At 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1 the Smoke Free Illinois Act went into effect in restaurants, bars and other public places in Illinois.

The act, which prohibits smoking inside of and within 15 feet of doors to restaurants and bars, was approved by the Illinois Senate on March 29, the House on May 1, and signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich on July 23 of last year.

As 2008 started this meant, establishments in Charleston, like the Panther Paw and AJ’s, were throwing out their ashtrays.

Panther Paw manager Alyssa Pohl said she thought people had responded well to the new smoking policy and have not been smoking within the bar. But she said the effectiveness of the policy cannot be measured until students start coming in again.

“It’s really hard for us to tell right now,” she said. “Once school starts, we’ll see how it affects us.”

Classes started Monday at Eastern.

Pohl said customers seem to know about the new smoking ban and no signs prohibiting smoking have been put up inside the bar yet.

If customers do try to smoke inside, she said they will be asked to stop and if they persist, they will be asked to leave the establishment.

Pohl said she has some doubts about how well the ban will work in stopping customers from smoking inside.

“I think people are aware of what is going on,” Pohl said. “But, without a strict set of penalties, not much is going to stop them from smoking in the bathroom.”

While the Panther Paw had to go completely smoke-free Jan. 1, some bars in Charleston were already on their way to creating this environment.

AJ’s is one of these businesses.

“We’ve been pretty much smoke-free for a while,” said Michael Boksa, the owner of AJ’s, about the affect of the new smoking ban.

He said the downstairs portion of AJ’s has been smoke-free for several months. The only part of the bar that was affected by the ban was the upstairs bar area.

Boksa said he thinks the Smoke Free Illinois Act is good for the restaurant/bar business because it makes all businesses even when it comes to smoking or non-smoking areas.

“It’s (created) a fair playing ground for everyone,” he said.

Boksa said he does not think his business will be greatly affected by the ban since much of the building was already smoke-free.

But he said he will not know for sure until the ban has been in effect for a while.

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

Though the ban was state wide, there is a business in Charleston that was not affected by the smoking ban.

The Indio Cigar Factory, located at 503 7th St., is a tobacco hookah lounge that sells tobacco and allows customers to smoke inside the building.

The store’s owner Marvin Mirick said he is allowed to have customers smoking within his establishment because it is a licensed retail tobacco store that is registered with the state of Illinois. Tobacco stores, along with private rooms in nursing homes, residences and hotel rooms, are exempt from the ban.

Mirick established the shop two years ago after he was laid off from his factory job. He said he had been rolling his own cigars for several years and starting the lounge made the most sense at the time.

Mirick said he hopes that with all of the restaurants and bars in town banning smoking some of the people who do not want to stand outside in the cold and smoke will start frequenting his business.

“Anybody who still wants some place to smoke should come here,” he said.

Fact Box:

-Penalties of violating smoke ban

People can be fined between $100-250 for violating the ban

Businesses could be fined $250 a day for not sustaining the ban

-Exemptions

-Private rooms in nursing homes

-No more than 25 percent of rooms rented to guests in hotel or motel be designated as smoking rooms

-Residences

-Retail tobacco stores

Did you know?

-Illinois is the 19th state to have a law of this nature take effect. Other states include Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Ohio.

Jordan Crook can be reached at 581-7945 or jscrook@eiu.edu.

Jim Mailhiot, a Freshman with an undecided major, enjoys a cigarette outside Coleman Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The Smoke Free Illinois Act, which took effect January 1, prohibits smokers like Mailhiot from smoking within 15 feet of any entrance of a publ

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