Tobacco bill brings cheers, concerns

By Brent Fuller, brent@cfp.ky

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Cayman’s long–awaited plan to ban the use of tobacco products in all public places is getting a mixed reception this week from island business owners.

The bill would not allow smoking in restaurants, bars, or cigar bars. Even if those businesses have an outdoor area, people can’t light up if they’re within 10 feet of an enclosed public space, or if they’re within 10 feet of a place like a public park.

Vehicles used for commercial or public transportation are also included in the ban.

“This thing coming now is great,” said bus driver Jason Simms, a smoker who quit cigarettes about seven months ago. “I’ll be able to go in restaurants or bars with nobody smoking around me.”

“What can I tell you? It’s kind of a hard thing,” said Alberto Estevanovich, of the Red Bay sports bar Durty Reid’s Palace. “But if the law is gonna pass, I guess everybody has to get used to it, huh?”

The proposal, tabled Monday at Legislative Assembly in what’s known as a discussion white paper may not be the bill’s final form. The public has 60 days to review the plan and give feedback. Health Minister Anthony Eden has said the final plan, which the Legislature would have to vote on, depends in part upon that input.

Owners of cigar shops and lounges have been paying close attention to the proposed Tobacco Law.

“They’ve been talking about it for the last two years,” said James Pineda, who owns Havana House in George Town. “It wasn’t a complete surprise.”

Mr. Pineda said his business makes most of its profits from cigar sales and that a fair number of his customers drop by for a smoke during lunch or after work.

He said the government’s plan should separate cigar bars from other businesses like restaurants or bars where people also go to drink or eat.

“I guess I could ask for a special license to have people smoke in here,” he said. “We don’t do wine tasting or anything like that. The smoke–room is enclosed so it wouldn’t affect anybody.”

Mr. Estevanovich, who estimated 95 per cent of his patrons at Durty Reid’s smoke, said he expects at least a three month drop–off in business if there is a total smoking ban.

“I think we’re gonna have problems,” he said. “They (patrons) will argue about it. They’ll give us a hard time for a while. We’ll have to put up with it.”

Eventually, Mr. Estevanovich believes everybody will get used to it and, he said, there may be a silver lining.

“Some people don’t come here at all because of the cigarette smoke.”

Other people involved in the Cayman Islands bar and restaurant industry, who didn’t want to be identified by the Caymanian Compass, said they were worried about the proposal turning establishment managers and employees into bad guys.

They were also concerned about club and restaurant workers being punished if patrons simply refused to pay attention to requests to put a cigarette out.

Varying fines and even prison sentences could be given to smokers and business owners who violate the law. Under the proposal, those range from a $2,000 fine to a $30,000 fine and imprisonment up to a year for second or third offences.

Taxis, buses and vehicles used for professional transportation will also be subjected to tobacco use bans, if the bill passes in its current form. But responses to the ban from that industry were decidedly positive.

Independent cabbie Rita Bush said most of the taxi drivers she knows already ban people from smoking in their vehicles.

“It gets into your air conditioning, and then your cab smells lousy,” said Ms Bush. “Customers get into my cab and say ‘oh your cab is nice, because the one we were in before smelled of cigarette smoke.’”

Another cab driver who identified herself as a smoker said she only has cigarettes while she’s on breaks and never lights up inside the taxi.

Mr. Simms, the bus driver, said most of the public buses that run out of the George Town barn already have signs posted inside that state ‘no drinking, no smoking, no eating.’

However, he admits a few drivers don’t abide by their own rules.

“Some of the drivers are smoking. It’s not a great thing; it doesn’t look professional,” Mr. Simms said. “Besides, smoking kills, man. Smoking kills.”