Oklahoma restaurants prepare for smoking ban to take effect

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma restaurants are less than one week away from a new statewide smoking ban that goes into effect on March 1st. <br/><br/>After that date, restaurants must ban smoking entirely

Sunday, February 26th 2006, 6:17 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma restaurants are less than one week away from a new statewide smoking ban that goes into effect on March 1st.

After that date, restaurants must ban smoking entirely or have separately ventilated smoking rooms.

The ban took effect for most public places on September 1st, 2003, but restaurants were given 30 more months to come into compliance. The time lag allowed owners to decide if the cost of building a room for smokers was worth it.

The ban still allows an exception for bars and for restaurants that derive 60 percent or more of their revenue from alcohol sales.

Other states with laws restricting public smoking include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Georgia.