Figures calls for statewide smoking ban

Publication Date: 2007-03-08

• Author:SEBASTIAN KITCHEN
• Publication:The Press-Register

With the support of church leaders and a child advocacy group, state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures said Wednesday that she will introduce a bill today to ban smoking in public places and businesses statewide, including restaurants and bars.

Figures, D-Mobile, joined Alabama Faith United Against Tobacco, which includes several organizations and churches as members, for the announcement. She was also accompanied by fellow Democratic Sens. Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham and Myron Penn of Union Springs.

Figures, who said she developed asthma from second-hand smoke, has sponsored bills related to smoking during several legislative sessions. "If it doesn't pass this year, we'll be back next year," she said. "In the end, we are going to win because it is the right thing to do."

State lawmakers passed the Clean Indoor Air Act in 2003 after six years of work. The act banned smoking in certain public places, designated certain areas for smoking and allowed municipalities to pass stricter laws.