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• Gov. Kaine Kicks Off 'Countdown To The Restaurant Smoking Ban'  

With just about 50 days to go before the Commonwealth’s landmark smoking ban goes into effect, Governor Timothy M. Kaine is joining dining patrons and community leaders across Virginia today to highlight restaurants that have already gone smoke-free. The new law—called “monumental” in one of the nation’s biggest tobacco-producing states—takes effect December 1 and will prohibit smoking in nearly all restaurants across the Commonwealth. The Governor is visiting successful restaurants in Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke and Fairfax County that have voluntarily gone smoke-free.

“This historic public health measure will only enhance the high quality of life Virginians have come to enjoy by protecting restaurant patrons and employees from the serious health risks of secondhand smoke,” said Governor Kaine. “With a growing number of Virginia restaurants that have already found they can be both smoke-free and successful, I encourage other restaurants to go smoke-free before December 1 to immediately protect restaurant-goers and workers alike.”

By enacting a ban on smoking in the Commonwealth’s bars and restaurants, Virginia joins the 27 states and the District of Columbia which have already passed similar legislation. Virginia’s law permits narrow exceptions for private clubs and restaurants with designated smoking rooms that are structurally separate and independently vented from non-smoking dining rooms.

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