On Super Sunday, smokers sent packing at California bars

Super Bowl fans in a California bar must sit outside to smoke

January 26, 1998
Web posted at: 12:03 a.m. EDT (0003 GMT)

SAN DIEGO (CNN) -- The sports fans piled into bars throughout California on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl.

But many fumed because they couldn't puff.

Fans who wanted to light up a cigar or cigarette to celebrate Denver's 31-24 win over Green Bay had to sit outside because of a new state law that bans smoking in bars. But nowhere was the issue more apparent than in San Diego, which hosted the Super Bowl.

A media campaign has been helping snuff out ignorance about the new law.

CNN's Jim Hill takes us to the smokeless bars of San Diego. 1 min. 30 sec VXtreme video

"Advertisements in bus shelters and on the sides of trolleys and buses (and) in newspapers ... educate the public and visitors about this new law," said Robert Ross of the San Diego Health Department.

Some San Diego bar owners believe that smoking and the Super Bowl go so well together that they petitioned the state to suspend the smoking law during Super Bowl week. They argued that the law scares off out-of-state visitors who aren't used to anti-smoking laws.

"Smoke-Free Bar" ads like these can be found in bus shelter stations throughout San Diego

But the law stood firmly in place. Bar owners breaking the law could be fined up to $100 for a first offense and up to $7,000 per violation for a series of offenses. The law also allows for fines against smokers.

Some bar owners like the law, which went into effect on January 1.

Wayne Drackman, a bar owner, said: "I think I get the most compliments from out-of-state people ... especially a place like New York, where people aren't used to a no-smoking environment. ... They love it."

Bar owner Steve Zolezzi said that the law has had a "negative" effect and "that we just can't stand for that."

"There has to be a remedy," Zolezzi said.

The ban isn't meant to criminalize smoking, state officials say, but to give employees a workplace free of secondhand smoke, which has been linked to lung cancer, respiratory problems and other illnesses.

Correspondent Jim Hill contributed to this report

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.