Legislation takes effect Friday

The public smoking ban for Bloomington and all of Monroe County will take effect Friday. The ordinance encompasses all public buildings, including office buildings and restaurants. The only exception is private clubs and businesses, which do not admit minors and already have smoking sections. These places will have to be smoke-free by January 1, 2005.\nThe Bloomington City Council voted 8-1 in March to implement the smoking ban in Bloomington. This ban then was extended in May to include all of Monroe County. The main goal of the smoking ban is to improve the public health and allow non-smokers to avoid harmful secondhand smoke.\nRestaurant owners are greatly affected by this ordinance. \n"A lot of people who come here are non-smokers, but it will still affect my business somewhat," Kunyang Norbu, owner of the Café Django, said. Currently, Café Django has an outdoor patio where smoking is allowed, but the entire restaurant must go smoke-free Friday. Although it could possibly hurt her business, Norbu said she is in favor of the smoking ban.\n"I think it will improve the public health," she said. "Overall it's good, but it will be hard on smokers."\nBloomington City Councilman Jason Banach was the one dissenting vote in the March decision to ban smoking in Bloomington. \n"I don't think there is any effective enforcement mechanism, which was one of my main objections to the ordinance," Banach said. \nThe ordinance will rely on public complaints or "peer enforcement," Banach added.\nBy Friday, people with complaints about smoking in public places can call a hot-line number (349-3850) or e-mail complaints to smokefree@city.bloomington.in.us.\nToday, Yogi's Grill & Bar, in response to the smoking ban, will become an exclusively 21-and-over establishment in order to avoid the ban until 2005.\n"It's going to hurt a lot of the daytime business, but over half of our business is done from the bar side after 10 p.m., which puts us in competition with other bars that allow smoking," owner Chris Karl said. \nKarl said he believes Yogi's could be at an advantage after the ordinance takes effect, because Yogi's will be one of the few restaurants in Bloomington that will allow smoking. \nHow the ordinance will be accepted by the public remains to be seen.\nBanach said that he wouldn't be surprised if the entire state of Indiana, following the lead of states like California and New York, went smoke-free within 5 years. \n"The public will welcome it at most restaurants and despise it at most bars," he said.