KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasAdjustments Begin as Smoking Ban Takes Effect

Adjustments Begin as Smoking Ban Takes Effect

Restaurants and bars which serve food should now be smoke free. A judge has signed the order allowing enforcement of the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act with civil penalties.

It's up to a restaurant or bar serving food to remove the ashtrays and post no smoking signs. Even though the casino floor is exempt, restaurants in casinos and the convention side of casinos must follow the anti-smoking law.

Walking through the convention corridors at the Orleans Hotel and Casino, the message is clear. The only place smokers can light up is on the casino floor. 

Boyd Gaming owns the Orleans. A spokesman, Rob Stillwell, says the company started in January by educating employees about the new law.

"We began producing the signs, starting to talk to employees on how enforcement would work."

The ashtrays are gone. New signs placed about ten feet apart sit in smoke-free air.

"Our security officers and floor supervisors and people like that will do some shoulder tapping, reminding people," he said.

Even the restaurants inside on the casino floor are following the law. In the casino itself, smokers enjoyed their vice.

It's not just casinos. Convenience store workers and customers are also breathing cleaner air.

Michael Yowell has smoked for the past decade. His favorite 7-11 at the corner of Eastern and Sahara posted the signs, so he buys the cigarettes inside and walks outside.

"It's a minor inconvenience at best," said Yowell. "This is reasonable for non-smokers. I can appreciate that non-smokers don't want to have that second-hand air in their lungs."

Rob Stillwell says over the years, smokers have become used to going to designated places to light up. Now, in some businesses the law says they have to.

"I don't think at the end of the day it will be something that will be that big of a deal," he said.

It's a $100 fine for smoking where you should not. No tickets have been issued, but the health district already received some complaints.

The Clark County Health District will start the educational process about the new law this week. They will be sending out an informational sheet with smoking ban guidelines and will also be working on an online complaint form. When it is finished, it will be posted on their website, which should be sometime in the next month.