CALIFORNIANS SCOFF AS SMOKING BAN ARRIVES

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Told that they were smoking in violation of the law,
many Californians kept right on puffing away at bars early today as the New
Year and a new ban arrived.

Nearly 200 rebellious smokers at the Pine Cove Inn tavern in Sacramento
continued puffing on cigars and cigarettes after midnight, when the state's
strict no-smoking ban officially went into effect.

``Ladies and gentlemen, you are all officially breaking the law if you are
smoking,'' hollered tavern manager Gerry Sherman. He was met with jeers and
cat calls -- and everyone kept smoking.

At San Francisco's Gold Dust Lounge, Jake McClean, 21, kept smoking his
cigar right through midnight.

He didn't plan to stop, ``unless they pry it from my fingers.''

California banned smoking in most indoor workplaces in 1995, including the
non-bar areas of restaurants. Bars and casinos were temporarily exempt.

But the only exempt businesses now are casinos and bars on American Indian
reservations and owner-operated businesses with no employees. More than
35,000 bars, gambling parlors and bar-restaurants are affected.

California is the first state to ban smoking in most bars and casinos. The
ban isn't meant to criminalize smoking, state officials say, but to give
employees a workplace free of secondhand smoke, which has been linked to
lung cancer, respiratory problems and other illnesses.

Owners breaking the law could be fined up to $100 for a first offense and
up to $7,000 per violation for a series of offenses. Smokers can be fined.

State officials estimate that 82 percent of California's adults don't
smoke. While smoking foes eagerly awaited the new law, others scoffed at it.

``This is the weird thing. We're in L.A. ... what's the difference of
inhaling secondhand smoke and smog?'' asked Vincent Jung, owner of Formosa
Cafe in Hollywood. ``We didn't ban cars did we?''