Starbucks to prohibit smoking within 25 feet of its sites

Starbucks Coffee Company is extending its indoor no-smoking policy to the outdoors. The company will prohibit anyone up to 25 feet from a Starbucks store from smoking, effective June 1, where permitted by its leases.

The new rule will apply to the 7,000 shops owned and operated by Starbucks Corp., regardless of whether they have outdoor seating areas.

With regards to a customer who might be smoking within the restricted area, Starbucks spokeswoman Jaime Lynn Riley said, "If there were any concerns, we would hope to resolve it amicably," the Associated Press reported.