43% of American Bars, Restaurants & Workplaces Now Smoke-Free
From the AP: Small-Town USA Joins No-Smoking Trend. This makes me so happy.
LUVERNE, Ala. (AP) - If New York City can ban smoking in bars and restaurants, why not the town of Luverne?
"We don't see why a small rural town can't do the same thing," said Al Snellgrove, a former Luverne councilman who helped enact the ban last year.
The town's residents adapted, said Mark Grant, a smoker who owns Luverne's Our House restaurant. He's only had to tell a couple of people to put out their smokes, both visitors passing through. Some locals still grumble. "It's a small community," Grant said. "They've got to have something to complain about."
Love them or hate them, smoking bans are popping up all over. Last year, five states and 82 towns, cities and counties approved smoking bans, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, a California-based non-profit considered to have the best data on the issue.
It was a record year, surpassing 2004, when four states and 74 cities and counties began enforcing smoking bans.
All together, 17 states now have no-smoking laws in effect, as do 461 towns, cities and counties elsewhere. The latest state to join the trend was New Jersey, with a new law that took effect April 15. That means it's now illegal to smoke in about 43 percent of U.S. bars, restaurants and workplaces. And at many other job sites, employers have voluntarily barred smoking in enclosed spaces.
I know, all my friends who still smoke are giving me the Glare of Doom right now, but tough. This is a good thing.
Virginia bandied about a smoking-ban bill earlier this year, but it got killed pretty quick & I don't hold out hope for it to come up again soon. But I think we could get a ban in Northern Virginia, particularly in Fairfax & Arlington Counties. Montgomery County, Maryland and the District have both passed smoke-free bills, and the bars there haven't gone belly-up yet. It's totally do-able.
LUVERNE, Ala. (AP) - If New York City can ban smoking in bars and restaurants, why not the town of Luverne?
"We don't see why a small rural town can't do the same thing," said Al Snellgrove, a former Luverne councilman who helped enact the ban last year.
The town's residents adapted, said Mark Grant, a smoker who owns Luverne's Our House restaurant. He's only had to tell a couple of people to put out their smokes, both visitors passing through. Some locals still grumble. "It's a small community," Grant said. "They've got to have something to complain about."
Love them or hate them, smoking bans are popping up all over. Last year, five states and 82 towns, cities and counties approved smoking bans, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, a California-based non-profit considered to have the best data on the issue.
It was a record year, surpassing 2004, when four states and 74 cities and counties began enforcing smoking bans.
All together, 17 states now have no-smoking laws in effect, as do 461 towns, cities and counties elsewhere. The latest state to join the trend was New Jersey, with a new law that took effect April 15. That means it's now illegal to smoke in about 43 percent of U.S. bars, restaurants and workplaces. And at many other job sites, employers have voluntarily barred smoking in enclosed spaces.
I know, all my friends who still smoke are giving me the Glare of Doom right now, but tough. This is a good thing.
Virginia bandied about a smoking-ban bill earlier this year, but it got killed pretty quick & I don't hold out hope for it to come up again soon. But I think we could get a ban in Northern Virginia, particularly in Fairfax & Arlington Counties. Montgomery County, Maryland and the District have both passed smoke-free bills, and the bars there haven't gone belly-up yet. It's totally do-able.