Indoor smoking ban could expand

Publication Date: 2007-02-17

• Author:STEVE LAW
• Publication:Salem (OR) Statesman-Journal

Two bills would end exceptions to 2001 law, which made most indoor work places smoke free.

Bartenders in smoky bars can breathe the equivalent of two smoked cigarettes each hour, nearly a pack for an eight-hour shift, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In 2001, the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber agreed to ban smoking at indoor workplaces except taverns, bars at restaurants, bingo parlors and bowling alleys. Corvallis, Eugene and Philomath, which had gone smoke-free, were allowed to keep their ordinances, but other cities were barred from following their lead.