Hundreds Of Bars, Restaurants Exempt From Smoking Ban

Pa. Health Dept. Breaks Down List By County

POSTED: 11:43 am EST November 7, 2008
UPDATED: 6:42 pm EST November 7, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- Records posted online Friday show more than 1,700 exemptions -- including hundreds of bars -- have been approved under the state's smoking ban.

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Smoking will be allowed in all of those places. The total includes more than 350 in Allegheny County, and more than 200 of those carry Pittsburgh addresses.

The Department of Health is posting all of the names on its Web site. Click here to see the list for your county.

Officially called the Clean Indoor Air Act, Pennsylvania's smoking ban went into effect Sept. 11. It prohibits smoking in public places and workplaces.

Exceptions are made for private clubs such as American Legion and VFW, tobacco shops and businesses that make less than 20 percent of their revenue from food sales.

Up and down Carson Street in Pittsburgh, the choices have changed. It's not just about the name on the bar, the people inside or the place's charm. Now the choice of which door to enter is also about air and exemptions.

"When I go to a bar it's usually to socialize, smoke and have some alcoholic beverages," said Priscilla Phillips of Oakland.

Just from walking along the sidewalk, people can tell where the smoking ban applies and where it does not. Any place exempt from the ban must have a notice, posted on every door. The notice serves as warning to customers, but it's not nearly enough for Cindy Thomas, the executive director of Tobacco Free Allegheny.

"We had wanted a comprehensive law which banned smoking in all public places and all workplaces, which means everyone has the same opportunity to be protected from secondhand smoke," said Thomas.

In Allegheny County, there are more than 350 bars where smoking is permitted. In Beaver County, 38 bars are exempt from the smoking ban. In Butler County, 19 bars are exempt from the smoking ban. In Washington County, 54 bars are exempt from the smoking ban, and in Westmoreland County, 62 bars can legally allow smoking. Each of the exempted bars makes less than 20 percent of its revenue from food sales.

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