TOLEDO SMOKING BAN NOW IN EFFECT

Business owners and customers have been fuming as of 12:01am yesterday. Smoking is illegal in Toledo, Ohio.

Anyone caught illegally smoking is subject to a $100 fine, but the penalty is stiffer for owners of establishments who don�t enforce the smoking ban.

The penalties begin with mandatory workplace education for the shift supervisor and the table server for the first verified violation and progress to mandatory education for the entire roster of employees after a third violation.

A fourth violation results in a minor misdemeanor for the establishment and referral to the Ohio Department of Liquor Control.

The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department announced that more than 700 police officers, 500 firefighters, and inspectors in the divisions of environmental services, nuisance abatement, building inspection, and the health department, are empowered to enforce the law.

The smoking lamp is out.