Full smoking ban hits Sanders County

Danielle Switalski

Meet Truman J. Mathis, Plains resident and frequenter of the High Plains Bar and Grill.  Mathis stops in to the High Plains almost every day to grab a couple of beers and smoke a few cigarettes.  This relaxation routine is about to come to a sudden halt October 1 as the final stages of the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act go into effect, making it illegal to smoke inside all public places.

“Everybody has their rights and if a person doesn’t want to smoke, stay out of the bar.  I quit for nine years and I didn’t tell anyone to stop smoking around me,” said Mathis as he took a drag from his cigarette.

Mathis is not the only one who feels so adamantly against the smoking ban, however, there are also many residents who can not wait for the bars and casinos to go smoke free. 

Kim Beech, owner of Over the Moon Daycare in Paradise, recently quit her job as a bartender at High Plains because the smoke was too much for her to handle.  As a sufferer from asthma, the smoking ban is opening up her options as to where she can and can not go during her free time.

“I kind of feel that everybody has the right to clean air and even in public places it’s kind of all of our space,” said Beech.  “I can choose not to go into places that have it (smoke), but that limits me.”

Opinions in Plains where the smoking ban is concerned are very mixed.  However, the final stages of the smoking ban are taking effect.

The smoking ban hitting Sanders County is part of the Clean Indoor Air Act, which was passed in 2005 by the state legislator that made smoking illegal in public places such as office buildings, health care facilities, restaurants, public transportation vehicles and college buildings.  Bars and casinos could resume indoor smoking for the next four years provided minors were not allowed in the facility.   These four years are up and bar owners have to find a way to enforce the non smoking law. 

“I’m mystified.  I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said owner of the Wild Horse bar and casino Deanna Owen.

Owen said she has done counts in her bar on numerous occasions and would bet that 98% of her clientele are smokers.  She is unsure where smokers are going to go if they can not smoke inside as she doesn’t want to send them out front on the sidewalk where there are frequent pedestrians, nor does she want to send them in the back alley, which is city property.  

“I’m 44 and where do I have the right to tell someone older than me what to do?  They never gave me a badge. I don’t get paid to be the smoking police,” said Owen.

Owen said she feels the smoking regulation is going to hurt her business, however, Beech also said she can start going out to bars with her husband now that they are smoke free. 

Ronna LaPierre, owner of the High Plains, also said she thinks the smoking ban is going to hurt her business, but only for a few months.  LaPierre feels the decision to go smoke free should be up to the bar or property owner.

“It will impact business probably for two or three months and I think we will rebuild a clientele who doesn’t smoke because I think we have a lot people who don’t come out because they don’t want to smell like smoke,” said LaPierre, who has spoken with bar owners in Idaho and Washington who have gone smoke free and saw business drop for the first few months, but eventually it rebuilt. 

Despite these differing opinions, one thing is certain, all bars and casinos will now be smoke free as of Thursday October 1.  Mathis will continue to go to the High Plains to relax and have a few beers, but his routine will be altered.

“I’ll still come here but I’ll be outside where I can smoke if that’s what it comes down to,’ said Mathis.  

Reporter Danielle Switalski can be emailed at reporter@VP-MI.com