Hawaii smoking ban seems to be working

Publication Date: 2007-11-16

• Author:Treena Shapiro
• Publication:Honolulu Advertiser

A year after a tough new law regulating smoking in public places went into effect, anti-tobacco advocates are saying it's working, while operators of some licensed bars in Honolulu still complain that they're losing business.

Proponents of the ban, which applies to all enclosed public places, say complaints about violations have decreased substantially over the past nine months.

And in general, smokers interviewed seem to have accepted the new rules, which require them to move to 20 feet from any public building before they light their cigarettes...

Meanwhile, the Hawai'i Association of Bar Owners is arguing for an administrative rule change that would grant special licenses to operate smoking establishments, similar to the licenses for establishments that offer adult entertainment.

"Just give us a new classification to allow those restaurants and bars who like to have smoking" to have it, said association president Fred Remington, who is co-owner of three Irish pubs...

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, which lobbied hard for the law in 2006, isn't likely to let any exemptions pass without a fight, however.