Tobacco.org

• National smoking ban draws mixed response 

The Swiss Pulmonary League has slammed the cabinet’s announcement yesterday on terms of the nationwide smoking ban, which will come into effect on May 1 next year. The ruling has, however, been broadly welcomed by the hotel and restaurant industry.

The Pulmonary League has accused the government of ‘bending over backwards’ to accommodate the tobacco industry’s lobbies, saying the law, as discussed in parliament, has been woefully watered down.

On the other hand, representatives of the hotel and restaurant sector say they’re relieved that the cabinet has steered the legislation ‘more or less back on the right track’.

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Strict New Santa Cruz Smoking Ban Goes Into Effect  

Santa Cruz residents will not be allowed to smoke outdoors in certain areas of the city under a new ban that took effect Thursday.

A new ordinance, approved by the City Council on Sept. 22, prohibits smoking on Pacific Avenue, Beach Street between the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and Third Street, and West Cliff Drive.

Smoking is also now illegal in city parks, on the Municipal Wharf and in all outdoor dining areas in the city.

The new rules will also bump up the number of smoke-free hotel rooms

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Smoke-Free Policy | FAQ  

Read all about the Walt Disney World Resort hotels and Disney Vacation Club Resort Smoke-Free Policy.

When did the "no smoking" policy go into effect?

All Disney owned and operated Resort hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort and all Disney Vacation Club resorts became smoke-free environments on June 1, 2007. . . .

Why institute this policy?

This policy allows us to better accommodate the increasing numbers of Guests who request non-smoking hotel rooms and complements our efforts to provide our Guests with the healthy living options they are requesting.

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Smoke Free FAQ 

Walt Disney World Hotel and Disney Vacation Club Resort Smoke Free Policy FAQ

Beginning June 1, 2007, Disney owned and operated resort hotels and Disney Vacation Club resorts will become smoke-free environments. This policy includes all guest rooms, balconies, patios, meeting spaces, restaurants, lounges and public space. Smoking will be allowed in designated outdoor smoking locations only. A room recovery fee will be charged for smoking in Guest rooms, on balconies, or on patios. . . .

Q. When does this policy go into effect?

A. All Disney owned and operated resort hotels at the Walt Disney World; Resort and all Disney Vacation Club resorts will become smoke- free environments June 1, 2007. . . .

Q. How will smokers be accommodated?

A. Smoking will be allowed in the designated outdoor smoking locations of each resort. Guests can request location information upon check-in.

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Local hotel director concerned about details of smoking ordinance  

The smoking ban ordinance has some exceptions, meaning you can smoke in private buildings, homes and hotels.

Lee Evans, director of operations at the Country Inn and Suites, said that's not a problem.

He said the problem is having an ordinance that's hard to enforce and understand.

“It’s contradictory language,” he said.

Evans said it starts on page nine of the ordinance that says smoking is prohibited in hotels and motels, where 80 percent of rooms are available for rent to guests. . . .

no more than 20 percent of rooms can be smoking.

Evans said he'd prefer it be all or nothing.

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RICHARDS: Fairbanks guests clear the air with old-time smoke stories 

Most guests are aware of the no-smoking policy prior to making reservations, but occasionally someone arrives who is a smoker. Such was the case for Kim. Kim was a polite smoker and went outside to smoke no matter the time of day, the weather or the smoke from the fires. One morning after breakfast, Kim scooted out for her after-breakfast smoke. She came back inside with a pack of cigarettes in her hand and rejoined the table group for a second cup of what she referred to as “Mary’s brown water.” Along with her cigarettes, Kim liked the spoon to stand up straight in her coffee.

One of the guests at the breakfast table mentioned to Kim that he was a former smoker.

An employee commented about third-hand smoke, which was a new term to me. She explained that third-hand smoke was under discussion as possibly being hazardous to your health. As a new mom up on such things, she said it was the odor or smoke saturation on clothes, car seats, furniture and carpets.

These simple statements led to other guests joining in with their own smoking tales. As those of us know who grew up during the 1960s and the ’70s, not only did everyone smoke but you could smoke anywhere. Even my high school had a smoking rink for students bold enough to use it. I never know where the table talk will lead, but that particular morning it led to amusement for all. . . .

Part of Richard’s training was with a doctor in the emergency room who was a chain smoker. This fellow had a standing order for the staff that when a patient was put on a gurney there should be an ashtray placed between the patient’s legs so he would always have one nearby.

He said the emergency room was well stocked with old beanbag-style ashtrays that would not tip over. Seems the only thing he ever got into trouble for during his ER rotation was removing an ashtray.

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More hotels go completely smoke-free 

Amid growing public concern about the dangers of secondhand smoke, the number of lodgings prohibiting smoking indoors has tripled in three years, according to a USA TODAY analysis of American Automobile Association data.

There are more than 8,300 smoke-free lodgings in the USA -- nearly 6,000 more than in 2005, AAA's figures show.

CHART: Smoke-free hotels across the USA

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NYGREN: Guest column: Smoking ban for hotels hurts Wisconsin's border cities 

The Green Bay Press-Gazette's editorial "Legislature needlessly relights debate" (Aug. 19) left out some of the facts about the bill to partially exempt hotels from the statewide smoking ban.

Assembly Bill 295 would allow 25 percent of rooms in a lodging establishment to be smoking. No other state in the nation completely bans smoking in these establishments. We would be at a competitive disadvantage to Minnesota (which even with its ban does not completely ban smoking in lodging establishments) and Michigan (which does not have a ban) as well as our other neighbors. . . .

