Ban goes into effect for indoor public places on Saturday (April 13)
By: Scott Morgan
As of Saturday, the arguments over smokers’ rights are moot. The plain fact is that as of Saturday, smoking will be illegal in indoor public places that are not specifically casinos or tobacco retail establishments.
According to the law, which was adopted under former Gov. Richard Codey in January, smokers caught lighting up starting April 15 could face fines up to $1,000 a pop.
But the rub for business owners is that they would be hit with the same fines. According to the law, day-to-day enforcement falls not onto the shoulders of local police, but on those of the person in charge of the establishment when a violation occurs. In other words, a shift manager at a bar would be responsible for telling a patron to snuff out his cigarette. If that manager fails to do so and the violation is caught, both the smoker and the business get fined.
But spelling out penalties is infinitely easier than enforcing the law itself. While business owners worry thatdraconian laws will rob them of their business, health officials, who ultimately are responsible for making sure the law is enforced, say there are still tons of unanswered questions.
Joe Pyrzwara, health coordinator for Ocean County and Plumsted Township, where he also serves as deputy mayor, said that as of Tuesday he is still waiting for definitive answers to questions about exactly who will walk into an establishment and deal with a situation as it arises.
The law itself spells out that a citation can be issued after either a health department receives written word that violations are taking place or health officials develop "reason to suspect" that violations at an establishment are happening. It is, however, vague about how to deal with specific instances and leaves enforcement procedures up to local health officials.
But don’t expect an army of jackbooted enforcers.
"We’re not going to go out and be police officers," Mr. Pyrzwara says. "Say a guy in a bar at 2 a.m. and lights up a cigarette and the bartender asks him to put it out and the guy tells him to go pound sand I’m not sending anybody out to get their butt kicked in. And I don’t want (the bartender) to have to get into a fight."
In the long run, day-to-day enforcement of the law will likely fall upon the shoulders of local police departments.
State Sen. Robert Singer, R-30th, a member of the state Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Legislative Services Commission, says the best bet is for local towns to draft ordinances stipulating that the police can issue tickets for smoking violations. That aspect is not spelled out in the state law, but could easily be adopted on the local level, Sen. Singer says. He adds that without an ordinance, a judge could easily throw out a police-issued ticket.
"In 99.9-percent of cases, I don’t expect there’ll be any problems," he says. "When there is a problem, it’ll most likely occur at night or on the weekends when the health department is closed and it’ll probably be because somebody has had too much to drink."
Local police say they have no intention of issuing tickets, as the state, county and local boards of health are the ultimate enforcement agency, and that they have not yet been approached about the possibility.
Florence Township Police Capt. Joseph Gadbois, however, says he expects the law to be "one of those things … that’ll probably grow over time."
Bordentown Township Mayor Mark Roselli, who also serves as municipal attorney in Washington, calls the law "a joke" that doesn’t resolve any problems, penalizes small business owners and inflicts yet another legal mandate on municipalities "who don’t have enough resources to begin with."
"Our budget’s stretched as it is," Mayor Roselli said, noting that much of the increase expected in the township’s budget this year is due to police contract obligations. "And now we have to add to it? Give me a break." He soberly states, "I don’t know how we’re going to enforce this."
What health officials are hoping will ultimately happen, he says, is that public pressure will win out over brute force. Mr. Pyrzwara says he has been to other states that have no-smoking laws and has found the compliance rate to be substantial.
State health officials say signs are to be posted in all establishments to remind patrons of the ban. Signs for businesses, plus answers to questions they have can be found online at www.smokefree.nj.gov.

