The commissioner of the Virginia Department of Health provided an update Thursday on a law that goes into effect December 1, banning smoking in most restaurants. The Great American Smokeout, an annual event aimed at urging people to quit smoking, also took place Thursday.

In March, Gov. Tim Kaine (D) signed a bill into law that partially bans smoking in Virginia restaurants.

Local restaurant owners are making final preparations before the new law takes effect. Some of them have decided it's easier to go smoke-free instead of paying to upgrade their ventilation systems.

The smoke from the kitchen stove will soon be the only smoke you'll see at Jess' Quick Lunch in downtown Harrisonburg. The Harrisonburg restaurant is going smoke-free, but owner George Floros says it's not totally by choice.

"We'll miss a lot of my lunch crowd for the people that go to court, and they like to come here for a quick bite and a cigarette of course," says Floros.

The new smoking law provides exceptions for private clubs. Also, a restaurant can have smoking if there are separate areas and ventilation systems for smoking and non-smoking customers.

Floros says that wasn't possible for him, so he's just making his entire establishment smoke-free.

"It will show a lot, but people will get used it. That's just the new law," says Floros about the potential impact to his business.

Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Remley says 73 percent of Virginia's restaurants are already smoke-free. She has concerns about effects of second-hand smoke on customers.

"There's a lot of new research that is now looking at smoking in restaurants and second-hand smoke, not only impacting lung cancer, which is what we normally think about, but heart disease. We do know that when we ban smoking in restaurants, the number of heart attacks go down in a community," says Remley.

Floros, who is a smoker himself, is "somewhat quitting." He's tried to prepare customers for the change, knowing some will be upset.

Floros says, "Hopefully, the customers will understand exactly what's going on, and we'll have to cope."