The smoke is starting to clear

It was the perfect political dynamic – in Columbus Tuesday, legislators managed finally to get something accomplished by taking no action.

I refer to the state wide smoking ban, which though enacted through a vote of the electorate last year, has been unenforced because the Ohio Department of Health couldn’t quite figure out how to have rules against smoking in indoor public places or places of employment that would match up with a law that says quite clearly there should be no smoking in indoor public places or places of employment.

Everybody knows that means no smoking in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and other places where members of the public might work or gather. The whole idea is to protect non-smokers from the smoke produced by those who do smoke. It is eminently sensible from a public health standpoint, but its passage came as such a shock to the Health Department, that it took until now for them to figure out what they would do about people and places that violate the ban. The result was several months of free pass for intractable puffers.

The rules are pretty simple: First-time violators will get a warning. Smokers will be fined $100 for each subsequent violation. Fines for businesses are $100 for a second violation, $500 for a third, $1,000 for a fourth and $2,500 for the fifth and subsequent violation. Violations that occur prior to May 1, when the rules take effect, will be ignored. There are exceptions for private clubs and some rooms in hotels and nursing homes.

The 10-member legislative Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) could have sent the rules back to the Health Department for revision, or with six votes could have sent the rules to the full General Assembly, but instead, met for three hours Tuesday and chose to do nothing. That means the rules stand. It’s about time.

There are, of course, some die-hards. The Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, a trade association places that serve and sell alcohol, has filed some suits, saying it’s unfair to exempt private clubs while restricting other businesses.

Despite the complaints in such suits, I have yet to hear of a single bar or restaurant that has had to close because the customers refuse to show up if they can’t light up.