as the clock struck midnight on December 31, smokers in Californian bars were denied the pleasure of a New Year's Eve smoke as the anti-smoking laws were enforced in all 35, 596 bars currently operating in the state. Beginning January 1, all smokers will have to stub out their cigarettes as California speeds up the process that will make it the only state in usa to have smoke-free bars and casinoes.

The new rule has invited typically polarised reactions from the smokers and those against them. While 38-year-old non-smoker Kelly Heston said she could not believe that the law has been enforced, George O'Claray, a smoker, said that he really did not see eye-to-eye with the new ban on smoking.

However, the ban comes at the right time. e ighty two per cent of Californians do not smoke and the barten-ders and waitresses have lung cancer rates that are higher than the firefighters and even miners.