Staunton's Depot Grille went to a smoke-free environment 18 months ago, and Manager Erin Smith said the response has been positive.

"A lot of customers wanted it," Smith said Monday.

The restaurant had previously only allowed smoking at its bar.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine renewed his legislative request Monday for a statewide ban on smoking in Virginia restaurants, including public and private clubs.

The ban would include any area of public or private clubs where food is available and includes the restaurant areas where the food is prepared, served or consumed. The ban would be indoors only.

Kaine, whose proposal was defeated in the General Assembly a year ago, said the health risks associated with secondhand smoke offer convincing evidence for the ban.

"Recognizing the negative health effects and high public costs of secondhand smoke, Virginia must act to protect the workers and consumers in its restaurants," Kaine said.

The Virginia Department of Health estimates that 1,700 deaths a year are caused by secondhand smoke in the commonwealth.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids says Virginia spends $124.9 million a year on health-care expenditures related to secondhand smoke exposure.

Smith said the Depot's smoke-free environment attracted employees who wanted to get away from cigarette smoke.

Another Staunton restaurant owner, Jennifer Lynch of the Baja Bean, said operating a bar without smoking would be tricky.

She said such a prohibition could lead to smokers cutting back on cigarette consumption. But it could also affect bar business at her restaurant.

"A lot of people who smoke do so when they drink," she said. Lynch said many of her employees are smokers.

Area legislators don't favor the Kaine bill.

Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, said he prefers a smoke-free environment in a restaurant, but does not think all restaurants should have a smoking ban.

"I don't support a ban on every place. I'm a bigger fan of someone's liberty to smoke," he said.

Saxman said it is a case of government going too far.

"If I don't like something on TV, I don't watch it. I rent the movies and watch the movies I want to," he said.

Both Saxman and Del. Steve Landes said they voted against the legislation a year ago and will do so again.

Landes, R-Weyers Cave, said while many restaurants are voluntarily elminating smoking, they should have the option to allow it.

"If a business wants to cater to smokers, shouldn't they be able to do it?" Landes said.

Gordon Hickey, Kaine's press secretary, said the restaurant industry is already heavily regulated.

And he said none of the 25 states that have already insituted a similar ban on restaurant smoking has repealed it.

"It [smoking ban] has been done quite a lot around the country and no one has regretted or repealed it," he said.

UK - PUB owners have suffered a 7.3% slump in sales since the smoking ban, according to a new poll.

But a startling 25% drop in takings was seen at some traditional pubs and working men’s clubs, which do not rely on food sales, the survey of more than 2,700 licensees found.

Some 58% said smokers were paying fewer visits to their pubs and 73% said customers who smoked were spending less time inside their pubs.

And although a quarter of respondents said more non-smokers were visiting their premises, they had seen an overall drop since the smoking ban came into force in Wales on April 2.

The poll was carried out by the Federation of Licensed Victuallers’ Associations (FLVA) and the BII (formerly British Institute of Innkeeping) who surveyed 2,708 licensees in Wales and England.

The BII predicts that around 5,000 pubs will close in the next three or four years accelerated by the ban.

The Welsh secretary of the FLVA is adamant the drops are due to the smoking ban.

John Price who runs the Bush Hotel, in Clydach Vale in the Rhondda said, “My takings are down 25%. A lot of my friends’ pubs are losing a lot, other pubs are losing a lot of money.

“The pub up the road from me is losing £1,500 per week and thinking of closing and takings at the local club, known as The Top Club, have fallen drastically.

“People are staying in and going to supermarkets to buy their alcohol because they can smoke at home. The worst thing about that is youngsters get the chance to get a beer from the fridge and drink it in the house.”

Miles Vaughan, chairman of the BII Wales, said sales at his pub have also plummeted.

He said, “I’m the tenant here at the Royal Victoria in Prestatyn and sales have gone down at least 25% if not 30% since the ban. It was predicted that pubs wouldn’t suffer because the people that didn’t smoke would go out and enjoy the atmosphere in public houses but this hasn’t happened.

“At a recent council meeting at the Churchill’s Hotel in Cardiff, there were 12 council members representing 20 pubs and only one said they had gained a new customer since the ban. Pub sales have been going down 5% every year over the last few years but the smoking ban was really the nail in the coffin for many.”

Mr Vaughan said that even those people that came out spent most of the night sitting outside so they didn’t drink that much.

The FLVA’s chief executive Tony Payne said 89% of survey respondents wanted rate relief for licensees who had lost business as a result of the smoking ban.

But ASH Wales, a voluntary organisation tackling tobacco use, said the ban was worth the benefit to public health.

Spokesperson Daniel Clayton said, “We know there’s been a fall in sales in pubs but the decrease is to do with the wet summer we’ve had and in part, due to the health message about drinking that’s in the news at present.

He added that in Scotland, 12 months after the ban, there had been no decrease in pub takings.

LAS VEGAS, NV -- Revenue has dropped at many taverns - as much as 30 percent in some locations - because of a decline in customers, shooed away by the state smoking ban in establishments that serve food.

The prohibition against smoking, which took effect in January, sent gamblers who want to light up while playing slot machines to traditional casinos or one of the few taverns built before 1992 that have 35 slot machines and are exempt because the businesses were classified as casinos.

"There are a lot more challenges for an operator than ever before," said Joseph Wilcock, president of the Nevada Tavern Owners Association.

Wilcock estimates that 75 of the association's roughly 300 members gave up food service to keep their gambling and smoking patrons. Most of the membership, he said, is complying with the smoking ban "but are losing their shirts."

None, Wilcock said, wanted to give up the moneymaking slot machines.

Roger Sachs, co-owner of the three Las Vegas-area Steiner's taverns, said friendly service, good food and a lively atmosphere help keep customers from taking their business to a more traditional restaurant.

Sachs said the gambling devices made Steiner's three locations profitable.

Since January, however, revenues from the slot machines are off 29 percent to 35 percent at each location.

"We probably do as well on food as anybody because that's something we wanted to establish," Sachs said. "But other places might take a monthly loss of $10,000 on food, but made it up with the gaming. That's not the case now because the business is not there."

Herbst Gaming is Nevada's largest slot route operator with approximately 7,200 slot machines in 700 locations throughout the state.

In the third quarter, Herbst said revenues from the company's route operations were $66.1 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, a 21 percent drop over the same period in 2006.

For the first nine months of 2007, Herbst's slot route operations generated $212.5 million, 19 percent less than the same nine-month period in 2006.

"There is no question the smoking ban had a dramatic impact on our route operations and has fundamentally changed the slot route industry," Herbst Gaming President Ed Herbst told gaming analysts following the earnings release.

United Coin Machine, which operates about 6,000 machines in more than 400 locations statewide, is experiencing similar losses in revenue.

United Coin President Grant Lincoln said the smoking ban created an uneven playing field for the tavern operators, who don't have the promotional budgets to match the customer incentives offered by the large casinos.

"There's not a lot we can do," Lincoln said. "As their volume suffers, our volume suffers. The question is, have we truly bottomed out? The smoking issue has been a fairly crushing blow for the average tavern operator."