State Status
No Preemption
Quote
"Local communities should continue to control smoking in public. State legislatures should assume responsibility for ensuring smoke-free areas. Any preemptive tobacco laws should be repealed by public demand."
American Medical AssociationJournal of the American Medical Association, July 19, 1995
Rhode Island
All workplaces, restaurants, bars and public places in Rhode Island are 100% smokefree as of March 1, 2005. As of October 1, 2006, local control is restored to all local communities in Rhode Island. Read Rhode Island's 100% smokefree law.
Initially, bars did not have to adhere to the smokefree provisions until October 1, 2006. However, the Rhode Island Superior Court ruled on March 31, 2005 that the exemption for Class C and D liquor license facilities was unconstitutional and that these bars must become smokefree immediately, rather than on October 1, 2006 as provided in statute.
To learn more about the law, visit the Rhode
Island Tobacco Control Program.
To report a violation, fill
out this form.
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Separately ventilated smoking gaming areas are permitted in pari mutual (off track betting) facilities and these facilities must allow employees to refuse to work in smoking areas of the facility without adverse impact from requesting to do so.
Read more about current tobacco-related legislation in Rhode Island.
Current tobacco-related statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control's Tobacco Control State Highlights, 2010.
Rhode Island's 2018 Legislative Session: January 2 - Mid July
Legislative SummariesArchives
Action AlertsArchives
News SummariesArchives
- 7/31/2019States Are Thwarting Cities' Attempts to Govern Themselves
- 4/29/2019In Washington, Juul Vows to Curb Youth Vaping. Its Lobbying in States Runs Counter to That Pledge.
- 2/5/2018Rhode Island politician wants to add marijuana, vapor to secondhand smoke laws
- 10/13/2017State lawmakers choose winners and losers through preemption
- 7/6/2017Blue Cities Want to Make Their Own Rules. Red States Won't Let Them.
- 5/10/2017The Threat of Super-Preemption
- 3/6/2017Preemption Prevents Innovation
- 2/21/2017City Rights in an Era of Preemption: A State-by-State Analysis
- 2/2/2017Red State, Blue City
- 1/5/2017GOP aims to rein in liberal cities
- 9/9/2016How ALEC, ACCE, and Preemption Laws are Gutting the Powers of American Cities
- 8/22/2016Blue Cities, Red States
- 6/28/2016Colorado Preemptions of Local Government: The Need for the Colorado Community Rights Amendment
- 6/23/2016State and Local Comprehensive Smoke-Free Laws for Worksites, Restaurants, and Bars--United States, 2015
- 4/6/2016From Fracking Bans To Paid Sick Leave: How States Are Overruling Local Laws
- 4/1/2016Growing Southern cities are increasingly targets of state pre-emption
- 3/25/2016Beyond North Carolina's LGBT Battle: States' War on Cities
- 2/4/2016Corporate Interests Take Aim at Local Democracy
- 8/6/2015Blowing the Whistle on ALEC's Little Brother ACCE
- 7/7/2015Four Ways ALEC Tried to Ruin Your State this Year
- 5/17/2015Say no: States increasingly blocking cities and counties from imposing mandates on businesses
- 5/8/2015State lawmakers hate federal meddling even as they preempt local government
- 3/30/2015The ALEC-Backed War on Local Democracy
- 2/23/2015Govern Yourselves, State Lawmakers Tell Cities, but Not Too Much
- 2/17/2012Rhode Island may snuff out smoking on its public beaches
- 1/20/2012Lawmakers to mull smoking ban at RI beaches, parks
- 2/5/2010State Preemption of Local Smoke-Free Laws in Government Work Sites, Private Work Sites, and Restaurants United States, 2005-2009
- 8/13/2009Anti-smoking bill needs loophole closed
- 2/16/2009Bill would ban Twin River smoking
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