At midnight on Saturday night it will be illegal to smoke in all public and private places of employment and in any business offering goods or services to the public in Greenbrier County. Many bars in Greenbrier County are attractive to customers simply because they are allowed to smoke inside. And they are worried if they lose their clientele, they'll lose their business too.
Sportsman Tavern employee Charles Fox said, "Take away the smoking... 80% of our customers smoke so it's not going to be a good thing for us."
While smoking is undoubtedly a dangerous habit, customers at the Sportsman in Ronceverte say the mandate is too extreme.
Jack Daniel said, "Put all these little places out of work, it's just crazy it's overbearing, I don't think it's fair."
And as for their few non-smoking customers, Fox said, "They know this is a smoking bar, they're locals, they're regulars and they don't have a problem so I don't see anything good coming out of this for businesses like this."
Regulars say closing the doors at the Sportsman would close friendships for many of them.
Marlene Biszalik said, "It'd be a big disappointment to me, this is my way of seeing people."
John Coffman has been going to the Sportsman for 40 years. He said, "It's not right. They're taking too many rights away from us."
On the other hand, bars could attract non-smokers who might have avoided them in the past.
Monika Kauffman said, "They can still go and smoke, they just go outside, so I think everyone can go and hang out in the same place now."
Shelley Layman said, "I like to be able to go to a bar and have fun and not come home smelling like cigarettes."
As of Sunday morning you'll no longer see ashtrays and cigarettes inside bars in Greenbrier County, but you are still allowed to use chewing tobacco.
The Greenbrier County Board of Health amended the regulation at the end of July.
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