The night freshman Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) finally decided to stop smoking, he was wearing the patch, chewing Nicorette gum and puffing on the remaining four cigarettes in his last pack.

That was 18 years ago, but Hare’s memory of his quitting ordeal is vivid: He said he “was a complete bear, they tell me, for three months.” Now, the non-smoker couldn’t be more thrilled with the recent tobacco ban in the Speaker’s Lobby.

“I think it’s great,” Hare said. “Smoking kills people. It’s addictive stuff. I’m just thankful I could get off and stay off.”

Since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) prohibited smoking in the Speaker’s Lobby, an ornate vestibule located just off the House floor, lawmakers with smoking habits have been forced to make some changes.

A few have been griping, but no one has come out publicly against the new rules. Could there be some sort of pact not to challenge the Speaker on health-related measures? Or are there enough areas where smokers can find relief?

Some are secretly protesting by smoking in non-smoking areas. At least one unsanctioned smoking area exists in the Capitol, a Capitol employee told The Hill.

The employee would not divulge the room’s location, not wanting the hideout to be discovered.

The employee resolved to smoke less in the new year. But the new smoking ban? She says it’s made her want to smoke more.

“We are grown-ups,” the employee said. “We are not children.”

Other employees, and at least one lawmaker, have found the secret spot to smoke in the Capitol. But many smokers are unaware of the clandestine location.

“I don’t know of any [places to smoke] but if you hear of any, let me know,” joked one GOP lawmaker, who says he lights up in his office — with an exhaust fan running — and on the porch off the Speaker’s Lobby. Smoking is allowed in members’ personal offices.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) also doubts that a clandestine smoking area exists.

“I’m sure if there is a Batcave somewhere we would know about it,” McCotter grumbled as he walked through the Speaker’s Lobby. Though he’s displeased by the new anti-smoking edict, he abides by it and smokes either inside his private office or on the porch near the Speaker’s Lobby known as “the beach.”

When Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) was 4 years old he smoked a cigarette butt left in the ashtray of his grandmother’s car. It made him so sick that it deterred him from lighting up ever again, he says.

Cleaver said that he has heard lawmakers complain, but he hasn’t caught wind of the rebels’ den. “I’ve heard people grumbling about [the smoking ban] but I haven’t heard about a secret smokestack,” he said.

If Pelosi gets word of any such space’s existence, though, Cleaver is sure that she will shut it down promptly.  

The ban has made gathering stories more difficult for reporters. At one time, lawmakers would congregate with cigarettes or cigars in hand in a corner of the lobby, which made them accessible. The gathered crowd was mostly partisan and often included House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) as well as Reps. Tom Latham (R-Iowa), McCotter, Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).

Now some members make a beeline to the porch off the Speaker’s Lobby, making it more difficult for journalists to snag them. Such was the case for Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) on Thursday and Friday.

Boehner was known for puffing on Barclay cigarettes on a particular bench in the Speaker’s Lobby. He has said that the ban will not affect his smoking habits, and he has been seen smoking on the porch.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), an avid cigar smoker who occasionally could be spotted puffing away in the Speaker’s Lobby, told his spokesman Steve Adamske to tell members of the press to “call back when you have something more serious [than the smoking ban] to discuss.”

We’re still wondering where he lights up.

In late June, the House Office Building Commission amended the House’s policy, prohibiting smoking in all areas except the glass-enclosed rooms of B-219 Longworth and B-112 Cannon. Smoking within 25 feet of public entrances and exits of the Capitol complex or the surrounding office buildings also is prohibited.

Aides on the Senate side are allowed to smoke in a special enclosed smoking room in Hart and a room in Dirksen. It’s up to senators to decide whether they condone smoking in their offices. The only known smoking senator is Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) smoked cigars. Aides tend to buy their cigarettes in the Refectory, a little store on the first floor of the Senate side of the Capitol where smokes are rumored to be pretty cheap. 

The National Democratic Club (NDC) has been allowing patrons to light up indoors, regardless of the District of Columbia’s smoking ban, which went into effect Jan. 2. The club says that they fall under an exemption, but the D.C. Department of Health (DoH) has visited the club repeatedly, telling them to abide by the law, a DoH spokeswoman said.

Simpson, a habitual smoker, joked that he does not plan to complain about the NDC’s violation of the smoking ban.

“I don’t want to make a big to-do about [the NDC] because I want to get [smoking in the Capitol Hill Club] reopened,” Simpson laughed.

But the smoking ban in the Capitol isn’t bothering him.

“It’s not a big deal with me,” said Simpson, who admitted that cutting off smoking in the Speaker’s Lobby has moderated his smoking habit.

“I go downstairs outside,” he says. “I’ll tell you what though, [the ban] cuts down your smoking substantially.”

Under D.C. law, smoking in an unsanctioned area could result in a fine between $100 and $1,000 for both the smoker and the bar or restaurant owner.

As of last week, Simpson was unaware of the fines for lighting up in restricted areas.

“How much is it? $1,000? I’ll smoke for $1,000,” Simpson said, chuckling. “Not really.”

Freshman Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) isn’t bothered by the smoking ban in the Capitol. She says she understands how it affects others. “I’m a smoker [but] I’m always conscious of other people.”

Clarke says the ban won’t make her stop smoking. “I actually enjoy smoking,” she says. “Tell it like it is. My parents hate it. My father is like, ‘Yvette, I smell it.’ Okay, Pop,” she laughs.

Clarke says she won’t smoke in front of her parents. “It’s not a hiding thing, it’s a respect thing,” she says. “I’m a rebel with a cause.”