He's had four years to get ready, but Chad McLean nonetheless waited until the last minute to start preparing for the implementation of the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act, which bans smoking in buildings open to the public starting Thursday.

The manager of Jester's Bar on North Rodney, McLean this week was overseeing the construction of a fenced area behind the bar, designed to provide a place for customers to go outside and smoke.

"I was hoping something would break in our favor bar-wise or casino-wise in that time, maybe someone would fight for an exemption," McLean said.

After a compromise between health groups and tavern interests in the 2005 Legislature, the Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect that fall, but bars and casinos were given until Oct. 1, 2009, to go smoke-free across the state.

McLean said the fenced space at Jester's will eventually include a cover, and will be accessible only from inside the bar, so patrons can take their drinks outside - that's not an option if they're simply smoking on the sidewalk in front of the bar.

While he understands some of the reasoning behind the ban and plans to comply, McLean said there's still some disconnect between wanting to protect the health of workers in a state where people are still not guaranteed so much as a 15-minute break during the course of their shifts.

"These workers are not so dumb that they can't get other jobs if they choose to," he said. "Everybody who works in one of these smoking environments chooses to. I'm not a bartender-for-life unless I want to be."

Casino owners have long believed that a smoking ban will hurt their revenues, because so many gamblers like to smoke while they're seated at the machines.

"As far as our members go, I think there's some apprehension as to what the impacts will be on their businesses," said Neil Peterson, director of the Gaming Industry Association of Montana.

Peterson said a level playing field, and every business operating under the same laws, will help. That wasn't the case earlier in the decade, when a handful of cities experimented with smoking laws of varying strength and operated under different rules from neighboring jurisdictions.

"The gaming industry fully believes in the enforcement of the Clean Indoor Air Act, and we think that's the key, is having enforcement across the board," he said. "It's our belief that people are going to comply with the law, and it's really going to be a non-event as far as the industry is concerned."

Businesses that violate the law are subject to first a warning and then a written reprimand, with fines of $100 to $500 for subsequent violations. Employees or customers who smoke inside a business can be charged with a misdemeanor and can be fined $25 to $100.

Several Helena establishments, including the Last Chance Casino and Miller's Crossing, went smoke-free in recent years, not waiting for the statewide law to take effect.

According to a study done by the Department of Public Health and Human Services, three-quarters of Montanans support the law, up from 65 percent the year after it was passed.

Helena first experimented with a smoking ban in 2002, when voters approved a city-wide ordinance banning smoking in all public buildings. That law was on the books for six months before being shelved by a city court decision. The topic was subsequently debated in the 2003 and 2005 Legislatures, with the end result being the ban that takes effect this week.

John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com