Pennsylvania - September 11th, one year after smoking ban took effect..

September 10, 2009 - Pennsylvania's smoking ban took effect on September 11, 2008.. A year after it was implemented, the statewide smoking ban is receiving mixed reviews from bar and restaurant owners. The ban, part of the Clean Indoor Air Act, brought fresh air to public places such as sports venues, workplaces and restaurants.

Pennsylvania's law is not as strict as the other surrounding states. Some of the compromises include: bars and taverns whose food sales comprise no more than 20 percent of gross annual sales are permitted to have smoking, even if the bar is connected to an eating area, as long as the eating area has a separate entrance and ventilation system. For casino owners smoking will be allowed on 25 percent of the gaming floor - 50 percent if economic hardship can be proven because of the smoking limitation.

Restaurant owners say since the law took effect, it has both helped and hurt business. Some establishments are attracting more customers in their dining rooms while others have lost bar regulars.

Christy Leiter of Tower City in Schuylkill County, said she now frequents establishments she used to avoid. "It has changed for the better. I hate to go to places where the smoke lingers and you can just smell it when you get there. It's unappetizing," she said.

The Pennsylvania Restaurant Association supports a more comprehensive ban for the health benefits of employees working in the hospitality industry, Conway said.

So far, 249 citations and 288 warnings have been issued statewide to establishments for allowing smoking and/or having no signs or improper signs about being a nonsmoking place, according to the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.

For more comments about the smoking ban see the reference..

Reference: A year later, smoking ban gets mixed reviews from restaurant owners by SUE GLEITER, Of The Patriot-News, 9/8/2009.

Related news briefs:
More evidence - Casino workers face greater chance of disease..;
Pennsylvania may begin to tax OTPs - do it by Weight..;
Pennsylvania - Judge rules Camel Ads Violated Ban On Cartoons..;
Pennsylvania Smoking Ban - Lots of Exceptions..;
Pennsylvania - Cigarette Vending Machines NO Longer Wanted..; Finally Pennsylvania's Smoking Ban Takes Effect Today..;
Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania wants to pay for providing health insurance;
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is proposing an excise tax on tobacco...