HELENA — This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Montana passing legislation to make bars, restaurants, and casinos smoke-free.
The Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA) prohibits burning or using cigarettes and cigars in enclosed public places, protecting Montanans' right to clean air.
The legislation passed in 2005, and businesses had until October 2009 to be completely smoke-free.
"It took a long time for people to stop lighting up. They'd be sitting at a machine and all of a sudden, they'd light up a cigarette, and you could smell it, and you'd have to run over there and be like, 'put that out,'" said Jessica Johnston, the owner and manager of Nickles Gaming Parlor in Helena.
She is a smoker herself but says she is glad the legislation passed.
Johnston said, "It was gross always going home smelling like cigarettes and having cigarette hangovers. You have a ten-hour shift, and by the time you get home, you're just exhausted."
CIAA saw tense discussions in 2005, and our station interviewed a few Montanans about how they felt.
"Even me as a smoker, going into a restaurant or a casino that has smoke, you can smell it the minute you walk in," said one woman.
Another said, "I think it's wrong. I think that the business owners should have the decision whether or not to allow smoking in their establishments."
"It made a lot of people upset, and at first, it made everybody upset. A lot of people did stop coming in, but then people got used to it after all the years," said Johnston.
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services says, "There is no safe level of exposure to commercial tobacco smoke," and secondhand smoke can be deadly.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, secondhand smoke can contain over 7,000 chemicals, with hundreds being toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.
Montana tobacco prevention section supervisor with DPHHS, Nicole Auni, said, "We have seen a decrease in cigarette smoking amongst adults and youth. We've also seen a decrease in incidents and mortality rates in lung cancer."
CIAA requires all enclosed public and workplaces, including work and public vehicles like taxis and buses, to be smoke-free.
Businesses must put up smoke-free signs at all public entrances.
Twenty years later, an entire generation was born after the CIAA was passed.
"They don't even know what it was like when restaurants had smoking and non-smoking sections. That sounds crazy to them," said Auni.
CIAA is enforceable by law, and you can find where to file a complaint here.
