Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law a bill that bans smoking in restaurants, bars and private social clubs.
The law, which goes into effect in February, extends beyond the smoking ban passed by Montgomery and Prince George’s counties by preventing people from smoking in places such as the club houses of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.
Sharon Lewis, a bartender at the American Legion Post in College Park for 27 years, said she was happy the ban included the smoke-filled private social clubs.
Lewis, who does not smoke, suffers from emphysema, a lung disease caused mainly by smoke that reduces the ability of the lungs to expel air.
“I’m glad,” Lewis said. “And my pulmonary doctor will love it.”
At Greenbelt American Legion bar, one veteran, who asked to remain anonymous, had two words to say about the ban: “It stinks.”
Suzette Jaramillo, a manager of The Decoy Lounge in Clinton, said veterans, including members of her family, will be angry about the ban.
“The government sends them to die, gets them sprayed with Agent Orange in Vietnam and now the government tells the guys they can’t smoke because it will kill them?” she asked. “That’s not right.”
Maryland joins the District of Columbia and 18 other states in passing a smoking ban.
The law allows bars to apply for exemptions if they can prove they will suffer financial hardship from the ban. State health officials will finalize details of how the exemptions will work later.
The smoking ban represented one of the 164 bills that O’Malley signed into law Thursday, including one that strengthens penalties for sex offenders and another measure that could require paper voting records.
O’Malley also vetoed two bills relating to the election structure of the Prince George’s County Board of Education, citing an Attorney General letter saying proposals to change school board districts appeared to be unconstitutional.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
