Smoke-free advocates contend bars could see an increase in business with more nonsmokers heading out in 2008; they say the worst that could happen is business will remain the same. Some bartenders and business owners, however, are more apprehensive; they say the smoking ban will result in more smokers staying home.

"This is Juneau, Alaska. This is a different, unique, weird market, and you just don't know what's gonna happen," said Ethan Billings, owner of Marlintini's Lounge.

Wendy Hamilton, tobacco program coordinator for National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence-Juneau, said it is becoming the norm in the United States to restrict smoking in bars. Seventeen states have banned smoking in bars, and five more have passed legislation to do so in the future. Dozens of towns, cities and counties across the nation also have decided to go smoke-free.

"We can no longer pretend that secondhand smoke is not deadly," Hamilton said.

Every valid economic study done on bars that have gone smoke-free indicates that in the worst-case scenario business stays the same, she said.

"But typically it gets better," Hamilton said.

It is common for business owners, customers and bartenders to have worries and concerns when a city or state goes smoke-free, she said.

"It's not unusual for bars to be upset and fearful, but as they will see, it's not the doomsday that they think it is," Hamilton said. "We want to respect that fear without validating it."

Billings, also the vice president of the Juneau/Lynn Canal Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant & Retailer's Association, said the smoking ban could be detrimental to some bars, particularly smaller ones that rely heavily on return clientele.

David Sheakley / Juneau Empire   Cashed out: Some Juneau bar owners are worried fewer smokers will venture out for a drink after the ban, hurting alcohol sales.

"That becomes an issue for the community as well as the individuals if people start losing jobs and businesses start closing down," Billings said.

Marisa Morgan, a bartender in Juneau for the past nine years, is convinced that the smoking ban will have negative effects for servers.

"It's going to hurt our pockets really bad," she said. "On the one hand, I can understand the concern from some people, but what a lot of people don't realize is this is our livelihood. This is how I feed my son."

Lighting up a cigarette during a quick break at the Viking Lounge recently, Morgan had lots to say about the people she says are infringing on other's liberties by requiring all bars to go smoke-free.

"I'm actually quitting smoking, but it doesn't matter to me," she said. "I mean, it's a choice. That's the way it's always been."

There are already some establishments in the community that have gone smoke-free and making them all do so takes away people's choices, Morgan said.

The Juneau Clean Air Coalition is not trying to stop people from smoking, but rather has worked to reduce people's exposure to harmful secondhand smoke, Hamilton said.

"We are not anti-smokers," she said. "We are advocates for clean indoor air. And if people want to smoke, that is very much their business, as long as it isn't harming other individuals."

Besides, smoking is not the only reason people go to the bars, Hamilton said.

Jewels Barmoy, a bartender at the Triangle Club for 20 years, said she is worried the smoking ordinance will affect business.

"I have a lot of people, they don't smoke at home, they don't smoke at work, and they want to come to a place where they can sit down and have a cigarette and be out," she said.

Barmoy, who smokes on rare occasions, also feels the ordinance is infringing on people's freedom of choice.

"They're chipping away," she said. "It's like, what's next?"

Jacqui Bropley said she is excited about the bars in Juneau becoming smoke-free. After a decade working as a bartender around town, she quit serving drinks 10 years ago because of the cigarette smoke.

"I ended up getting asthma because of all the smoke," she said. "I'd go home smelling like an ashtray every night."

Bropley said she still enjoys the bar atmosphere and likes to be out on the town, but dislikes breathing the secondhand smoke.

"I'll just be enjoying it more being able to come out and not smell like smoke," she said.

Bropley, however, said she does have some concerns about people congregating on the sidewalks and the potential for more fights in the streets.

"I'm kind of happy, but not at the same time, because where are all the smokers going to go?" she asked.

Rick Kasnick, owner of The Island Pub, said the smoking ban will cause some problems, but probably only for the short-term.

"I'm kind of worried about it affecting some businesses around," he said. "I don't think it should affect mine because we're already nonsmoking. That's how we started out."

Nevertheless, the bar will have to do away with its specially designed smoking room come Jan. 2 because of the ordinance, Kasnick said. Bartenders, smokers and business owners will just have to learn to adapt and adjust to the change, he said.

"I think it will settle out," Kasnick said. "Short-term, there is going to be some interesting sights downtown with people lined up along the streets trying to get 10 feet away from the doorway."

Billings said he thinks the city should amend the ordinance to include a provision that would reverse the smoking ban if it proves to cause economic hardship on the businesses.

Marlintini's Lounge has been holding smoke-free events throughout the year in the build-up to the smoking ban. The crowds on comedy nights are typically different on weekends with smoking shows and nonsmoking shows, Billings said.

Generally, more tickets are sold on nonsmoking evenings, but alcohol sales - the bread and butter of the business - tend to be higher on the smoking nights, he said.

"It's a give and take thing, I guess," Billings said.

But he is not sure that is any gauge to predict what effect the smoking ban will have on the bar scene.

"There is no answer about what is going to happen," he said. "No one can really predict it."

David Sheakley / Juneau Empire   Puffed up: A smoker finishes a cigarette at the Alaskan Bar, which will be smoke free Jan. 2.

• The final phase of a smoking ordinance first passed by the Juneau Assembly on Oct. 1, 2001 will ban lighting up in bars, taverns and private clubs at midnight on Jan. 2.

• Smoking is already banned in restaurants, most workplaces, health care facilities, gyms, bowling alleys, bus shelters, government buildings and commercial passenger vehicles.

• Failing to maintain a smoke-free environment will cost bar owners $200 for the first offense. A patron caught smoking will be fined $50. The fines increase after the first offense.

• The ordinance states that no person may smoke within 10 feet of any entrance, open window or ventilation system intake of any building.

• The clean air ordinance does not prohibit smoking in private residences, including those used as places of employment. The exception, however, does not apply at any time for a residence used as a child care, adult care or health care facility.

• The ordinance also does not prohibit performers smoking as part of a stage performance.

• For more information on smoking or the clean air ordinance, visit the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence-Juneau at www.ncadd-j.org, or the Juneau Clean Air Coalition at www.smokefreejuneau.org.

• For more information on the service and beverage industry, visit the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant & Retailer's Association at www.alaskacharr.com.

• To view the clean air ordinance, visit www.juneau.org and click on the "Ordinances Prohibiting Smoking in Public Areas" link.