Smokers celebrating victories on 2 fronts

Washington smokers are getting two reasons to celebrate this week.

Yesterday, the state Supreme Court put an end to Pierce County's on-again, off-again smoking ban. In a unanimous decision, the court upheld an earlier ruling that said banning smoking from Pierce County bars, restaurants and casinos is out of step with state law.

And several bills that take aim at smoking are faltering in the state Legislature, despite Gov. Christine Gregoire's support for a statewide smoking ban in public places. The bills may die because the House Health Care Committee appears uninterested in hearing them.

But smoking opponents are not giving up. They are launching a campaign to promote a planned November ballot initiative. The initiative would ban smoking statewide in public places.

Yesterday's court ruling was cheered in some quarters.

Janis Johnson, owner of the smoking-friendly Pegasus Restaurant in Tacoma, told The Associated Press that she was ecstatic and ran through the restaurant shouting "We won!" when she heard the news.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health imposed the sweeping ban in January 2004, arguing that all workers need protection from second-hand smoke.

The ban, the most restrictive in Washington, went beyond the state's Clean Indoor Air Act, which bars smoking in most public places but exempts restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, casinos and some other businesses. Neither the ban nor the state law applies to tribal businesses and casinos, an exemption that opponents argue hands the tribes an unfair advantage in attracting customers. Other businesses in Pierce County claimed the ban drained revenues by encouraging residents to dine and gamble in neighboring counties.

The ban was contested by the Entertainment Industry Coalition and was overturned after just three weeks by the Pierce County Superior Court. A Court of Appeals commissioner later reactivated the ban, but it was thrown out again by the full appeals court.

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the Court of Appeals decision, finding that the ban illegally "prohibits what is permitted by state law: the ability of certain business owners and lessees to designate smoking and nonsmoking locations in their establishments."

Through the back-and-forth, some businesses, such as the Ram Restaurant and Brewery in Tacoma, decided to maintain a no-smoking policy.

"We saw positive results. More people came in, and we certainly had a lot of positive guest comments," said Jeff Iverson, of parent company Ram International. "If it was financially bad, we would not have stuck with it."

Kevin Phelps, who chairs the Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health, said he is disappointed by the ruling. But he said the ban had positive effects anyway, raising public awareness and prompting many new in-house no-smoking policies.

Phelps said he is helping the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association of Washington and other interest groups organize Initiative 901, which would ban smoking from public places statewide. He said the initiative needs about 224,000 signatures by July to make the ballot.

A Thurston County Superior Court judge is expected to rule today on the initiative's wording, after it was challenged by the Recreational Gaming Association. Initiative organizers say they have raised more than $150,000 toward a target of $2 million.

The initiative is better organized and better funded than a similar effort last year that failed to get enough signatures, said David Delvallee, the regional vice president of government relations for the American Cancer Society.

"We believe this is the year to get it passed," he said.

In the Legislature, two companion bills would ban smoking from public places. They are House Bill 1714 and Senate Bill 5592. A watered-down version, House Bill 1670, would restrict smoking from most businesses except adult-only venues.

But yesterday, House Health Care Committee vice-chair Dawn Morrell, D-Puyallup, said the committee leadership decided not to hear any smoking bills this session, and to allow the initiative process to take its course. That would effectively kill the bills.

The decision came because the committee, facing 94 health-related bills, simply doesn't have time, Morrell said. She added that the committee could easily decide to revive one of the smoking bills.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com