LEWISTON
Peter Roy would rather drink beer and play poker without having smoke blown in his face, but he and his buddies have been playing cards at Del’s Bar and Grille for years.

They started meeting at the Walnut Street tavern long before Roy gave up cigarrettes, and he would never expect them to pick a new spot simply because he decided to quit smoking after 62 years.

For now, Roy puts up with the musky odor and cloudy air. But his days in a smoky saloon may be numbered.

If all goes as predicted, Gov. John Baldacci soon will sign a bill that would add bars and pools halls to the list of public places where patrons cannot smoke.

The Maine House of Representatives voted 95-47 Tuesday to expand the state’s smoking ban, sending the bill to the Senate, which voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to enact it.

The bill will now head to Baldacci, who has already announced his intention to sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk.

“Good,” Roy said, dealing cards across the bar at Del’s. “I like it over here. These are all my friends, so I come. But looking out for my health is No. 1.”

‘Beer and a butt go together’

Roy’s opinion, however, was not shared by many others, including his poker partners and employees of local bars that already prohibit smoking.

Many described the bill as another attempt to strip smokers of their rights, and they contended that people should be able to decide whether they want to work or hang out at places where people smoke.

“Let’s just say this: A butt and beer go together,” said Roger Brown, as he puffed on a Pall Mall two seats away from Roy. “If people don’t like smoking, they can go somewhere that doesn’t allow it.”

If Baldacci signs the bill, the law would take effect on Jan. 1, 2004, making Maine the fifth state to ban smoking in bars.

Supporters of the measure have described it as a way to protect bartenders, waiters, waitresses and other non-smoking patrons from secondhand smoke.

But managers and employees of several local bars said they believe the decision should be up to the individual.

“Employees have a choice to work here or not,” said Earl St. Hilaire, who manages the Blue Goose Tavern in Lewiston. “It should be their choice.”

Magan Hallman, a bartender at Del’s Bar and Grill, agreed.

“I could go bartend at Margarita’s or The Village Inn where smoking isn’t allowed,” she said. “I choose to work here.”

Hallman and her co-workers predicted that the ban would result in loitering on the sidewalk in front of the bar.

“It’s going to cause a lot of problems,” Hallman said.

Private clubs

Smoking was banned from restaurants in 1999. Although some establishments that sell liquor and food have been able to get special licenses to allow smoking, others have opted to go smoke-free.

Gipper’s Sport Grill got rid of its ashtrays when the law took effect. The change made Woody Rogers happy.

“I wouldn’t be here if there were people smoking,” said Rogers, an ex-smoker who frequently goes to the Auburn pub for lunch. “For health reasons, I think it’s a good idea.”

Carrie LaRochelle, a bartender at Gipper’s for four years, had a different opinion. A smoker, LaRochelle said she likes working at a place that isn’t filled with smoke but she likes going to bars where she can have a cigarette.

“It should be my choice,” she said.

Some worried that people will simply go to private clubs, such as the Amvets and the downtown social clubs, to smoke and drink.

But supporters of the bill said that would not happen because any private club that is open to the public and has paid employees is already prohibited from allowing smoking under the the state’s original workplace smoking law.

Adopted in the 1980s, the law only exempted restaurants, bars, taverns and pool halls. So, according to a spokeswoman for the Maine Coalition on Smoking or Health, a private club is in the same category as a bank.

lchmelecki@sunjournal

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