Prohibiting hotels from allowing smoking rooms only entered the smoking ban at the very end because of some secret negotiations that I was not a part of. Only the authors and special-interest groups were involved to my knowledge.

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Cigar bars face legal fog 

It will be at least October before the first patron can legally light up in a Nebraska cigar bar.

Hobert Rupe, executive director of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, said Thursday the wait will depend on how quickly a set of rules and regulations moves through the approval process.

He commented after a commission hearing on draft rules and regulations. The commission is expected to vote at its September meeting on adopting -- and possibly amending -- those rules.

A new state law takes effect Aug. 30 exempting specially licensed cigar bars from the statewide public smoking ban.

The exemption is in addition to those for tobacco shops, some hotel rooms, laboratories used for research on smoking and home-based businesses.

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At Issue: Should some hotel rooms be designated for smoking? 

Wisconsin inns and hotels would be able to allow smoking in up to 25 percent of their rooms under a bill in the Legislature that would amend the statewide smoking ban. . . .

The case for

State Rep. Terry Van Akkeren, D-Sheboygan, chairman of the Assembly tourism committee that is reviewing the bill, said it is necessary because all of the states around Wisconsin have similar exemptions for hotels. He said Wisconsin would be an "island" without such measures and tourism could be harmed if smokers chose to stay just in a hotel just across the border. . . .

The case against

Bars and taverns deserve an exemption if hotels receive one, said Pete Madland, executive director of the Wisconsin Tavern League.

"The arguments that are being used are the same arguments we used to try to defeat the smoking ban," Madland said, whose group fought the statewide ban for years.

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Local hotel says state smoking ban already impacting business 

Some Wisconsin hotel owners say the new smoking ban will not only snuff out the smoke it will also put out their guests.

The statewide smoking ban takes effect next summer and it will mean an end to designated smoking rooms. Hotel owners are hoping to convince lawmakers to give them an exemption. At the plaza hotel in Eau Claire, crews have already started converting smoking rooms. Each room costs about $100 to convert and management says it's already affecting business.

Plaza Hotel Assistant Manager Jeremiah Reichert says, "Truck drivers and we have railroaders and stuff and they stay in their same room, same number every week and just today we swapped one room to non-smoking and I had to move a guest, all 8 reservations to another room."

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WPR News Headlines: Hospitality industry wants exceptions worked into looming smoking ban  

Tom Ziarnik who manages Doubletree Inns in Madison and Milwaukee, told a panel of state lawmakers recently that Harley mechanics regularly stay at his Milwaukee hotel when they come to town for training. Ziarnick says almost all of them want smoking rooms and he doesn't want to lose that big piece of business should they take their training classes out of state. He and other innkeepers support a plan that would let hotels set aside up to 25-percent of their rooms for smokers. All of Wisconsin's neighboring states have some kind of exemption.

Democratic Assembly Sponsor Gary Sherman says without the exemption some of the motels in his tourism-dependant Northern Wisconsin district could get hurt. He named the city of Hurley, which is right across the Michigan border. He says all a person has to do is drive half a mile to bypass the motels there, and deprive it of its only remaining industry.

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Wisconsin hotels seek exemption to smoking ban  

Managers of some Wisconsin hotels want an exemption to the statewide smoking ban before it takes effect next summer.

The ban covers all workplaces, including bars, restaurants and hotels. That means an end to designated smoking rooms.

Tom Ziarnik manages Doubletree Inns in Madison and Milwaukee. He wants to be able to set aside 25 percent of rooms for smoking.

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Bill Would Exempt Some Hotel Rooms From Smoking Ban 

The Wisconsin Legislature is considering a bill that would exempt 25 percent of hotel rooms from the statewide smoking ban. It's scheduled to take effect next July. Rep. Mark Gottlieb of Port Washington is one of the sponsors of the legislation. He says although he voted in favor of the workplace ban, he thinks smoking should be allowed in some hotel rooms.

"Hotels are a different situation. When you rent a hotel room essentially that becomes your private residence for the length of time that you've rented it. There's really not employees in there serving you so to me, the hotel issue is distinct and separate from the workplace issue," Gottlieb says.

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• Hotel smoking bans: Can you get away with beating a ban?  

On Tuesday, I asked you "Do you think hotels are too tough on smokers?," which proved to be a hot topic even though it's been almost three years since Marriott became the largest hotel operator to ban smoking in all its hotels.

Hands-down, I'd say the most eyebrow-raising comment came from reader Zipptydoda, who revealed a way to beat the ban (and risk of being charged a $250 room cleaning fee by Marriott hotels). Here is what Zipptydoda wrote:

"When I go to a non-smoking hotel such as Marriott, the first thing I do when I get to the room is light up. Then after I finish my cigarette, I go down to the front desk and complain that the rooms smells of smoke. When the ask me if I would like to switch rooms I say, 'No, I just unpacked. Please make a note of it.' I then proceed to smoke for the rest of my stay," Zipptydoda wrote. "I have never been charged a smoker's cleaning fee." . . .

* Go further with hotel smoking bans: Reader gersh94 criticized people who light up in non-smoking rooms and appreciates the bans since "you cannot control where the smoke goes, or the stink you leave behind." Gersh94 complained about a Le Meridien hotel in France where, even though the room was a non-smoking room, the pool allowed smoking.

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