Public smoking bans creeping into tobacco states

Publication Date: 2005-07-11

• Author:Sean Mussenden
• Publication:Winston-Salem (NC) Journal

Lighting up in a restaurant remains legal in most of tobacco country, but anti-smoking forces are confident that will soon change.

Over the past three years, restaurant smoking bans have spread across the country. Thousands of cities and nearly a third of the states - from liberal New York to conservative Montana - now force smokers outside for a post-meal cigarette.

The wave has largely skipped tobacco states, where smokers' rights remain sacred. But that's changing. A new restaurant smoking ban took effect earlier this month in Georgia, which has strong historical ties to tobacco...

Efforts to bring bans to two big tobacco states - North Carolina and Virginia - hit major roadblocks this year, in part because of industry objections.

The N.C. House narrowly rejected new restrictions on smoking in restaurants in June, yielding to some restaurant owners who feared that the proposal would cost them money and control.

Tobacco's importance continues to decline in many states, particularly after a federal quota buyout.