Virginia's ban on smoking in restaurants takes effect Dec. 1 and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is touring the state today, to highlight restaurants that already have gone smoke-free.
The new law will prohibit smoking in nearly all restaurants across the state. The law allows exceptions for private clubs and restaurants with designated smoking rooms that are separate and independently vented.
Kaine is visiting "successful restaurants in Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke and Fairfax County that have voluntarily gone smoke-free."
This morning Kaine began with a visit to Perly's Restaurant & Deli on Grace Street in Richmond.
"This historic public health measure will only enhance the high quality of life Virginians have come to enjoy by protecting restaurant patrons and employees from the serious health risks of secondhand smoke," Kaine said in a statement.
"With a growing number of Virginia restaurants that have already found they can be both smoke-free and successful, I encourage other restaurants to go smoke-free before December 1 to immediately protect restaurant-goers and workers alike."
By enacting a ban on smoking in Virginia's bars and restaurants, Virginia joins 27 states and the District of Columbia which have passed similar legislation.
According to the Virginia Department of Health about 70 percent of Virginia's fast-food and full-service restaurants are now smoke-free.
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