“The law was enacted to protect public health, not to cause financial difficulties to our local bars and restaurants,” he said.

The State Department of Health recently issued a memo detailing the waivers that are part of the statewide smoking ban that went into effect in July.

It will be up to individual city and county health departments to consider the requests for waivers based on past, present or future hardship such as past business profits, expenditures and investments, including completed capital improvements like enclosed smoking rooms, for which the applicant will fail to realize some additional financial benefit; loss of business volume or profit, which is a direct result of the new law; present and/or projected future adverse economic impacts that have been or will be incurred to comply with the provision form which the applicant is seeking a waiver; and factors other than financial hardship which make compliance unreasonable, such as disability, security and staffing issues.

Morahan said local restaurant and bar owners should contact their county health departments for waiver applications.