By Kristen George

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina may soon join the 40 other states that have implemented at least partial public smoking bans. A Senate committee overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday that bans smoking in all restaurants statewide, but allows it in some bars with a special permit.

With a vote of 13-3, the Senate Judiciary Committee gave its OK to the bill, which if passed could put an end to debates surrounding similar bans in municipalities around the state. The statewide ban would preempt any local bans, which in many cases have been more stringent than the statewide ban.

“Curbing smoking in public places as been a battle fought in small increments, starting 10 years ago with banning smoking in daycare centers,” said Sen. Greg Gregory, R-Lancaster. “It seems that the majority of the public sees smoking in restaurants as the most egregious form of stepping on someone’s rights.”

While many business owners around the state have voiced the opinion that a public smoking ban is an infringement on their rights, Gregory says when the safety of an establishment’s patrons is at risk, the business owner’s rights are overruled.

“On the surface, this sounds like a legit argument, but the (U.S.) surgeon general has said that there is no safe level of second-hand smoke,” Gregory said. “Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that, ‘My right to extend my fist ends at the other person’s face.’ Similarly, a business owner’s rights do not include forcing other people to breathe second-hand smoke.” 

Under the bill, smoking in restaurants would be banned but could be allowed in bar sections if they were separated completely from non-smoking sections and include a separate ventilation system.

Bars also could allow smoking with a $100 permit from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. Patrons under the age of 18 would not be allowed inside bars that allow smoking at any time.

Individuals caught smoking in restaurants and bars without permits, as well as owners who illegally permit smoking, could be found guilty of a misdemeanor under the bill and fined at least $50.