1 Month Into Smoking Ban: Hookah Lounge Suffers.

By Beth Wick - Madison Magazine Writer - August 16, 2005

MADISON, Wis. -- A month has passed since Madison passed the smoking ban, but the smoke hasn’t cleared just yet. Other concerns have surfaced from both sides of the issue, with different perspectives on the current provisions in place.

Smoking continues in Madison outside of bar entrances, and more people exit bars periodically throughout the evening to catch a smoke as friends save a table inside the bar.

So far, the smoking ban has earned mixed reviews among the different groups impacted under the legislation. While the city is certainly protecting the health of bar patrons, there are still considerations that should be heard after reviewing a month with this prohibition.

Bar Owner In Madison

Bars, restaurants and taverns in Madison have seen their revenues drop because of the smoking ban. The Casbah at 119 E. Main St. in downtown Madison is one venue greatly impacted by the ban since most of its evening business relies on the revenue from hookahs. A hookah is a device used to smoke flavored tobacco, but the smoke emitted is not as heavy as cigarette smoke. A hookah doesn’t produce the same type of smoke as cigarettes. Atteyih explained that smoke from the hookahs is more pleasant because the smoke is run through the water, which eliminates almost all of the heavy particles.

Owner and executive chef Sabi Atteyih explained The Casbah’s intent is to be a culinary, cultural and travel experience for people in Madison without having to leave the city. Atteyih said the hookahs added to the overall experience, although the majority of The Casbah’s profits are from the restaurant.

“Since 1999 we offered hookahs as part of the reason for people from different backgrounds to congregate,” Atteyih said. “What started out as a reason for people from different backgrounds to share in the conversation and discuss issues related to world peace became an interest point for me.”

Hookahs, under the current provisions can’t be smoked indoors since it is a tobacco product, but they can be smoked outside. Since the smoking ban, Atteyih moved hookahs to the sidewalk café, weather permitting, but currently has no plans for the winter.

“The hookahs were a big part of our evening traffic, and I consider that shot,” Atteyih said. “The tragedy is there was nothing considered for someone like us, where a large percentage of our evening money comes from hookahs, especially after 11 p.m.”

Before the smoking ban, The Casbah prohibited smoking before 10 p.m., including hookahs. In fact, The Casbah banned all smoking, except for hookahs, on January 1, 2005, in an attempt to show how it could control smoking in the establishment without the city’s help.

“I can see why the city is concerned, and I can see why the legislation is in place to make sure that the workplace environment is safe for all,” Atteyih said. “But of all of our employees that worked in the evening, they all had the option of working during the day when we have fourteen hours of smoke-free environment.”

According to Atteyih, most employees that worked at night smoked and enjoyed the experience of the hookahs.

Atteyih believes smoke emitted from a hookah is far less problematic than alcohol and wonders how far the city will go.

“My question is, what next?” Atteyih said.

Non-Smokers

While many non-smokers are happy to be in bars with clearer, cleaner air without the risks of secondhand smoke, some non-smokers shared their concerns.

Nate Chin, a supporter of the smoking ban, has been to the bars about eight times since the smoking ban was passed. After the ban, Chin says bars have better air quality and have an all-around better atmosphere.

“It’s a lot clearer in there. I can actually see across the bar, and breathing is a lot easier,” Chin said. “I notice a very significant difference.”

Chin, however, had a different concern with the ban: since smokers are forced to move outdoors, they will litter the sidewalk with their cigarettes.

“Since the smoking ban, a lot of people are smoking outside of the bars and along the streets. That means they are leaving butts all over the ground,” Chin said. “As an environmentalist, that bothers me, and I feel that when the city council implemented this statute, they should have considered that and put more wastebaskets outside or done something to curb this littering and pollution.”

Currently, restaurant and tavern owners are in charge of cleaning the sidewalks in front of their establishments.

Alex Bean offers a different viewpoint, claiming the ban ruins the atmosphere of bars and being out with friends who smoke.

“I don’t think it really helps the atmosphere at the bars. It takes my friends away from me,” Bean said. “Although I don’t smoke myself, it still is an inconvenience for me to go outside and be with my friends.”

Bean said he was unable to tell the difference from the air quality in bars now, compared to before the ban.

“I don’t have a problem being in an atmosphere where [people] smoke,” Bean added. “It’s my choice to be there, and it’s other peoples’ choices to smoke, and I have to deal with it.”

Adam Siegel is indifferent about the ban. Though Siegel says breathing is easier, he adds the smoke masked bad odors, grittiness and dinginess in bars.

He has been to the bars in Madison about five times since the ban, but said he’s more likely to visit bars outside city limits.

“Indirectly, it has influenced me to go outside of Madison to seek entertainment,” Siegel said. “Whether we are going bowling or going to the bars, you end up going elsewhere because the smokers in the group would prefer to go to someplace where they can smoke.”

Employees

Perhaps the most impacted from the ban are bar employees. Kim Fine, an employee at Buck’s, says that while she works one day a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., she has talked to other employees that work night shifts and they’ve seen a decrease in the number of patrons.

“For me, I haven’t seen much of a difference,” Fine said. “But I think a lot of the other employees that work at night have seen much more of an effect in terms of less customers.”

Molly Coughlin worked at a bar last summer in Madison. She was bothered by the smoke, from both customers and employees who smoked while working.

“Working there was definitely a turn-off when you had to deal with all the smoke,” Coughlin said. “I would not feel great after it, and I know some of my co-workers who were allergic to smoke and those with asthma actually had health issues because of the smoke. And, whenever you had to work at night, the quantity or the amount of smoke you were around just shot through the roof. You could never come home and just go to bed – you would have to take a shower when you got off of work.”

Since then, Coughlin stopped working at the bar, citing smoking as one of the reasons.

“It just made the atmosphere kind of unpleasant,” Coughlin said.

Smoker

When walking around downtown, it’s easy to spot the abundance of smokers who exit bars not to catch a breath of fresh air, but to light up a cigarette. Many of these sidewalk smokers refused an interview, but one had an opinion.

Luke McDonnell was standing outside The Annex smoking, since he was unable to light up during a concert he was seeing. He was frustrated with the smoking ban, and thought the ban ruined the atmosphere of going out to bars.

“It’s horrible,” McDonnell said. “I’m missing a great band right now, and I have to come out here and smoke a cigarette.”

Although McDonnell dislikes the ban, he understands that there should be limits to smoking in certain environments.

“Something has to be done. I agree with not smoking everywhere,” McDonnell said. “When I am sitting down and eating, I don’t want smoke, but a place like [The Annex], I think there should be smoking.”