One year after the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a statewide smoking ban, local restaurant and bar owners say a feared loss of business has not materialized.
The ban, officially known as the Rhode Island Workers' Safety Act, went into effect over a year ago, on March 1, 2005. It prohibits indoor smoking in public facilities.
On Thayer Street, Andreas Restaurant co-owner and managing partner Nicholas Mackris said the smoking ban has not affected business at all.
"Our initial fear was that it would negatively affect business, but fortunately our fears were not realized," Mackris said. Because of the ban, he said, he has noticed more people smoking outside the restaurant than before. But, he added, it has not posed a problem.
Thel Spiridas, manager of Paragon, said the smoking ban has not affected business, but agreed there are now more smokers outside than before the ban went into effect.
Phil Williams, owner of Fish Co Bar & Grill, which is located at 515 South Water St., also said he has not seen his business affected by the smoking ban.
"I think people have stopped smoking," Williams said.
Wickenden Pub, one of the few small bars that was exempt from the ban until this fall, has made efforts to increase comfort for smokers by reserving an area behind the pub specifically for smoking.
But Nick Jaquith, a bartender at the pub, which is located at 320 Wickenden St., suggested efforts to placate smokers are not needed, as he believes there are fewer smokers than before.
Jacquith, who is a smoker, said he has no problem with the ban.
"I think (the smoking ban) is totally fair. If I were a non-smoker, I wouldn't want to be in a smoke-filled bar," he said.
Another local smoker, Providence lawyer Zachariah Chafee, said he likes the ban.
"I'm happy that the ban has gone into effect," he said. "I think it's helpful to the waitresses and bartenders."
But not all smokers are happy with the ban. One Thayer Street puffer, Harry Smith, said he sees the ban as a nuisance.
"I go to a lot of shows. A lot of venues have a certain number of smokers that they'll let out, and I'll often be booted out of shows when I go outside to smoke," Smith said.
The experiences of local business seem to be part of a statewide trend - despite fears that the ban would hurt businesses, the smoking ban has possibly helped to stimulate them.
David Gifford, director of the state Department of Health and associate professor of medicine, told the Associated Press last October that tax revenues generated by restaurants and bars increased by 21 percent in the first four months after the law went into effect.
