The smoking ban legislation, which passed overwhelmingly by votes of 110-33 in the House and 26-6 in the Senate, was signed by Governor Angus King on April 6.

L.D. 1349, An Act to Protect Citizens from the Detrimental Effects of Tobacco, adds restaurants and certain restaurant-lounges to the list of public places where, by state law, smoking is prohibited.

The bill, introduced by the Department of Human Services, was promoted as a health measure to protect 40,000 restaurant workers from secondhand smoke.

It bans smoking in the license categories of Class A restaurants and Class A restaurant-lounges, while it exempts Class A lounges, hotel lounges and taverns from the ban.

``I think its time has come,'' said Representative Ken Honey of Boothbay, who voted for the measure and says he had received the support of local restaurant owners.

Many local restaurants had already become smoke-free establishments in the last two or three years, including those at the Boothbay Harbor Inn and Fisherman's Wharf Inn and Christopher's Boathouse.

``We don't anticipate a problem at all,'' said chef/owner Christopher Russell of Christopher's Boathouse who with his wife Marie had decided to make their restaurant smoke-free ``by choice, because of our guests.''

He said, however, that he would rather not see the ban because ``government shouldn't be in everybody's business,'' adding that people already have a choice in whether to work in a restaurant or bar where smoking is allowed.

He said, too, that before the bill was signed, the restaurant received calls from the Phillip Morris Company asking them to back the Maine Restaurant Association in its efforts to block the bill and advising them of related hearings in Augusta.

Managers Laura Honey and Jack Gibbons of Fisherman's Wharf say they feel the ban will neither be a problem for the restaurant, which has been smoke-free for three years, nor for the hotel lounge, where, according to Dick Grotton of the Maine Restaurant Association, they can continue to allow smoking under a hotel lounge license if they want.

``Whatever the law is, we'll go along with it,'' said Gibbons. ``Its time has come.''

But, he added, ``We had been thinking of not having smoking in the lounge anyway,'' saying that they may set up an area on the outside deck for smoking instead.

``We've cut down the number of smoking rooms over the years,'' he said; ``less than twenty percent of the rooms in the Inn are smoking rooms -- that's the trend. We're not concerned about the ban; we'll do whatever the public wants.''

Tugboat Inn general manager Bonnie Stover said, ``We actually don't think we'll be impacted a lot. Last summer, at the height of the season, we would often make the dining room non-smoking anyway.'' Even when there was a smoking area, she said, it was small and sometimes remained empty.

Rather than make changes after the season is well underway, when the law goes into effect in September, the Tugboat will start the season as a non-smoking restaurant.

Stover said that it helps to have a separate hotel lounge, where smoking is permitted. ``We feel lucky that we have the option,'' she said.

The Rocktide Inn's restaurant, while not completely smoke-free, has had a very small smoking section, only eight out of the 63 tables set aside for smokers on a separate level, in the last several years.

``This [new law] isn't going to be a drastic change for us,'' said dining room manager Mary Lou Koskela. As with the others, Rocktide, operating under a hotel lounge license, may continue to allow smoking in its lounge area.

Rocktide owners Wells and Melanie Steane and general manager Phil Koskela decided this winter that all 98 motel units will be non-smoking beginning this season.

``Out of thousands and thousands of reservations, we've only lost about a half dozen,'' said Mary Lou Koskela. ``People are changing; attitudes are changing.''

No Choice

On the other side of the issue, however, are non-hotel restaurant-lounge owners who will have no choice but to ban smoking entirely in both dining room and bar, even if they are separate rooms.

Ken Marston, owner of Everybody's Restaurant, a restaurant with separate bar under the same roof, feels the new law will hurt his business.

``I will try to change my license,'' Marston said, ``to reclassify, or to operate two businesses in one building... but if I can't find a way to do it, it could shoot a major hole in my business.

``The reaction I've gotten from my customers has been very negative,'' he said. ``A higher percentage of smokers goes out several times a week for coffee,'' and that's a good part of his business, he added.

``I think the issue should have gone to the people, and I don't believe people would have voted for it in a referendum... The unfair part is not allowing a business to see to the needs of its customers,'' Marston said.

He mentioned, as others have, that employees have a right to a smoke-free environment but at the same time, they do have a choice of where they work.

``This is supposed to be a free country,'' Marston said. ``We're going from being the hospitality state to an antiseptic war zone... The state sign should say, `Welcome to Maine -- Good Luck!'''

Fred Monroe of McSeagull's restaurant feels it's a Catch-22 situation: people who eat out prefer a smoke-free atmosphere, but liquor sales provide a higher profit and people who drink usually smoke.

``I've got nothing against [the smoking ban],'' Monroe said, ``except that it's government control.'' McSeagull's allows smoking in the back dining room and the bar area and has a non-smoking section by the deck.

The restaurant will open the season with smoking areas and then observe the ban when it goes into effect; smoking will still be possible outside on the deck.

``Once it's in effect, I think everyone will adjust to it,'' Monroe said, ``just like they did on airplanes.''

Grotton of the Maine Restaurant Association says it will cost some businesses much more to comply with the new law than if it had included a provision for ventilation standards to allow smoking in certain bar areas.

He expects the number of Class A lounge licenses, under which smoking is allowed in a bar, to triple next year. With this type of license, however, no one under 21 is permitted on the premises unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

``With a Class A lounge license, now you'll have to have a gatekeeper at the door,'' says Grotton, to check IDs and monitor the admittance of minors.

And to separate a lounge from a restaurant in a non-hotel setting to allow for smoking, rules say that it must have a separate outside entrance, separate restrooms, separate food storage and refrigeration. Business owners will have to decide if it is worth the investment in such changes to provide a smoking-permitted environment.

The Maine Restaurant Association, which had lobbied unsuccessfully for ventilation standards instead of a total smoking ban, is now trying to educate the public on the meaning of the new law. While the weather remains warm and people are outside, the ban may not be a jolt when it goes into effect around Labor Day.

``The real test will be in November and December, when the cold weather sets in,'' said Grotton. ``Then in January when the Legislature is back in session, we expect to put our representation hat back on again and see if... legislators realize they've hurt some people they didn't intend to hurt,'' such as the 250 restaurant-lounge licensees in the state.

``I think any loopholes will be corrected in the next session,'' Rep. Honey said.

Meanwhile, restaurant and bar managers are urged to find out from the state liquor enforcement agency what their licenses allow.