Smoking is bad for his health.
He already knows that, but Finley Armstrong says lighting up is a lifestyle choice.
And he's not quitting despite what he calls Utah's new "self-help program" -- the Jan. 1, 2009, smoking ban in all bars and clubs.
"It's not going to make anyone smoke less," Armstrong said, between intermittent drags on his Parliament Light at Murphy's Bar & Grill on Salt Lake City's Main Street.
Next to Armstrong at the bar, Steve Fugitt said it's as simple as "if you don't want smoke, don't go in bars."
But this last phase of the 1995 Utah Indoor Clean Air Act will help improve people's health, especially bar employees calling in sick less, said David Neville, spokesman for the Utah Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.
The U.S. Surgeon General found in 2006 there is no safe level of secondhand smoke, Neville noted. "It's better just for people who are smoking, it's better for people who aren't smoking, it's better for people's health."
And Paul Sanchez remembers working at his old job in a smoking venue.
"The next morning I would wake up and cough black stuff," said Sanchez, a manager at Bliss Nightlife, a nonsmoking dance club on West Temple.
The ban will bring private clubs and bars in line with other businesses already prohibited from allowing smoking.
And some can't wait for Jan. 1.
"For me, I'm less likely to smoke if I'm at a nonsmoking bar," said Lezlie Corn, who sat at a table in Murphy's with two nonsmoking friends.
And there are other benefits, the group said, like having to Febreze or dry-clean clothes less often after an outing.
Nonsmoker Rachel Getts said the new law makes sense in enclosed places like bars and clubs. She was at Junior's Tavern, a nonsmoking private club on 300 South, but said she doesn't mind going to smoking bars with friends.
"My dad's a chain-smoker ... I'm probably already dying of lung cancer anyway," she said.
Junior's is one of Mike Law's bars of choice, he said, because there is no lingering fog of smoke.
"Even as a cigarette smoker, I prefer to breathe nonsecondhand smoke," Law said.
In a scene of what's to come more often (despite mandates that people smoke 25 feet away from a building), Law later huddled outside near the door to Junior's while he lit a Marlboro.
That's what the Murphy's duo isn't looking forward to: Smoking in the cold, leaving their drinks and possibly losing their place at the bar.
But what surprises them is Utah will ban smoking in bars after so many other countries and states -- Ireland and England, New York and California -- already have.
"So, way to go Salt Lake for holding out so long," Armstrong said.
Tribune reporter David Burger contributed to this story.
While the timing may not have been convenient for New Year's Eve revelers, said Utah Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program spokesman David Neville, people are expected to walk outside to smoke after midnight.
"It's the perfect New Year's resolution," Neville said, adding if people need help quitting, they can call 1-888-567-TRUTH or go to utah.quitnet.com.
Under state law, tavern owners are expected to tell patrons to put out their cigarettes or smoke outside, Neville said. If a customer refuses, then local police or health officials should be called.
A bar owner who allows smoking inside could be fined up to $5,000, Neville said. He expects most enforcement will arise from anonymous tips.
Several Salt Lake City bar and club owners are slightly apprehensive about what the new regulation will bring Thursday.
Because he owns a private club and his customers are required to buy memberships, Rob Eddington of Murphy's Bar & Grill said he thinks it should be up to him whether to allow smoking.
"What makes it private?" he asked, adding he hopes Utah will get rid of membership rules.
Charlie Newman, who books bands at Bar Deluxe, said the South Main Street venue experimented six months ago by banning smoking after a musical artist asked for a ban on smoking during his concert.
"I've heard some say they are going somewhere else because [other places] have smoking," Newman said. "I've never heard anyone come here to say they come here because it's nonsmoking."
Others don't seem too worried.
"I'm not really sure if it will affect business," said Will Sartain, co-owner of smoke-free Kilby Court and Urban Lounge, which allows smoking. "It seems to have worked out fine in other places. People seem to like drinking regardless of whether they can smoke or not."
