More than a dozen venues are set to find out within a fortnight whether they have successfully side-stepped the Government smoking ban.

Chief Medical Officer John Cann yesterday declined to name the establishments that had submitted bids for exemptions from the new law.

But he confirmed Government had received about 15 applications ? mainly from private clubs. Most have cited support from members who want to carry on sparking up, and from bar staff happy to continue working in a smokey atmosphere.

The top medic told : ?The law allows for companies to ask for exemptions and some private clubs or bars have asked for them. There have been requests from a variety of places, but the bulk have been from private clubs.?

Asked when a decision would be made on the applications, Dr. Cann could not give a definitive date. However, he said he hoped to have a ?final answer? within the next seven to 14 days.

Dr. Cann, who chairs the committee set up by Health Minister Patrice Minors to review exemption requests, said he could not comment on whether the applications would be successful.

And when asked whether any exemptions would detract from the impact of the smoking ban, Mr. Cann said it would be unfair to comment before any decisions were made.

Dr. Cann added: ?The exemptions are there so we could be fair to all parties.

?There are many that argue that we have gone too far, just as some will say we have not gone far enough. I can?t really comment on that but we are trying to be fair to everyone.?

But he added that, despite the exemption requests, Bermuda was on the ?right course? when it came to making public places healthier.

?We are among the few countries in the world that have gone this far,? said the Chief Medical Officer. ?The proof will come in a few years when you look back on compliance with the law.

?We would hope that, as time goes by, there?s an increased acceptance of the notion of banning smoking in public places. There continues to be evidence that second-hand smoke is harmful to individuals, and particularly children.?

An anti-smoking lobby group last night called for the exemptions to be rejected.

And it warned that successful bids for venues to carry on smoking would ?open the door? for other bars and clubs to follow suit.

Charles Jeffers, spokesman for Bermuda Advocates for Non-Smoking said: ?I would like to see no exemptions because they would open the door to more.?

Mr. Jeffers said he doubted whether all members and workers in the venues that had applied for exemptions wanted smoking to continue.

?If one member of staff disagrees they should have the right not to work in a smoking environment,? he said. ?I find it difficult to comprehend that everyone in an establishment would say: ?Hey, it?s fine. Fill my lungs with tobacco and nicotine.?

He continued: ?We are not trying to be the guardians of other people?s affairs, but certainly anything that effects Bermuda negatively affects us all in some shape or form.?

Mr. Jeffers said that anti-smoking restrictions in public places were getting tougher in places like the US. And he said he did not understand why some in Bermuda felt the need to challenge the ban, compromising the health of workers in the process.

The smoking law, which was put into place on April 1, bans people from smoking in bars, restaurants, offices and patios with rooftops, although the legislation makes provisions for companies to apply for exemptions.

In January, the Health Minister said she would look at applications from bars and restaurants, but was ?not inclined? to allow any public places to be designated as smoking areas.

The Minister set up an independent group to review the applications and make recommendations. The final decision is made by the Minister, however, and she is under no obligation to follow the group?s recommendation.