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Oregon Expands Smoking Ban to Include Bars, Taverns
On January 1, Oregon became the 21st U.S. state to expand a workplace smoking ban to include restaurants, bars and taverns, the Associated Press reports. Expanding a 2001 workplace smoking ban, the new law prohibits smoking in all businesses, including bars, taverns, bar areas inside restaurants, bowling alleys and bingo halls. Smoke shops and cigar bars are the only exceptions to the ban. Hotels can designate up to one-quarter of their rooms as smoking rooms, and tribal casinos and restaurants are authorized to specify and enforce their own rules. The state Department of Human Services will uphold the law, and penalties for noncompliance will range from as much as $500 a day and $2,000 a month (Hudetz, AP/Oregonian, 12/30/08; Wong, Oregon Statesman Journal, 1/1/09).