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Wisconsinites will no longer be able to indulge in a smoke in any public building following a statewide ban that went into effect July 5.

The law prohibits smoking in all public workplaces, including bars, restaurants, hotels and other businesses. Bars and restaurants are allowed to create outside smoking areas and may allow patrons to smoke outside as well.

Cigar bars, tobacco shops and casinos run under Wisconsin’s Indian tribes are exempt from the law. Smoking will also still be permitted in public buildings in rooms with windows covering at least 25 percent of the wall.

Wisconsin will also experience a statewide ad campaign to alert the public to the new ban.

?The legislation adds to the growing momentum across the country and around the world to protect all workers and the public from serious health hazards of secondhand smoke,” Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of SmokeFree Wisconsin, said. ?No one should have to put their health at risk in order to earn a paycheck or enjoy a night out.”

Wisconsin is now the 27th state to ban smoking in public places, following in the footsteps of border states Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota.

Businesses had more than one year to prepare for the ban, which overrides municipal ordinances that may differ in severity from the state law itself, including a city ban on Madison in effect for several years now. Still, many in the tavern community do not see the compromise as a victory.

“Had we continued to oppose the smoking ban we could have lost and been forced to comply with the governor’s proposal he included in his budget bill,” Rob Swearingen, president of the Tavern League, said in a letter to members. “Accepting the compromise was a tough decision, but given the alternatives I think it was the right one.”

Without the compromise, the bill would have included no pre-emption period and allowed cities to ban outdoor smoking, which prompted the league to accept the compromise instead of pursuing resistance to the legislation, Swearingen said.

First-time violators of the ban will not be fined, but the second and all subsequent violations will result in a $100 fine for all violations that occurred for the day.

Starting Sept. 1., Wisconsin will also experience a tax increase for cigarettes and tobacco products.