[Intl-tobacco] Pub staff wear gas masks to get around new non-smoking regulations while others refuse to enforce smoking ban (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Pub staff wear gas masks to get around new non-smoking regulations while
others refuse to enforce smoking ban
Source: Vancouver Sun, Monday, 1/3/00

VANCOUVER (CP) - In a cavernous pub beneath Vancouver's Granville Street,
bartenders are wearing paper suits and gas masks. The new staff uniforms
are owner Vance Campbell's answer to the Workers' Compensation Board's
tough non-smoking regulations.

 The regulations, created to protect workers from second-hand smoke, went
into effect Jan. 1 and ban smoking from all public facilities, including
pubs and restaurants.

 Campbell, vice-president of the B.C. Cabaret Association and a vocal
opponent of the new regulations, said the uniforms are his way of
complying with the regulations without banning smoking in his pub, Fred's
Uptown Tavern.

 By wearing the paper suits and gas masks, his employees will inhale less
than two cigarettes per year in a smoking environment, he said.

"You get more than that coughing up exhaust at a bus stop," Campbell said
Sunday.

"It's clear to us the agenda isn't workers' health. The real agenda is a
war between governments and the tobacco companies. We as an industry
cannot get caught in the middle of that tug of war."

Lighting up a cigarette, patron Brad Mitchell said the new regulations are
too hard on entrepreneurs.

"The government comes out smelling like a rose but it's the businesses who
suffer," said Mitchell, who is considering going only to pub and bars
where he can continue puffing. "The government's not losing (anything),
but the businesses are losing customers."

Several pub owners and staff in Kamloops said Sunday they are allowing
customers to smoke despite the new regulations.

"I can't subject my staff to getting into a confrontation with someone
who's drinking," said Bob Gradwell, owner of Inlander Neighbourhood Pub.

At the Inlander pub, bartender Joanne Merrick said she won't get into a
confrontation over a cigarette.

"If people continue to smoke, what can we do?" she said.

But some pub owners are strictly enforcing the non-smoking rules.

The manager of Rookies Sports Bar and Grill said he has told about a dozen
smokers to put out their cigarettes.

"So far all have been co-operative," said the man, who wanted to be
identified only as Wally. "I think there will be problems.

"You pick a party night and there will be more pressure."

Restaurant and bar owners who allow customers to smoke risk being fined
anywhere from $1,500 to $4,000.

Charities Bingo Hall in North Kamloops has spent about $35,000 on separate
ventilation systems for smoking and non-smoking areas in a bid to comply
with the regulations.

Manager Doug Perry said employees don't venture into the large smoking
area and sales of extra bingo cards, pull tabs, snacks and coffee are way
down.

Nine employees have been laid off as a result.

Clint Cross, owner of Duffy's, said his regular customers understand the
new rules and have been smoking outside or leaving early.

He said a confrontation with a belligerent drinker who wants to smoke is
inevitable.

"I'll deal with it when it happens. . . . I'm not going to let a guy light
up, throw the smoke on the floor and burn the carpet."

Enforcement of the regulations will be driven by complaints from the
public, who can call a toll-free "second-hand-smoke" line to report
violations.

(Vancouver Province, Kamloops News)