NC marks 5 years since smoking banned in bars

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — North Carolina health officials are praising the benefits of a 5-year-old state law that banned smoking in bars and restaurants.

Friday marks five years since the effective date of the law that also limited smoking rooms at hotels or motels to 20 percent of the total. The law survived a series of lawsuits by pool hall and nightclub owners challenging an exception that allows smoking at private clubs.

The state Department of Health and Human Services praised the law for delivering “significant and impressive” results in a few short years.

State health officials say North Carolina saw a 21 percent drop in average weekly heart attack cases at emergency departments in the first year. They say the law encouraged other businesses to go smoke-free and contributed to fewer children smoking.

Hell’s Kitchen’s general manager Andrew Flynn says while they had initial concerns, the ban wound up being positive for everyone.

“We thought we were going to lose a lot of customers, but we realized that it was actually better for business,” Flynn said. “We started getting a lot of new customers that we wouldn’t have had before. I just think it’s positive for everybody. I don’t think you need to have smoking especially when you’re a family establishment when people want to bring kids and stuff into the restaurant and eat.”

Flynn also says it benefits their employees.

“I mean everybody is working in a healthier environment,” Flynn said. “No one is going home smelling bad.”

Parent Jenna Charon also praised the law.

“You don’t want your children thinking it’s acceptable or it’s okay,” Charon said “It’s very unhealthy and we’re raising them to know the health risks of smoking. It’s not taking away their right to smoke. It’s just making sure that other people aren’t exposed to the smoking.”

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