What Do You Think of a Smoke-Free Mary's Bar?

EAST ATLANTA — Get ready for a smoke-free Mary's.

The gay bar, a staple of Village night life, is now non-smoking on Fridays and Saturdays.

Mary's, which aleady banned smoking during special events during the week, will allow smoking on other days during the week.

The changes, which the bar announced on its Facebook page, went into effect this week.

Mary's enjoys a reputation for being an inviting and fun place, but a long-time knock on the bar has been that non-smokers leave it reeking of smoke or they avoid it altogether.

It's something the bar acknowledged in its announcement to customers:

"As many of you know, we have for some time been trying to find a reasonable solution to accommodate smokers and non-smokers in the bar. The truth is that is there really is no amount of smoke cleaning machines that could make any substantial difference in the unusual size space we call home. And while some of us that work at Mary’s are smokers, too, the truth is that far less people smoke these days than when Mary’s opened 15 years ago. We have always said that we would welcome a (reasonable) state law that removed the question of indoor smoking altogether, provided it did not create unreasonable distance requirements from the entrance doors. But another legislative season has gone by with no changes, and so we have decided to make changes to our policy instead. ...

...Since we are not a large space, it is pretty easy for smokers to slip right outside the front door or onto the back patio for a cigarette—it’s just mostly a change of habit. For now, during the usually less-crowded weeknights, we will not be enforcing a non-smoking policy. ...

... If you have stopped coming to Mary’s over the years because you felt like it was too smoky, we’ll hope you’ll come visit us again. And if you are a smoker that comes to Mary’s today, don’t worry—half of us will be out back having a smoke with you."

In taking that step, Mary's joins other Atlanta institutions, including Manuel's Tavern in Poncey-Highland, which have announced their own plans to become smoke-free zones.

What do you think of the new policy? Is it a good idea? If you're a smoker, do you feel like your rights are being infringed? Tell us in the comments section below.