Today & Tonight Magazine June 2020

NO MORE BUTTS

by James Coulter

Local Bars Going Smoke-Free

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, it was not uncommon to step inside Brew Hounds Sports Lounge in Auburndale to a hazy atmosphere lingering with cigarette smoke. Once the bar re-opens, the good times will still be there, but the smoke will not.

Like many other local bars, Brew Hounds will be converting to a non-smoking facility. No longer will patrons smoke inside. If they want a cigarette, they’ll have to step outside.

Skip Jacobs, co-owner, does not smoke, but his fellow co-owner, Luke, does, as does half of the staff. Even then, they understand the need to change with the times, and both concerns about second-hand smoke and COVID- 19 has prompted them to make their bar non-smoking.

Especially with the down-time over the past two months, Skip and his staff had plenty of time to renovate their building as well as to re-think their image, which includes catering to the needs of non-smoking patrons.

“We decided to go non-smoking by listening to some of our customer base,” Skip says. “They had a desire for a non-smoking establishment, [and] with us having the time off, being down for over two months, and performing renovations, it was a time for clean air.”

Newly remodeled floors and tables at Brew Hounds Sports Lounge.

LOOKING OUT FOR HEALTH

Other local bars converting to non-smoking facilities include Linkster’s in Highland City, Paddy Wagon and Jessie’s Lounge in Winter Haven. While their decisions to change vary, most of these reasons boil down to wanting to provide a cleaner, safer environment.

Bars closed at 5 pm on March 17 to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’s statewide stay-athome order. Since May 1, some restaurants have been allowed to re-open with outdoor seating, with some allowance for indoor seating at 25 percent capacity. Then on May 16, it moved to a 50 percent capacity along with social distancing. (NOTE: as of June 19th the governor closed the bars again due to COVID-19 increasing levels.)

Meanwhile, bars, pubs, and nightclubs that receive “more than 50 percent of sales from alcohol” will be allowed open in Phase 2 to operate at 50 percent of building capacity with an emphasis on diminished standing room capacity and prioritizing outdoor service, according to the governor’s re-opening plan.

To help cut down on the potential spread of COVID-19, as well as to placate other health and safety concerns, many bars are making their facilities non-smoking. Smokers are not only more likely to contact COVID-19, but they are also “14 times more likely to need intensive treatment compared with nonsmokers”, according to scientific studies reported by NPR.

Aside from the risk of COVID-19, smoking also increases the risk to non-smokers through second-hand smoke, which contains the same harmful chemicals inhaled by smokers. Second-hand smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, including nearly 70 chemicals that cause cancer, especially lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

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