A year later, Michigan's smoking ban has mixed impact

Ron French / / The Detroit News

Lansing— On May 1, 2010, Ray Basham took two granddaughters to a Taylor bowling alley. He doesn't recall his score, but sniffing the air, he knew he'd won.
"I could breathe easier," said Basham, who'd fought for years in the Michigan Legislature to ban smoking in public places.

That same day, Boyd Cottrell arrived early at the Warren bar he'd bought five months earlier. He put away ashtrays as the first customer of the day walked in and lit up a cigarette.

"I told him he couldn't smoke in here and he [[cursed)," Cottrell said. "I've been losing money ever since."

A year after Michigan's bar and restaurant smoking ban went into effect, there's less smoke in the air, but also less money in the till.

Michigan's tough smoking ban has limited exposure to secondhand smoke in bars, restaurants and bowling alleys across the state, which will likely reduce the rates of cancer and other illnesses.