Snuffing Out Not All Bad

The state's smoking ban went into effect and we saw this item in the Annapolis Capital. The state's Clean Indoor Air Act of 2007 prohibits anyone from smoking in indoor places such as bars and restaurants, taxis, offices and motels among other areas where people are employed:

Although some worried about the ban's impact on sales, businesses that have already made the conversion in other areas saw an increase in sales.

Stephen McLaughlin, restaurant manager of Sonoma's Bar and Grille in Howard County, where smoking was banned last year, said his bar knocked out a wall that separated the smoking and nonsmoking sections, put in new TVs and gave the bar a "good scrub down to remove the smoke residue."

"Overall, I think people are excited, we've had people come in here and say we wanted to give this place a try, but it was always too smoky," he said. "It's definitely increased our client base."