The Argus Endorser just put out a story today about the virtual ‘non-compliance’ of the smoking ban. Which is no surprise. This state makes a habit of passing laws that they don’t bother enforcing or for that matter charging a proper fine for a violation.

What was not brought up in the article was that fact that Tim Kant’s establishments (STOGEEZ and EASTWALD Smoke Shop) and a Rapid City Cigar Bar are still allowed smoking as long as they follow three requirements;

1) Must have a humidor on site

2) Only can allow cigar smoke

3) 10% of the sales must be from cigars

Seems fair, right? Well the first one will be easy, but the last two will be virtually impossible to enforce. Why? Because the business is supposed to ‘self-audit’ themselves. LMAO!

You can’t tell me on a summer night when Stogeez patio is packed that for every $90 in beer he sells he is sell $10 in cigars. Yeah right.

Now the STATE can do a random audit of his place to make sure his books are in order but the chances of that happening are next to nil unless they see some blatant discrepencies in his returns. Seems NO RULES Kant got away with another one.

18 Thoughts on “What smoking ban?

  1. You mean a place with a smoking reference in the name should not allow smoking?! Deal with it. People in bars like to smoke (mostly). Don’t like it then go to someplace that caters to your ilk. (btw, I don’t smoke and don’t care if others do)

  2. Costner on November 4, 2010 at 6:25 am said:

    I’d say it is you who should deal with it Jim. The people spoke – and it wasn’t even close. If you look at the percentages of people who smoke versus those that do not – even in bars – nonsmokers easily outnumber smokers. It might not appear that way since most bar smokers are chain smokers so the ever present haze makes it appear as more people are smoking, but that is a statistical fact.

    As to having a smoking reference in the name, I don’t really see how that should apply. If there was such a loophole (and thankfully there is not) you would soon see the “Shenanigan’s Smoking Pub”, “Poppadox Smokey Bar”, and “The Smoking Crow Bar”.

    The good news is this law doesn’t allow new cigar bars to pop up, and if these establishments are ever audited they will likely lose their ability to allow smoking as well. The fact that they can’t even allow regular cigarette smoke pretty much removes the issue anyway since there aren’t that many cigar smokers around.

  3. Jim, did you forget there was an election on November 2? The smoking ban passed.

  4. Mike C on November 4, 2010 at 7:41 am said:

    What may happen is there may be more beer gardens.

  5. on the kelo news at 6, don rose pretty much said he will continue to let people smoke at shenanigans.

  6. What I am getting at is that one should not get upset about smoking in a place called stogiez. As I’ve said before though, the proper solution is, if you don’t like it don’t go there. Costner, so your saying the good side is that a new business can’t be started?

  7. Costner on November 4, 2010 at 10:07 am said:

    Jim – There is nothing in the law that says a new business can’t start. However the people who wrote the law were smart enough to not include a loophole which would allow Tim and Don to simply call their bars “cigar lounges” while still allowing everyone to smoke.

    If someone wants to start a new bar or smoke shop they are free to do so… nobody is stopping them, but they won’t be able to allow smoking.

    Scott – I saw that too, but I believe there is something in the law that dictates bar owners have to enforce the law. If they don’t they can be held liable. If there is a huge problem with people smoking in a bar you can rest assured they will have issues. Rose is just bitter that he wasted thousands upon thousands of dollars from his own pocket and has nothing to show for it, but if he refuses to enforce law, he will find his liquor license in jeopardy.

  8. justin hansen on November 4, 2010 at 10:37 am said:

    don rose will be the acid test

    and believe me he has the balls and not the brains to test it

    this time I’m 100% on his side

    at least for a while it will detract from the sideshow of having a high school graduate who won a pageant as our only representative in Congress

  9. Rose is full of shit if he believes that he can get away with not enforcing the ban at Shenanigans. Hell, the mall cops may finally have something to do to make sure he does.

  10. Pathloss on November 4, 2010 at 12:46 pm said:

    Never outlaw cigars. It’s erotic watching a woman lick and smoke one. The stench covers up marijuana. The only way to find the empty downtown is smoke signals from Stogie’s.

  11. regarding don rose:
    In just one week, on November 10, you’ll no longer be able to smoke in bars like Shenanigans in Sioux Falls. And owner Don Rose says he’s concerned about enforcing it.

    “I’m not calling the police, absolutely not. That’s not my job. It doesn’t say that in the law that I have to enforce it. I just have to tell the people, ‘You are not allowed to smoke here,’” Rose said.

