Now that the smoke has cleared...

How are customers and businesses in Tigard and Tualatin faring with the new smoke ban?

By Leah Weissman And Stover E Harger Iii

The Times, Feb 5, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (8 Reader comments)

Jonathan House / The Times

BLOWIN’ SMOKE – Tigard residents B. Ryan, left, and Art Fyock both enjoy a cigarette in the back patio of the Bounty Hunter Saloon Tuesday evening.

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One month after the extended Oregon workplace smoking ban was implemented, the veil of smoke in many taverns has vanished and second-hand smoke is less of a threat to employees – but feelings concerning the ban are still split.

As patrons – both smokers and non-smokers – adjust to the change in scenery in their neighborhood drinking holes, bar owners are beginning to notice changes to their business. Some proclaim an increase in customers because of a healthier environment and others say profits are down, a product of lagging video poker sales.

Some locals are upset with the ban as they are literally pushed out into the cold.

“I don’t think it was right. Right now we are out here smoking in the freaking cold,” said Tigard resident B. Ryan, 40, who would not give his first name, as he took a drag from his cigarette, and blew smoke into the chilly air.

“If the owner wanted a non-smoking bar, he would have created it,” said Art Fyock, 37, of Tigard.

He and Ryan were sitting at a wooden table in the covered patio connected to the Bounty Hunter Saloon in Tigard. The patio had been refurbished and equipped with a temporary roof and heaters to shelter smokers during the cold winter months.

“We haven’t frequented our favorite bar, Gator’s, because they don’t have an outdoor patio like this,” Fyock said.

Other smokers have accepted the ban with an optimistic outlook.

“I’m all in favor of it because I don’t want to smoke as much as I used to,” said Portland resident Matthew Korfhage, 31. “When I sit in a bar I chain smoke.”

He said his attitude would be different, though, if he lived in Washington.

“If I had to smoke in the middle of the street, then I’d be angry. But 10 feet isn’t so bad,” he said. The smoking ban in Washington requires smokers to fill their nicotine fix at least 25 feet away from any establishment, as opposed to Oregon’s 10-foot rule.

The price of smoke-free

While the smoking ban was designed to look out for workers’ health, something else has gotten ill in the process – Oregon video poker. People often sat and smoked while playing the machines.

“Sales are down 50 percent since the smoking ban was instated,” said Jim Prenty, owner of Home Turf Sports Bar in Tigard and Jimmy’s Bar and Grill in Portland. “It’s a significant amount of money. It’s probably costing me about $1,000 a week. Everybody I’ve spoken to says sales are off.”

According to Oregon Lottery spokesman Chuck Baumann, lottery video poker sales have been about $3 million less each week since the beginning of the year compared to January 2008.

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