What gives is civil disobedience, lack of enforcement, lawsuits, and continuing confusion -- we get this question all the time and we've answered it, in various ways, three times in the past six months (4/25/07, 4/5/07, 11/27/06). Here's the latest.
Six months after Nevada voters approved the Clean Indoor Air Act, which prohibits smoking in Nevada bars that serve food, the issue is more unsettled than ever. Smokers still light up where they're not supposed to (even cigars). Bars have ditched their glass ashtrays (mostly; some go so far as to leave them out, especially if they're logoed), but now hand out Styrofoam cups of water or even, in one instance that we've seen, have taken to selling disposable foil ashtrays in the cigarette vending machine (they'll give you a nickel to purchase one, on request). We've seen one case of a bar having signage on the front door explaining that smoking is permitted outside of food-serving hours, the legality (and practicality) of which we're not sure of.
Thousands of people have complained to the Health Department, which not only has no enforcement teeth (its agents are unarmed), but the law is vague as to whom — bar owner, bar manager, bartender, or smoker — to cite for a violation. Continuing challenges to the law leave its constitutionality in doubt. Eight businesses were sent warning letters last month for failure to post no-smoking signs or to remove ashtrays and one faces a $100 fine. Big deal.
So the future of this situation is smoky at best.
All you can do is walk into a bar that serves food and take a sniff. If there's smoke in the air (or in your eyes), try the next bar.
