Smoke-free on Tobacco Road?

Big news out of the legislature this week is that a statewide anti-smoking bill passed the state house on Wednesday and awaits Gov. Perdue's signature. All well and good; but if it becomes law, we'll see how effective it actually is at ending smoking in nightclub venues.

Indeed, local anti-smoking laws have been on the books for years in the Triangle -- and they've been roundly ignored for just as long. For some background on that, below is a feature from 2006 about this very issue. In particular, note the section at the end (headlined "A smoke-free world?").

No-smoking policies pop up at Triangle nightspots -- but they're far from fully accepted
By David Menconi, News & Observer
Oct. 6, 2006

You could say it's a sign of the times: "For the enjoyment of all our customers, The Longbranch has become a smoke free environment. We know this might be tough for some, so we have a smoking lounge and a deck for your comfort."

Could it be that the Longbranch -- a 3,192-capacity bar with a mechanical bull, and the very definition of a smoke-filled room on crowded nights -- is biting the bullet and banning smoking? It seems too good to be true. And it is, because this sign is no longer on the wall there.

"Well, we've had to make some adjustments," sighs Shelle McCollum, the Longbranch's office manager.

Going smoke-free had been part of the Longbranch's master plan when it reopened last month after a nine-week shutdown to meet various city and fire codes (which cost $400,000, according to McCollum). It was a nice idea, and it even worked. Until Saturday night rolled around.

"Saturdays are just too crowded, and it's a crowd that really comes to party," McCollum says. "Our bouncers would be overwhelmed trying to babysit that many people. So for now, that's just not going to work. We hope to phase into being smoke-free all the time eventually."

The Longbranch's travails illustrate the difficulties live-music venues face in figuring out what to do about smoking. Smoking is not permitted at Raleigh's RBC Center, Durham's Carolina Theatre and other large sit-down venues. But it's trickier for venues where alcohol is a bigger part of the equation.

"Even though I'm a music venue, most of my money comes off of bar sales," says Glenn Boothe, who owns Chapel Hill's Local 506. And cigarettes, alcohol and live music just seem to go together. But for nonsmokers, going home after a show smelling like an ashtray is no fun -- and there's mounting evidence that it's also dangerous.

A recent Surgeon General's report concludes that there is "no risk-free level of exposure" to secondhand smoke. The American Lung Association estimates that secondhand smoke causes more than 26,000 deaths per year from lung cancer and heart disease.

Three years ago, the 615-capacity Cat's Cradle got ahead of the curve when it banned smoking inside. If you want to smoke at the Cradle now, you have to do it on the smoking patio behind the club -- which has actually emerged as one of the club's prime spots for killing time between bands. At singer/songwriter M. Ward's recent sold-out show, about 20 people were out on the patio, smoking and even shooting baskets (the Cradle thoughtfully provides a basketball goal).

"I don't even smoke, but this is the best place here to hang out and talk," Angie Carlson said.

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Making everybody happy

While Saturday at the Longbranch is the same as it ever was, the club's country side is smoke-free every other night of the week. On those nights, smoking is confined to the "Red Room" smoking lounge (plus a smoking deck outside). The Longbranch's smaller "Top 40" side allows smoking on the nights it is open, Thursday through Saturday.

On a recent weekday night, most of the people at the Longbranch for a two-step dance class expressed support for the policy. Nonsmoker Nancy Van Dyke, who has been coming to the Longbranch's dance classes for several years, calls the new smoke-free environment "good clean fun."

"It's great to come here now and not be choking afterward," concurs her friend, Terra Fox.

Even the smokers seem down with the program. Says Bob Loeh, a longtime Longbranch regular, "I've been smoking three packs a day for 30 years, and if I can go without while I'm in here, anybody can."

But that's a Tuesday-night crowd. Saturday is an entirely different beast, even from Friday.

"Fridays are more couples, people coming to dance," McCollum says. "Saturdays are rowdier crowds -- a lot of bachelorette parties, people who just turned 21, things like that. So ... we're just trying to make an atmosphere where everybody's happy. We've been in business 25 years, and it's hard to change something like that overnight."

Like the Longbranch, most other bar venues take a middle-ground approach of trying to limit smoking without banning it. You can't smoke in the front room by the stage at The Cave in Chapel Hill, but you can in the back room. At Raleigh's Lincoln Theatre, you can't smoke downstairs, but you can at the back of the newly installed upstairs balcony. And Kings in Raleigh recently instituted a new policy of no smoking before midnight.

As for what smoking regulations do to cash flow, that's hard to say. Cradle owner Frank Heath says he thinks he's had "a little bit of an uptick" from going nonsmoking. But Mouse Mock, who owns The Cave, says he has lost business from limiting smoking.

"My first few months, all my regulars ditched me and went elsewhere because they couldn't sit at the bar and smoke," Mock says. "I absolutely felt it. A lot have come back, but I still don't get the same early-evening crowd I used to."

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A smoke-free world?

The Longbranch's McCollum says she wishes "a law would get passed to ban smoking" to ease the transition. In fact, such a regulation is already on the books.

Raleigh instituted a no-smoking ordinance in 1992, prohibiting smoking in "art/entertainment facilities" -- defined as "any enclosed facility engaged in the business of exhibiting motion pictures, plays or performances to an audience." Orange County has a similar ordinance, although it exempts private clubs (which Raleigh's ordinance does not).

Violations are misdemeanors. But enforcement is virtually non-existent, so smokers pay about as much heed as drivers do to speed limits.

"Nobody's asked a question about this in our office in several years, as near as I can recall," says Chapel Hill town attorney Ralph Karpinos.

When asked why Raleigh's no-smoking ordinance doesn't seem to be enforced, Raleigh city attorney Tom McCormick answers, "I really couldn't say."

One way or another, it seems inevitable that every venue will be smoke-free. It's already happening elsewhere. Austin, Texas, passed a no-smoking law last year, causing dire predictions of music venues folding by the score. But the sky didn't fall.

"It turned out a lot better than anybody expected," says reporter Darcie Stevens, who covered the issue for the Austin Chronicle. "People got used to it pretty quickly. I'm a smoker, and even I enjoy not reeking so much."

Eric "Roscoe" Ambel plays guitar in Steve Earle's band, and he also co-owns New York City's Lakeside Lounge. The Lakeside survived after the city instituted a smoking ban in 2003, but not without taking a hit.

"In New York, a lot of people lost jobs and money," Ambel says. "Anybody who says their revenue didn't go down is lying. People used to come to the Lakeside and smoke and drink for two hours. Now they drink for an hour and a half, and they spend a half-hour out on the sidewalk where they can't drink, smoking. That perfectly represents the 20 to 25 percent loss we've had."

Still, people adjust. Ambel says that when you go into bars in New York now, you'll see empty chairs with a drink covered by a napkin -- which has become the signal for, "This is my chair and my drink, so leave it alone while I'm outside smoking." And even Ambel allows that the smoking ban has its virtues.

"It's hurt me in the pocketbook, but the overall thing is still good," Ambel says. "I don't smoke, and the first time my band played the Lakeside smoke-free, it was pretty cool to take off the shirt I had on and hang it up in the closet afterward."