Stop Smoking Way

Restaurants and businesses in Lower Bucks don’t seem to be feeling the heat as a result of Pennsylvania’s smoking ban.

Smoking was banned inside public places earlier this week by the state government. Many Lower Bucks shops appear to be in compliance and, in fact, some are loving it.

Eileen Acker, manager of the Dallas Diner on Route 13 in Bristol Township, is a longtime smoker who supports the indoor ban.

“I love it,” Acker said happily. “I only smoked seven [cigarettes] on the first day because I had to go outside.”

She said the diner is much nicer on the inside now. Acker never noticed how much smoke there was inside until it wasn’t there anymore. She said she hasn’t had any complaints, “Smokers adapt,” she said.

An added benefit for the diner is that customers don’t linger as long after a meal, Acker said. That means a table gets cleared and a new customer is in place faster.

The ban applies to places from stores to schools to restaurants and offices. But outdoor decks, patios of bars and restaurants, and tobacco shops are exempted. Bars where food sales are less than 20 percent of the annual gross sales are also exempt.

That’s what keeps Bensalem’s Oakford Inn exempt.

From behind his DJ booth, Manager Michael DiDonato said he’d be surprised if the bar makes 10 percent of its income from food.

“I would bet that most adult bars like ours are exempt for the same reason,” DiDonato said as two dancers circled the bar and he put another song on.

Several bars and restaurants have signs noting their compliance. The Blue Fountain Diner has a computer printout noting that the facility was smoke free at midnight Sept. 11.

All is well at the casino, too.

The Philadelphia Park Racetrack and Casino has banned smoking on the fifth floor — where the track bets are taken — the third floor where the restaurant is, and parts of the first floor.

During a walk through of the building Saturday, players seemed to be in compliance, including one man who said he was taking the elevator to the first floor so he could go outside for a cigarette. On the first floor players were elbow-to-elbow and there were smokers at about every other bank of computerized games.

There is the smoke-free casino room at the back of the building, though there were only a handful of players at the games and several dozen slots were open Saturday evening.

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• State report: Most Nebraskans support smoking ban
• Smoking ban causes confusion
• Business owners weigh in on smoking ban

Tags: effect of smoking, Smoking ban