Smoking complaints - who gets hammered?

When the State of Illinois went smoke-free, it forced smoking customers and employees out of stores, restaurants and bars onto public sidewalks and supposedly 15 feet from a store entrance or exit or open window.

So now, in addition to having to wade through cigarette butts thrown onto public sidewalks, pedestrians must pass through the cloud of smoke from those who congregate outside businesses.

I've wondered about groups of smokers outside businesses in Woodstock and why police don't ticket those within 15 feet of entrances. Then someone directed me to the IDPH website for Smoke-Free Illinois information.

Once there, the viewer learns that he can file a complaint online (if you look carefully at the webpage at www.smoke-free.illinois.gov), by mail (no fax number published) or by phone to 866.973.4646

The online form asks the complainant to provide the name of a business where the smoking violation is occurring, and I wonder whether the McHenry County Dept. of Health (MCDH) will swoop down on the poor, unsuspecting business owner whose customers are the violators on the sidewalk outside his/her business.

I'm curious why enforcement is left to the MCDH and not handled by the police, who can easily spot violations while they are on patrol without making a specific trip to the location where violations are occurring. How easy it would be for a Woodstock Police beat officer to stop and "remind" violators of the law and expect them to obey it. And then cite them the next time he passes.

One warning per business location would be a courteous way to handle it. The word would quickly spread through the customer base of a bar or bowling alley.

And hey, Woodstock administration, how about some City-owned butt cans on the Square, where smokers can discard their cigarettes before entering a sales tax-collecting business? Which is cheaper - some butt cans or paying a Public Works employee $20-30/hour to sweep up the butts?

Or here's a novel idea. When kids (or adults) in Woodstock's Administrative Adjudication Court can't pay their fines, put them to work at minimum wage with a broom and a shovel downtown. While the City might have to fork over employment taxes on their labor, that could come out of their court costs.