Over the past four decades no single issue haspreoccupied the Surgeons General of the United States more than smoking. Theirreports have alerted our country to the health risk of the habit and transformedthe issue from one of individual and consumer choice to one of epidemiology andpublic health. In time, organizations such as the U.S. National Institutes ofHealth, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. NationalCancer Institute, and the World Health Organization agreed that secondhandsmoke causes the same problems as direct smoking, including cardiovasculardisease, lung cancer and ailments such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.Public attitudes toward smoking changed with those reports, and, as a result,so did policy.
“Here in Wisconsin, the smoke-free movement reallystarted at a local level,” explains Maureen Busalacchi, executive director ofSmokeFree Wisconsin, an organization committed to reducing tobacco use inWisconsin through policy change. “When Madison and Appleton passedcomprehensive [smoke-free] lawsthey both implemented on July 1, 2005that’swhen the state conversation really heated up.”
Yet, while all our neighboring statesMinnesota,Illinois, Michigan and Iowapassed statewide smoke-free laws, Wisconsin wasn’tready to give up the ashtray. The ban’s biggest opponent was the Tavern Leagueof Wisconsin (TLW). The TLW typically lobbies for member interests at a stateand federal level, and updates and supports licensees on legal and legislativeissues affecting their industry, among other things. On the other side, acoalition supporting the statewide smoking ban grew larger in number, andincluded several local chambers of commerce and tourist bureaus, as well asheavyweight partners such as the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, the AmericanCancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American LungAssociation of Wisconsin.
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Protecting Public Health
Legislative battles over whether to pass a statewidesmoking ban ensued until May 2009, when supporters and opponents reached acompromise, and both houses of theWisconsin Legislature voted in favor of the smoking ban (the Senate voted 25-8, and theAssembly 61-38).%uFFFDSigned byGov. Jim Doyle on May 18, 2009, Wisconsin Act 12 serves to “protect the healthand comfort of the public” by prohibiting smoking in a number of specifiedplaces that are enclosed, including workplaces, both privately and publiclyowned, such as bars and restaurants. According to information from theWisconsin Legislative Council, smoking is defined as the burning or holding of,or inhaling or exhaling smoke from a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, or anyother lighted smoking equipment.
Indoor smoking is still allowed in privateresidences and some residence rooms in assisted-living facilities, as well asin tribal facilities, including casinos. As long as it is either a cigar or apipe, indoor smoking is also permitted in retail tobacco stores or tobacco barsthat have been in existence as of June 3, 2009.
Under the smoke-free law signed by Gov. Doyle in2009, an “enclosed place” was defined as a structure or area that has a roofand more than two substantial walls. A “substantial wall” was defined as a wallwith an opening, door or window, that may be used to allow air in from theoutside, that is less than 25% of the wall’s surface area. This definitionexcluded a solid wall with no windows. So in April 2010, less than three monthsbefore the law was going into effect, the Legislature passed and the governorsigned into law Act 276, which amended the definition of substantial wall tomean a wall without an opening or with an opening that either does not allowair in from the outside or that is less than 25% of the wall’s surface area.The new law allows smoking in structures that have a roof but not more than twosubstantial walls, so establishment owners can construct outdoor patios ordesignate an outside area on public property where customers can smoke.
Now that the smoke-free law has passed, restaurantand tavern owners are focusing on where they can allow their patrons to smoke.According to a letter written by Tavern League of Wisconsin President RobSwearingen to TLW members, the TLW ultimately supported Act 12 because the compromise contained two key elementsaphase-in period and pre-emption. The phase-in period gave owners more than ayear to prepare their establishments for the law to go into effect on July 5,2010. As for pre-emption, under Act 12 counties, cities, towns and villagesretain their authority to enact ordinances as long as they comply with thepurpose of the smoking ban, which is to protect public health. The Act makesone new change to this local authority: If a county, city, town or villageenacts any ordinance regulating or prohibiting outside smoking, the ordinancemay apply only to public property under the entity’s jurisdiction. In addition,the ordinance must provide that a bar or restaurant may designate an outsidearea where people can smoke that is a reasonable distance from an entrance tothe building.
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Enforcement of New Law
Local police and sheriff’s departments have thepower to enforce the smoking ban. For the “persons in charge” of places wheresmoking is prohibited, take heed. Act 12 requires that you enforce theprohibitions by taking steps to foster compliance, such as not providingashtrays and matches; posting “no smoking” signs; asking a person to stopsmoking; asking a person who is smoking to leave; refusing to serve saidperson; and notifying the law if that person refuses to leave after beingrequested to do so. Anyone caught smoking in a prohibited area is subject to a$100-$250 fine for each violation. Anyone in charge who violates the “person incharge” provision will be issued a warning notice for the first violation, anda $100 fine for each violation after that (but that amount can’t exceed $100 intotal for all violations occurring on a single day).
It’s the end of an era, folks. The days of catchinga show, sipping a beer or serving a meal in a haze of tobacco smoke will soonbe history. Whether you support it or oppose it, the statewide smoking ban is areality on July 5.
