NV Lawmakers Seek to Ease Indoor Smoking Ban

Proposal seeks to allow bars to allow smoking if foodservice is incidental to their business.

May 24, 2011

CARSON CITY ?" Under a bill introduced late Friday in the state assembly, Nevada taverns and bars would be allowed to sell food and still allow smoking, the Associated Press reports.

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee introduced AB571, and a hearing was expected yesterday. It would allow bar and tavern operators to determine whether their food is "incidental" to their business; if so, smoking would be allowed for people 21 and older.

"Right now, taverns can allow smoking if they're not serving food," said Amy Beaulieu with the American Lung Association. "What this does, it gets their kitchens back open."

Nevada voters approved the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act in 2006, prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars that serve food, in slot machine sections of grocery and convenience stores, and at video arcades, shopping malls and schools. It is still allowed on gambling floors of casinos. Bar owners have since complained that the restriction has hurt business.

"Not only will this expose more people, employees and patrons, to more secondhand smoke, it is unbelievable that the Legislature is working to overturn the will of the people," Beaulieu said.

Tom McCoy, Nevada government affairs director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, fears the bill could pave the way for a return of smoking sections in establishments.

"We do not see it as a smart move," he said.

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