When did California ban smoking in restaurants? (Oakland: exemption, safety)

[spicymeatball]

I read they banned it in 1995, but I swear I remember ash trays at tables at least a year or two beyond then. Were certain restaurants exempt or was it not widely enforced at first?

I was very young then so I don't remember clearly when exactly smoking ended in restaurants.

[Kibbiekat]

Before I read your whole post I was thinking mid-90's, so 1995 is probably correct. It was passed as a "smoke-free workplace" law, so if a bar owner was tending bar himself, and had no employees, it probably wasn't enforceable.

[spicymeatball]

Originally Posted by Kibbiekat

Before I read your whole post I was thinking mid-90's, so 1995 is probably correct. It was passed as a "smoke-free workplace" law, so if a bar owner was tending bar himself, and had no employees, it probably wasn't enforceable.

Interesting. Yeah I do wonder if it lingered longer at certain restaurants for whatever technical reasons or if my memory is just failing me.

[pretendingtowork]

Even today it lingers at some restaurants and bars. Mostly hole in the wall places and dives though. But yeah, I had my first job as a busboy in 95 and they had just banned smoking in restaurants, so that seems about right.

[cephalopede]

I also seem to recall that businesses could be exempt if they had under a certain number of employees, and they agreed smoking in the workplace was acceptable.

[pch1013]

I think the exemption applies to businesses where the only person working is the owner. In that case there isn't a "workplace safety" issue, since there are no employees.

[04kL4nD]

You can definitely smoke at a few bars in Oakland, depending on the owner. I won't name names, but it's more common than you'd think.