Five states — New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine and California — have passed smoking restrictions that include bars and taverns.

of these states are they experecing budget short falls , reasons for raising sales taxes on tobacco products

California has a state deficit was it before or after the smoke ban

California's had a smoking ban for years, so I'd have to guess the deficits came later.

Didn't California's ban come in a little more gradual than the other states? I know they at one time still had smoking in bars - where no food was served, and places with 5 or fewer employees and so on, until it became total.

I do know NY is in a uproar. Our county and the surrounding ones are all raising taxes, sales tax included.

It became illegal to smoke in restaurants in 1995 but because it was still legal to smoke in bars restaurants with bars set aside tables near the bar where customers could smoke. It became illegal to smoke in bars in 1998. If the bar is owner operated, and I'm not sure exactly what are the criteria that must be met, smoking may be permitted. Indian run casinos and the restaurants and bars in them are not covered by the smoking ban law. I live in San Francisco and my days of going out to bars had ended well before the smoking ban went into effect. I do know of many bars that are not owner operated that allow smoking. These are small neighborhood bars. If you're a tourist in SF, too bad.

Their was a study out a year or so ago ... where half the bars in San Francisco were still allowing smoking.

That's one of the problems with getting any accurate data as to the real effect of a ban.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: John L,

40% of bars ignore law on smoking, study finds

Offshoot of the American Lung Association tracks compliance in California since the 1998 ban

LOS ANGELES -- Forty percent of California's stand-alone bars are flouting an indoor smoking ban that went into effect two years ago, according to estimates by a health organization.

That preceding was published Friday, January 21, 2000. The one you're thinking of, John, for San Francisco, is even higher, 60% non-compliance:

Because the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Tobacco Free Project recently found only 40% of stand-alone bars to be in compliance with California Assembly Bill 13...

Budget shortfalls in various states with statewide smoking bans are the result of a multitude of different stimuli. Smoking bans are only one minute piece of the puzzle.

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Originally posted by lockjaw02:
Budget shortfalls in various states with statewide smoking bans are the result of a multitude of different stimuli. Smoking bans are only one minute piece of the puzzle.

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That's true. My state has no state-wide smoking ban and sold its future MSA money to someone several years ago to balance the budget. We are now in the middle of a new budget deficit.