Smokers are likely anxious this month, as their habit nears the full, official state stamp of disapproval on Oct 1.

But the Camels actually won't have to stay at home for a night on the town, as numerous taverns in Missoula have prepared for the day when the full weight of the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act takes effect.

Bar and beer joints intent on serving smokers have built - or have plans to build - special smoking areas, ranging from a couple of chairs and tables out back to a full-fledged smoking room, with enough open space to get around the law's definition of "enclosed space."

The latter belongs to Boomer's Pub, a popular sports bar on Brooks Street which has a new, sequestered smoking wing with separate seating and heat lamps for the cold months.

Such maneuvers are entirely legal, at least when it comes to the letter of the law as written by the 2005 Montana Legislature.

"Our official statement when bars call us is that we've been instructed that we don't have the statutory authority to regulate them," said Erica Rollins, head of Tobacco Free Missoula County in the Missoula City-County Health Department.

Indeed, the issue came up after the law passed, and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services issued this opinion:

"Smoking that occurs outdoors or under a nonenclosed shelter is not governed by the Clean Indoor Air Act. The Montana Administrative Register Department does not have the statutory authority to regulate or investigate nonenclosed shelters where smoking is allowed unless these shelters fall under these definitions."

That's good news for smokers, whose habit has been banned in airports, hospitals, restaurants and now even bars, which they considered a last respite.

"Basically, smokers are the last pariah," said Kevin Head, co-owner of the Rhinoceros in downtown Missoula. "We're telling a quarter of our population that they're no longer wanted around."

Head has plans to install a "dugoutlike" smoking area on the back patio of the Rhino, serving six to eight smokers at a time. It should be up and running by Oct. 1, but Head isn't happy to do it.

"Obviously, we have to adhere to the state law," he said. "Much to my chagrin, we will do what they've told us to do."

Other places will have similar facilities, or designated smoking areas outside the bar.

The law, passed in 2005, allowed exemptions for most bars or casinos until Oct. 1, 2009. It prohibits the smoking of any "smokable product" - containing tobacco or not - in any "enclosed public place" or "place of employment."

And that includes private clubs or other enclosed places - other than a private residence or vehicle.

The new Purple Haze Hookah Bar on Brooks Street, which has been open since mid-May, was the first Missoula County business to get hit by the law.

Last week, owners Ahmad Baig and Osama Zaid, both University of Montana students, were denied a city business license because they allow customers to smoke inside the premises. Other hookah shops such as the Raja Smokeshop sell tobacco products, but don't allow smoking on the premises.

But the Purple Haze was thick with the smoke of flavored tobacco on busy nights.

Scott Paasch of the Missoula Finance Department - which approves business licenses - denied the application after the City-County Health Department reported a violation of the Clean Indoor Air Act.

"They actually went in and found that they were in violation of it," said Paasch.

Zaid, contacted by the Missoulian, refused to comment.

The Missoula Municipal Code doesn't give Paasch or the Health Department authority to shut the hookah bar down, but fines increase rapidly and would eventually reach $500 per day.

It's unknown if the business owners plan to keep the Purple Haze Hookah Bar open.

The city's denial sends a clear message to those who openly and defiantly flout the law, said Linda Lee of the state Department of Health and Human Services, which has been fielding lots of phone calls as Oct. 1 approaches.

"Some of the bars have been very outspoken, saying they're not going to comply," she said. "Well, that's an indication for the health inspector to drop by."

And if he or she drops by, it's not good news. Violations are met with warnings and then increasing fines, up to $500 per day, which could break even a highly successful business.

Rollins, of the City-County Health Department, said there will not be an army of health inspectors peeking into bars. The law is written to be "complaint-driven," meaning municipalities will mostly rely on customer gripes.

But Rollins added that she and her employees are required by their contract with the state to perform "observational studies" of every single bar in Missoula over the next three months.

"It won't be a compliance check, but more of an environmental study," she said.

Though broadly brushed, the act leaves cities and counties free to add their own provisions, including harsher standards and more stringent controls.

A city like Missoula could decide, for example, to enact a smoking perimeter or buffer zone of, say, 30 feet, which would all but kill outdoor smoking areas, including the elaborate one built by the owners of Boomer's Pub.

"That's basically the only tool they have," Rollins said. "But city leaders may decide to pass setback rules. We're asking bar owners to consider that and to consider the public health implications."

From a public health standpoint, said Lee, it's unfortunate that some bars are doing what they can get away with in regards to the smoking law.

"If you have a patio, there's a good chance smoke will come in," she said. "Employees will be exposed. … It's well-known that the patio situation is a detriment to public health."

Spoken like a bureaucrat, said Rhino owner Kevin Head.

"For me, it's a rights issue," he said. "Basically, they're telling these folks, our great regulars who've supported us, that they don't matter."