Smoking ban to extend to clubs

If you plan to light up a smoke at any of Dedham's five private clubs come December, you'd better keep a hat and coat handy. The only place to puff on cigarettes and cigars from then on will be the great outdoors.

Dedham's Board of Health voted unanimously last week to join 33 other Massachusetts communities that have banned smoking in private clubs. Since few objections were raised, the smooth sailing for this latest restriction was yet another example of the momentum that has built up behind the anti-smoking movement.

The state in 2004 banned smoking in the workplace, including bars and restaurants, but exempted private clubs not open to the public. Although Dedham banned smoking in public buildings in 2003, private clubs were allowed to police themselves, said Board of Health chairwoman Mary Ellard, a registered nurse.

In late 2004, Athol's Board of Health voted to ban smoking in private clubs, and was sued by several such clubs. But in 2006, the state Supreme Court upheld the authority of local boards to take such action.

"I think people are becoming more aware of the impact of smoking, and the negative impact of other peoples' behavior," Ellard said. She said last week's vote was motivated, in large part, by concern over second-hand smoke. "We heard that wives weren't accompanying their husbands to these clubs because smoking was driving them away."

Ellard had hoped to enact the ban by Nov. 1 but was overruled by fellow Board of Health members. Clubs will need time to inform their members and make arrangements for outside smoking shelters, she said.

The clubs affected in Dedham are: Loyal Order of the Moose, American Legion, VFW, Knights of Columbus, and the Italian-American Club.

Michael Figlioli, commander of Dedham's VFW Post and the state organization's department service officer, said his board voted last year to look into going smoke-free.

"The real truth is [the town] left us alone before because they were afraid of being sued," Figlioli said.

The VFW, like many organizations, is experiencing a generational shift in which members are split between younger service people in their 30s and older veterans of World War II and the Korean War. One member, now 92, still comes in weekly for the chance to relax and smoke cigars, which are banned in his assisted living facility, Figlioli said.

"Our reaction was 50-50," he said. "We're one of the only places where older vets who grew up smoking can go. Yet we have younger people who have health issues, as well. And truthfully, the younger generation is more likely to be nonsmokers."

Figlioli said VFW officers are now working to decide what kind of smoking shelter will be constructed outside the club. His priority will be ensuring that it is comfortable for those who do want to smoke, he said.

Town health officials said opposition at an informational meeting two weeks ago, and also at Tuesday's meeting, was raised by members of the Moose group, who want things to remain as they are.

A series of calls to that club to speak with Moose Governor Frank Leary were unsuccessful. However, a bartender who answered the phone said members are upset. Currently, the club allows smoking only around the bar, which is about 20 percent of the facility's area.

Some cities and towns, like Dedham, are taking the state's mandate for a smoke-free workplace to the next level, said Donald "DJ" Wilson, tobacco control director for the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Among area communities with the ban at private clubs is Norwood, whose prohibition in its eight eligible establishments went into effect on June 30, 2006.

"As soon as the Supreme Court upheld Athol, we jumped right on it," said Stacey Lane, assistant health director. "Our board has always felt very strongly about the effects of second-hand smoke. Smoking and recreation areas don't mix."

Lane said the town had some calls from residents with questions at the time, but overall had no problems.

Smoking bans are even being extended outdoors in some communities. Abington, Sharon, and Tyngsborough have banned smoking on their freshwater beaches, and Barnstable is considering a proposal to ban smoking on its 16 beaches.

While those controversies remain, the battle is all but over for indoor venues. Some smokers have tried to get around the smoking bans in bars and restaurants by patronizing private clubs to which they don't belong, officials said. And some clubs preferred to go smoke-free because longtime members didn't want their bar stools taken over by 24-year-olds, Wilson said.

"It shows the general evolution that non-smoking is not the exception anymore," Wilson said.

Michele Morgan Bolton can be reached at mmbolton1@verizon.net.