If DeKalb County Commissioners vote to expand its no-smoking ordinance, it will be doing its best to drive away local business, says two Georgia-based premium cigar associations. According to the Atlanta-based Georgia Premium Retail Tobacconists Association and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, expanding the current smoking ban to include bars, clubs, restaurant patios and other outdoor areas would cause customers to seek other, more smoker-friendly businesses in other communities. “No time is a good time for legislated smoking bans, but this is a particularl ... Jump to full article >>

City officials said a referendum petition will not be able to repeal the citywide smoking ban passed by voters in the April 5 election. The smoke-free O’Fallon measure passed with 73 percent of the vote, banning smoking in most of the city’s bars, restaurants and public places. It is set to go into effect on June 16. Last week, a group called Repeal the Ban Committee filed an affidavit with City Clerk Pamela Clements to begin a referendum petition to repeal the smoking ordinance. The three petition committee members listed are Carrie Ellis, Roman N. Bettag and Marina Bishop. On Wednesday, ... Jump to full article >>

The Legislature is considering very important legislation that affects the health of all Alabamians, SB372, a bill that will make all Alabama workplaces smoke-free. My husband was an Air Force pilot who flew the KC-135 throughout his career. He would come home from flights with the stench of tobacco covering him until the U.S. Air Force said enough and made aircraft, and eventually the Air Force, smoke-free. People cannot control the atmosphere of their workplace any more than my husband could control the air in his cockpit. It takes strong leadership to protect non-smokers. Let’s unders ... Jump to full article >>

Bismarck’s bars, truck stops and tobacco shops are now officially smoke-free. The Bismarck City Commission accepted the April 19 special election results that put the ban into effect and set its start at 1 a.m. today, after the bars closed. Final election results were: 5,282 voted to ban smoking and 3,563 voted no. 4,490 voted not to allow smoking huts and to ban smoking and 4,294 favored allowing smoking huts and banning smoking. 4,467 opposed using city sales tax money to pay for the special election while 4,187 favored it. Some of opponents of the ban argued this week that the word ... Jump to full article >>

The latest skirmish in the battle to ban smoking in Nevada casinos is emerging around a little-discussed area of law more commonly associated with wheelchair ramps and handicap-accessible restrooms. Alongside requirements that public buildings and workplaces be accessible to people with visible handicaps, the 20-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act offers similar protection for people with breathing problems such as asthma and a list of medical conditions exacerbated by secondhand smoke, such as hypertension. In the years before smoking bans became widespread, some courts sided with plaint ... Jump to full article >>

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP — It’s been almost a year since the smoke-free law was put into effect in Michigan. The law was passed May 1, 2010, and was designed to remove smoking from local restaurants, bars and businesses. So, how has Michigan responded to the new law? The results are now in. Researchers with the Michigan Department of Community Health Tobacco Section just completed an analysis of results from a public opinion survey related to the law. The survey was conducted this past August and September, and showed that 73 percent of all participants state-wide were in favor of the ... Jump to full article >>

Five years ago, Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved a state law that bans smoking in workplaces, including bars, restaurants, and clubs. Since then, Ohioans’ support for, and compliance with, the law has continued to grow. Even so, the ban has been challenged — and defied — by a handful of disgruntled business owners who dress up concerns for their own wallets with spurious arguments about the law’s constitutionality. The Ohio Supreme Court finally has an opportunity to affirm the ban. It should do so, and Gov. John Kasich’s administration should budget the money needed t ... Jump to full article >>

We are a group of 10- to 16-year-olds from Greater New Hope Church in Indianapolis. We belong to the VOICE movement, which is Indiana’s youth-led movement against Big Tobacco targeting their products to us. Today is Kick Butts Day, a national day of activism that empowers youth to take action against Big Tobacco. Big Tobacco doesn’t want us to think secondhand smoke is a problem. We’ve been working with our adult allies and we know secondhand smoke is a big problem. We are writing to show our support for a smoke-free air law that protects everyone, such as the first version o ... Jump to full article >>

Two decades after a Pinellas County legislator first proposed it, the state of Florida is finally ready to outlaw smoking by prison inmates. That prisoners are still casually lighting up in the rec yard, years after many other states stopped the practice, is testament to the legacy of tobacco industry influence in Tallahassee and the reluctance of a rigid prison bureaucracy to change with the times. Gov. Rick Scott’s new prison boss, Edwin Buss, arrived in Florida from Indiana a few weeks ago and was shocked to discover a smoky haze in prisons he visited. His former state banned smoking in p ... Jump to full article >>

A statewide smoking ban that includes casinos could take a 380-million-dollar bite out of the next state budget. The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency concludes attendance at Indiana’s casinos would drop five-to-10-percent if the state goes smoke-free. Analysts base that forecast on studies of smoking bans in other states with legalized gambling, including a Federal Reserve study of Illinois. That translates to at least 95-million dollars a year less in gaming and admission taxes, and a worst-case scenario of about 190-million a year. The L-S-A says there’s no way to tell wha ... Jump to full article >>

In a single stroke this week, Mayor Francis Slay undid the work of generations of tobacco industry lobbyists and executives. He announced that Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will go smoke-free. Beginning on Jan. 2, five glass-enclosed smoking lounges at the airport, built in response to behind-the-scenes pressure from the tobacco industry, will be closed. That same day, smoking no longer will be allowed in most public places in St. Louis and St. Louis County. The vast majority of citizens who do not smoke finally will gain the right to breathe clean indoor air. Just by coincidence, Mr ... Jump to full article >>