Can you imagine British secret agent James Bond visiting a casino without his trademark cigarette to go with a martini "shaken, not stirred?" Well, smoke-free laws are rapidly creating a new not-so-smoke-friendly world.
Tougher smoking bans are going into effect from Minnesota to Brisbane, Australia, as more cities, states and even countries enact or consider smoke-free zones at workplaces, restaurants, bars, pubs and even gambling casinos.
Right now there's only one smoke-free casino in the United States -- the Taos Mountain Casino in Taos, N.M. -- but lawmakers in Colorado and New Jersey are considering measures to ban smoking in all indoor public areas.
Atlantic City casinos oppose such anti-smoking initiatives as do Colorado's 40 casinos.
Patrons at Twin Cities-area bars grumbled and crushed out their butts, or went outside to smoke in the cold early Thursday, in Minnesota cities and counties where no-smoking restrictions as tough as the 3-year-old ban in New York City went into effect. California and Massachusetts also to ban lighting up in restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
A confusing web of smoking restrictions went into effect in Minneapolis, Bloomington and Golden Valley, and in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. The Hennepin County law prohibits smoking in all bars and restaurants, but about 100 of 1,400 Ramsey County establishments qualified for exemptions to the law. Golden Valley bans smoking within 25 feet of building entrances, open windows and on outdoor patios.
Businesses in St. Paul are exempted from the smoking ordinance if they make more than half their income from liquor sales.
The Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association supports a uniform statewide smoking ban so bar and club owners don't become smoking police.
A state law would be "the lesser of two evils ... if you have to have to have it," Colin Minehart, president of the National Licensed Beverage Association, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Restaurant sales slipped but recovered and then improved in California but were still down in New York after smoking was outlawed, according to the Pioneer Press.
Many bars and restaurants fear loss of income but the latest Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey found 93 percent of respondents said they would eat out more often if the state banned smoking in restaurants. Seventy-six percent of respondents preferred non-smoking seating in restaurants.
The survey was conducted for the Minnesota Department of Health, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco and the University of Minnesota.
A 2003 survey found 65 percent of Minnesotans said they had been exposed to second-hand smoke the previous week. More than 40 percent of current Minnesota smokers don't smoke inside their homes, up from 32 percent in 2001.
Delaware banned smoking in restaurants and bars in 2003 and similar statewide bans are under consideration in Wisconsin, South Carolina, Georgia and in the city of Indianapolis.
Alaska banned smoking in 2002 in most workplaces, restaurants, bowling alleys and pool halls, but exempted bars, while a Connecticut smoking ban exempted casinos and private clubs in 2003.
Florida bans smoking in workplaces and restaurants but not bars and smoking rooms at hotels. Idaho banned smoking in restaurants, retail stores, sports venues, childcare centers, schools and hospitals in July.
Maine prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars in January 2004. Oklahoma allows restaurants, bars and workplaces to declare themselves smoke-free. Rhode Island banned smoking in the workplace, restaurants, bars, clubs and bowling alleys. South Dakota exempted bars and casinos from its 2002 smoking ban, and smoking is outlawed in public places in Utah.
Vermont bans smoking in restaurants but not bars. The city of Burlington made bars smoke-free in May, according to Smokefree USA.
President Bill Clinton issued a 1997 executive order banning smoking in federal government office buildings -- but exempted Congress. Many businesses followed with similar workplace smoking prohibitions. A half-century earlier the U.S. military was handing out cartons of free cigarettes to GIs when they shipped out during World War II.
Bhutan was the first country to ban tobacco sales outright.
The British Broadcast Corp. said a poll marking the first anniversary of Ireland's nationwide ban on smoking in public places found 93 percent public support, including 80 percent of smokers.
Scotland's health minister applauded plans to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces early next year. Britain plans to ban smoking in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces, including pubs, in England and Wales in 2006.
India banned cigarette advertising, public smoking and tobacco sales to minors in May, followed by Hong Kong in October.
Smoking is banned near schools in Russia and New Zealand. Norway banned smoking in restaurants and bars, Malta banned smoking in all public places, Italy's ban includes enclosed public spaces and Cuba's schools, offices, stores, sports facilities, theaters, taxis and buses.
Australia ended a three-month grace period this week and health inspectors began issuing $150 fines to violators puffing away in non-smoking areas.
The Courier-Mail of Brisbane said 46 people received citations in Queensland for smoking too close to building entrances.
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