A year after a tough new law regulating smoking in public places went into effect, anti-tobacco advocates are saying it's working, while operators of some licensed bars in Honolulu still complain that they're losing business.

Proponents of the ban, which applies to all enclosed public places, say complaints about violations have decreased substantially over the past nine months.

And in general, smokers interviewed seem to have accepted the new rules, which require them to move to 20 feet from any public building before they light their cigarettes.

Nona Kerisiano, 32, a full-time student studying to be a clinical medical assistant, said Remington College has a smoking area around the corner where she goes between classes.

"I think it's a good idea for all the nonsmokers and all the asthmatics, but for us smokers, of course, it's nuts," she said.

It's not enough to make her quit smoking, and she is not avoiding clubs. "It hasn't stopped me from doing anything that I would have done before the law went into effect," she said.

The law is among the toughest in the nation and was pushed by Hawai'i anti-smoking groups for nearly two decades before it passed as a way to protect people from secondhand smoke. The law took effect Nov. 16 of last year.

The law, which carries fines for business owners or individuals who violate the rules, comes 20 years after the U.S. surgeon general linked secondhand smoke to health problems. Hawai'i was the 14th state to pass such a wide-ranging ban, which includes bars and restaurants.

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai'i said the law is having a positive impact.

"We know that the quitline calls are up and we also know from businesses that requests for cessation services are up," said interim executive director Kathy Harty.

"Employees are working in a healthier environment, they get sick less often and take less time away from work," she said. Overall, that means less healthcare costs for the state, she added.

After the law was enacted, businesses large and small, as well as government agencies and others scrambled to make their employees aware of the new rules, posting nonsmoking placards and otherwise educating their workforce.

Some bar owners in Hawai'i say that they've seen a dramatic drop in revenue since the ban went into effect, and at least 20 licensed bars and cabarets have closed, according to critics of the ban. The figure could not be independently verified.

SOME AVOIDING BARS

Some have found that smokers who sought bars as one place they could smoke indoors are just staying home.

Others have found that smokers are spending more time standing outside the bar smoking instead of inside ordering food and drinks.

Judy Long, owner of Anyplace Lounge, said another problem she has encountered is that people say they are going outside to smoke, then never come back to pay their bill.

Long said that Anyplace Lounge used to be a haven for people who weren't allowed to smoke at home.

"They came here specifically because it was comfortable and air-conditioned," she said. "They could relax, drink beer, watch TV, smoke cigarettes and enjoy company.

"Now a lot of people would rather stay home because it's too humbug for them," she said.

Other bars are combating that problem by circumventing the law, posting signs informing their customers about the law and telling them that they aren't allowed to smoke inside, but otherwise not enforcing it and even providing ashtrays to those who need them.

That's the kind of place Hawai'i Smokers Alliance founder Jolyn Tenn frequents. She doesn't like having to go outside to smoke. "As a woman, you really don't want to be alone by yourself at night, but you're forced to do this," she said.

She noted that there was no smokers alliance before the law was passed.

"What it is, they've taken a product that's legal and pretty much demonized the product and the people who use it," she said.

Businesses that fail to comply with the law face a $100 fine for a first offense, $200 fine for a second violation and a $500 fine for every subsequent offense. Individual violators will be fined $50.

ONE CITATION IN YEAR

The state Department of Health was only informed of one citation given by police over the past year, and police did not return calls requesting more accurate numbers. The Department of Health is currently working with the attorney general's office to come up with rules that will allow them to issue citations.

Julian Lipsher, a public health educator for the state Department of Health, said complaints about people violating the smoking law have dropped from 120 in November 2006 to 28 last month.

"The number of complaints tells us for the most part that people understand the law," he said.

Most businesses have made an effort to comply, and he said some of the dramatic improvements have been at high-traffic areas like the airports, the Hawai'i Convention Center, Ala Moana Shopping Center and the Victoria-Ward complexes.

"You no longer see smokers in the mall," Lipsher said.

SPECIAL LICENSE SOUGHT

Meanwhile, the Hawai'i Association of Bar Owners is arguing for an administrative rule change that would grant special licenses to operate smoking establishments, similar to the licenses for establishments that offer adult entertainment.

"Just give us a new classification to allow those restaurants and bars who like to have smoking" to have it, said association president Fred Remington, who is co-owner of three Irish pubs.

The association has 105 members and represents 88 of 294 licensed bars in Honolulu.

Over the past year, Remington said he's increased prices but his revenue is still down 9.5 percent, which he blames in part on the law.

Remington said he isn't trying to force people to breathe secondhand smoke, but looking for a compromise where "people who like to smoke can come and smoke and people who don't like to be in a smoky atmosphere won't come."

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, which lobbied hard for the law in 2006, isn't likely to let any exemptions pass without a fight, however.

Harty said the coalition has no plans to try to strengthen or expand the law next legislative session, but the anti-tobacco group will still be at the Capitol. "What we are planning to do is make sure the law stays in place," she said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Correction: Nona Kerisiano is studying to be a clinical medical assistant, not a nurse. In a previous version of this story on Hawai'i's smoking ban, a photo caption contained inaccurate information.