The act prohibiting smoking in public meeting places, public transportation vehicles and indoor places of employment has been approved in Maryland.

The Restaurants owners and several snack bars decided also to create an atmosphere free of the smell picked up by carpet and upholstery, that’s why they started cleaning furies.

Pub Owner Pat Scott stopped customer tobacco smoking in his restaurant. He and his employees started to paint walls, to clean carpets and seats with a neutralizing agent, in order to disinfect atmosphere from smoke smell.

"Because smoke penetrates any porous material, we need to make it so that our new non-smokers don't smell traces of smoke," Scott said. "We've had a lot of people in the community who know we have good food and good bands but whom refuse to come back because they don't want to deal with the smoke."

Scott said he thinks that the changeover will be good for business.

"Nobody likes to be the guinea pig. If I tried to make this move prematurely, who would have known the repercussions? It might have been good for the new customers, but it might have driven smoking customers away. It's a balancing act ... but this is going to be a plus for sales."

Howard Bunting, Market Street Inn General Manager, added: "We're stripping from top to bottom to get rid of the smoke smell. We're repainting the walls, removing the booths, putting in new carpet, redoing the bar," Bunting said. "We're basically getting the smoke and nicotine out of here to get it where people can come in and not be bothered by smoke we've had here in the past."

Less than 20 percent of Marylanders are smokers but the antismoking act helped people to quit (smoking declined 21 percent). Smoking ban has increased also the restaurant sales by 7 percent.

According to a fact sheet from the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, more than nine out of 10 people surveyed said they were as or more likely to go to restaurants, and 89 percent said they were more likely to go to bars than before the regulations.