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The Great Smoke Out:
One year later

How are local restaurants,
bars, and customers weathering
the smoking ban?
By Michael R. Abramowitz
Posted July 14, 2004

WEST PALM BEACH - Scott Galvin, 27, of Lake Worth, is your basic chain smoker.

He's visited bars and restaurants across the West Palm Beach area for the last year, adapting to Amendment 6 - the law enacted in July 2003 that banned smoking in establishments that earn

more than 10 percent of
their revenues from food sales.

Galvin adjusted nicely to the law, first calling it just a "minor inconvenience." However, that was until he dined in a local Bennigan's recently. Galvin, frustrated from waiting more than 20 minutes to receive his bill, stepped outside to light up. He returned to the table several minutes later, where the waitress angrily confronted him. Apparently, she thought he had ditched her on the check.

"I said, 'No... I went outside to smoke a cigarette," Galvin described in utter frustration. "Forget what I said about a minor inconvenience, it's a major inconvenience!"

While smokers acclimate to the new laws, restaurants and bars in the Villages have dealt with the new rules, too. Some have faired better than others.

At Gatsby's Palm Beach in the Village Commons, bar management made the business decision to cut food sales and offer 25 percent discounts on food after 8 p.m. That way, they stay in compliance with the law's threshold of total food sales to alcohol sales, in order to cater to smokers.

Stephen Marino, vice president of marketing for Gatsby's, says that despite the price cuts, total sales are virtually the same.

"We're learning to deal with it, and we're making sure our revenues comply with the law," said Marino. "Our revenues with the law are kind of a wash."

Conversely, TGI Friday's management privately lamented that compliance "definitely slowed down business" since the restaurant went smoke-free. Other restaurants, such as John Bull English Pub, have converted to the smoke-free environment seamlessly, with no affect on sales whatsoever, according to management.

While Galvin cursed his fate, non-smokers generally love the law, saying that they don't have to deal with coming home smelling like an ashtray or worry about the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Rez Seyedin, president of the non-profit Smoke Free Society in Palm Beach Gardens, quit smoking in 1985 using a stop-smoking program that he created and detailed in his book, "Stop Smoking in 17 Days: Proven Stop Smoking Technique." Seyedin's program weans people off cigarettes without the use of gum, patches or medicine.

"When I coined the phrase 'Smoke Free Society' in 1985, I never thought it would happen," Seyedin recalls. "I honestly thought we'd never see non-smoking bars and restaurants. When I stopped smoking 20 years ago, the support system wasn't there. Now, by stopping smoking in public places, the support system is there."

Seyedin cites statistics that the restaurant business statewide benefited from a 7 percent jump in sales since Amendment 6 took effect. Meanwhile, he says that bars, overall, have only seen a 1.4 percent decline in revenues.

While Seyedin feels for the plight of smokers, he believes that the ban should extend to 100 feet outside the restaurant's doors. Otherwise, non-smokers will suffer from not sitting outside as cigarette smokers light up, and the fact that the last breath of fresh air customers often take is clouded by second-hand smoke.

 Marino counters that both non-smokers and smokers like the fact that Gatsby's adjusted their business model to accommodate smoking. Still, some customers don't like the fact that the bar caters to the smoking crowd.

"One guy actually said to me, 'I've been drinking in your place for three nights a week for the last four years, and I can't understand how you can allow smoking, especially after the government has deemed that it is bad for your health,'" said Marino. "So, I said to him, 'You know drinking three nights a week for four years is bad for your health, too.'"

In other words, pick your inconvenience.

Editor's Note: To learn more on how to quit smoking and to order a copy of Seyedin's book, be sure to check out www.smokefreesociety.org.

Copyright (C) 2004. Neighborhood News Group Inc. All rights reserved.


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