Nearly two months after a statewide smoking ban took effect, Des Moines area bartenders report mixed results: Some see no change in business, others say profits are noticeably down.

Amber Todwin, a bartender at Stix in Ankeny (pictured), said summer months are always slow, but business at the pool hall has suffered since the ban. Since the bar has no patio, smokers hang out in front of the building. Some nonsmokers tell her it's even worse having to walk through the cloud of smoke to get in the bar than it was to sit in the ventilated area inside.

"The people who only drink when they smoke are hurting the most," Todwin said. "They'd just as soon stay home, even the regulars."

Iowa's Smokefree Air Act bans smoking in public places (including all bars and restaurants), most workplaces and certain outdoor areas. Smoking is still allowed in fairgrounds, casinos and on bar patios. The patio rule is a stickler for many bars that also serve food, since the state defines a bar as a place that doesn't serve food. A coalition of bar owners, Choose Freedom Iowa, filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban. They lost their first battle earlier this month when a judge ruled that the ban can stay in effect until the case works its way through the courts.

Business is also down at the Garage in Urbandale. Bartender Crystal Wolf said she still hears smokers complain about the law, especially since smoking is still allowed inside casinos. "Definitely people come in here and talk about it and they're pissed," she said.

On the other end of the spectrum, the ban has been good for business at the formerly very smoky High Life Lounge downtown, especially at lunch, said bar manager Gwen Schlepphorst.

"A number of regulars had said they'd been waiting for that day to come because the High Life gets so smoky," she said.

The High Life does have an outdoor smoking area that people can use once they stop serving food. Schlepphorst said people have been happy with that since it's not too far from the building, but they may grumble more when the weather gets cold.

Nick Bell, a bartender at the Lift, which was smoke-free before the ban, said business looks about even. The first week, some people flocked to the dive bars they had avoided because of the smoke. But most regulars have returned. And some smokers who avoided the Lift because they couldn't smoke there now come in. "The regulars are still the regulars," Bell said. "Without fail, they're here."

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