  12. Costner on November 4, 2010 at 2:33 pm said:

    Well Mr. Rose might not have to call the police, but he does have a duty to inform the violator they are breaking the law. If he fails to do so, he can be charged with a petty offense – and allowing smoking in his establishment is clearly a violation, so I think he is pretty much screwed.

    He is just mad, but he knows as well as anyone that if he fails to ban smoking it will bite him in the ass and with enough violations the city council would vote to pull his license (I don’t think they particularly care for the guy anyway).

    34-46-14. Smoking in public or place of employment prohibited–Petty offense. No person may smoke tobacco or carry any lighted tobacco product in any public place or place of employment. A violation of this section is a petty offense.

    34-46-15. Person controlling public place or place of employment to inform violators–Petty offense. Any person that owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls a public place or place of employment shall inform persons violating § 34-46-14 of the provisions thereof. A violation of this section is a petty offense.

  13. Yeah, he talks big shit to Stormland TV News when the cameras are on.

  14. sheila on November 5, 2010 at 9:23 am said:

    Small taverns and pool halls all over the country are not complying with smoking bans. If the nannies actually started enforcing it, people would realize how many people do NOT agree with it. The pro ban people want everyone to think that there is no opposition, therefore, no tickets. But they are scaring some people onto the products of Johnson and Johnson: Nicoderm, Nicorette, Nicotrol, Nicoderm CQ, and Commit, and Chantix. That is where all the dough comes from for smoking bans. It’s a terrific marketing scheme, and the Cancer Society is the biggest recipient of grants from nico replacement. They will say or do anything for a nickel. (Except help the poor or sick!)

  15. Yeah, nevermind that over 60% of the voters asked for the ban, and if the lazy ass Dems would have voted instead of staying home this election, that number would be higher.

  16. Costner on November 5, 2010 at 12:22 pm said:

    Oh poor sheila… she is so confused. First, as l3wis said over 60% of the voters supported the ban, so it seems pretty clear those in favor outnumber those opposed by more than 2 to 1.

    Second, the tobacco lobby has made exponentially more money from smokers than Johnson and Johnson ever will. Whereas a smoker is a repeat consumer of cigarettes for decades upon decades, someone who uses a smoking cessation product will likely only be on it for a short timeframe (less than 12 months).

    Frankly sheila, if it was really about companies trying to make a buck from selling nicotine gum and patches – they wouldn’t want a smoking ban, because they would want MORE people to smoke and thus MORE people to decide to quit.

    The fewer places that allow smoking, the fewer new smokers will start taking up the habit. Say what you will, but there aren’t very many companies out there that spend money to reduce the amount of potential customers coming their direction.

    As to not helping the poor or the sick… who do you think encompasses the smoking population? Studies have shown time and time again that lower income people are more likely to smoke, and hundreds of thousands of them die every year as a result, but many more becoming sick due to smoking related diseases. Thus any organization that tries to reduce the number of people smoking is by default helping the poor and the sick.

    Logic really isn’t your strong suit is it sheila? Maybe instead of buying that pack or two a day or hanging out in bars you could invest that money in some tuition at a community college to enhance your intellect.

  17. Well Mr. Rose might not have to call the police, but he does have a duty to inform the violator they are breaking the law. If he fails to do so, he can be charged with a petty offense – and allowing smoking in his establishment is clearly a violation, so I think he is pretty much screwed.

    A no smoking sign would seem to satisfy that requirement.

    The fewer places that allow smoking, the fewer new smokers will start taking up the habit.

    I’m not sure that applies to bars. You can’t get into most bars if you’re under 21 and most people that aren’t smoking by the time they turn 21 aren’t going to start simply because they walk into a bar and there are people smoking around them.

    I’d almost be tempted to argue that the younger kids that would be most likely to smoke would be more affected by seeing dozens of people sitting outside of a bar drinking, smoking and having a good time than they would be if their parents took them into a smokey bar to eat.

    If we were talking about Chuck-E-Cheese you might have a point.

  18. Willie on April 12, 2011 at 3:52 pm said:

    And all the other sh*t people are using?? Alcohol, weed ,prescripted psychiatric drugs??
    And don’t forget SD radiation of the old mines
    Smoking is ,in my opinion , one of the minor evils, but govmnt don’t like it because most smoking people I know are very alert,govmnt prefer a bunch of zombies

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