Miami Student

Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: Community

Oxford resident Paul Dudley smokes a cigarette Monday afternoon outside of Jimmy John's; an action that will soon be banned indoors.

Ohio's statewide smoking ban, passed in the November 2006 elections, will officially go into effect May 3, and the Ohio Department of Health has outlined fines and regulations for businesses to use. These fines and regulations will give much needed clarity to enforcement of the new ban.

Jay Carey, director of public affairs with the Ohio Department of Health, said the initial passing of the ban gave the Ohio Department of Health six months, until June 7, to finalize rules and regulations, and the department has completed the rules within five months.

"Part of why it took five months was to get public input," Carey said.

This public input included obtaining opinions on the ban from bar and restaurant owners, a group that is generally not in favor of the ban, Carey said.

Carey pointed out that, despite this opposition, the department
of health is simply abiding by what the voters asked.

"We are trying to enforce the law that the voters gave us," Carey said. "We're doing what the voters asked us to do."

Among the new rules to be enacted May 3 are three requirements businesses must meet in regards to the ban.

According to Carey, businesses - including restaurants, bars and manufacturing plants - must prohibit smoking, remove all ashtrays and make sure "No Smoking" signs, including a telephone number patrons can call to report complaints, are posted within the facility.

Carey said that if even one of these three requirements is not completed, enforcement mechanisms, from local health departments around the state, could then be put in place.

Fines for violations begin with a warning letter for a business. The fine then jumps to $100 for a second violation, $500 for a third violation and $1,000 for a fourth. Carey said that a fifth violation would result in a $2,500 fine.

But in order to properly fine a business for violating the no smoking ban, Carey said an investigation conducted by the local health department - for Oxford, the Butler County Health Department - would have to prove that the violation actually occurred.

Carey calls the new system of determining a violation a complaint-driven system.

Continued...

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