Indiana Smoke Free Air Law in effect

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - With the new Indiana Smoke Free Air Law in effect Sunday, many smokers are looking for a place to light up.

Hans Duong said he's been smoking for about three years and never thought he would see the day when not being able to light up in his favorite restaurant would come. 

"Like for me, I've already accepted the fact that cigarettes are bad, it's probably going to take a few years off my life, but I'm okay with that because I like cigarettes," Duong said.

Duong's favorite restaurant is Egyptian Cafe and employee Justin Riskin said even though their business is exempt from some parts of the law because it's a hookah bar, they still don't allow cigarettes.

"It's definitely going to be a change, especially with campus not being able to smoke," Riskin said. "We used to have people that would come over here during their lunch breaks and they used to be able to smoke with their lunch but now that's not going to be available. I think you have to be eight feet away from the building. So it's going to be an interesting transition since we have a lot of customers and regulars in general that come in here that do smoke cigarettes and want to smoke cigarettes."

Bars, taverns, privately owned clubs, and casinos are just some places where smoking is still allowed. 

Chumley's Pub in downtown Lafayette saod they will allow smoking in their bar until August 1 and say many people are taking advantage of the extra month of smoking.

"If there are bars like this that will allow smoking, I'll probably come here to have lunch," Chumley's guest Dwayne Miller said.

With the law going into effect Sunday, Egyptian Cafe employees say they haven't had to tell anyone to put out their cigarettes yet but say they expect some people to try and smoke because they don't know about the new law. However, some guests have been dreading this day for a long time.

"Last night, I went into the Egyptian and smoked as many cigarettes as I could before midnight," Duong said.

Riskin said smoking cigars and hookah is still allowed at Egyptian Cafe.