints fell sharply in April and May. Some barkeeps have embraced the law. Linda DeGarmo invited representatives from the American Cancer Society and SmokeFree Wisconsin to her Tippy Toe Inn in Chaseburg on Thursday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the ban. DeGarmo, who lost a daughter to cancer and has seen smoking take a toll on her father and brother-in-law, disliked smoking but didn't think she could make the bar smoke free on her own. "It's a small town," she said. "You have to basically go along with what your customers like." But once the law took effect, she didn't see any dip in sales. "There was a lot of grumbling at first," she said. "After the first month or so they got used to it." Opinions among the lunch crowd ranged from enthusiastic to ambivalent. "I love it," Karen Hoff said. "It's just nice to go home and not smell like smoke." Jim Jarrett, who stops in a few times a week to shoot the breeze with his buddies, said he gave up cigarettes back when you could get a pack for a quarter. He doesn't mind smoke but concedes it's nice not getting the odor in his clothes. Despite the group's opposition to the law, Brown said the Tavern League is not pushing to have it overturned. A statewide ban is preferable to community-specific regulation, he reasons. Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday that while he did not originally support the smoking ban, he's now convinced it works and will not support repeal. That's good news for Allison Miller of the American Cancer Society, though she said there's always uncertainty when it comes to the Legislature. Should a challenge to the law materialize, she said, "We'll be here to defend it." To see more of the La Crosse Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lacrossetribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]