DES MOINES - Iowa bar and restaurant owners and the patrons who frequent those establishments had to adjust to the state's new smoking ban which took effect Tuesday.

Business owners in the neighborhood around the State Capitol differed on whether the ban would hurt business

Julie Rahm, manager at the Continental Restaurant, said the ban could be a positive for her establishment.

"I think more people will come down here to have a drink, and they won't smell like smoke when they go home," Rahm said.

She said her customers have reacted well to the ban and haven't presented any complications in following the law.

But Bud Shaw, owner of Buddy's Corral, said his customers have complained about the law, and he expects his business to take a hit.

Shaw estimated that around 80 percent of his clientele smokes.

The law excludes the gaming floors of casinos from the ban, among a few other exceptions, and Shaw said the ban unfairly targets small business owners.

"Once again, the small businessman in the state of Iowa gets shafted," he said.

Shaw said he has a license to sell cigarettes in his establishment, but he doesn't plan to renew it now that the ban has taken effect.

The Iowa Department of Public Health received one report of a violation of the ban Tuesday morning.

The department will follow up on the report and send out a notice to the violator if the department determines one is necessary, said Don McCormick, public information officer for the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Law enforcement will not issue fines or citations upon the first complaint of a violation, McCormick said.

He said the health department received more than 200 phone calls and e-mails related to the smoking ban Tuesday morning.

The majority of those were citizens asking about how to comply with the law, while a quarter were from people voicing criticism of the ban, he said.

Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said the state may go through some growing pains as it adjusts to the new law, but citizens will get used to the ban.

"I believe that there's going to be an initial unhappiness about the law going into effect today but I think we have seen in other places and other states that in six months to a year people settle in, and it becomes not nearly so important," Judge said.

She said the law protects citizens from secondhand smoke and will lead to healthier environments in public and in the workplace.

State employees who smoke have been told to do so in their cars because smoking has been outlawed on the grounds of state-owned buildings, said Robert Bailey of the state administrative services department.

Bailey said the state government has posted the required "no smoking" signs in the entryways to all public buildings.

They've also posted the signs in several unenclosed huts that were previously designated smoking areas. The huts are located in several areas near government office buildings.

Bailey said the state has not yet determined a new use for the huts.

The Iowa Department of Public Health is holding a public comment period until Aug. 22 on the ban. The department may amend the rules that govern the enforcement and interpretation of the law based on public feedback after that date.

The department launched a Web site with information on the ban and an online form for public comment at www.iowasmokefreeair.gov.

Fred Love can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or fred.love@lee.net.