Public Smoking Banned

Louisianans will soon get the experience of having a smoke-free environment in most public areas in the state.
The “Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act” was passed during this year’s regular legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Kathleen Blanco shortly after receiving the necessary votes in both houses of the state’s Congress.
The law, which will be officially enforced in January 2007, prohibits indoor smoking in public places with the exceptions of casinos and bars.
Violators will be fined $25 for their first offense, with increased fines for multiple offenses, the law states.
When the bill was first proposed by Sen. Rob Marionneaux it outlined a complete smoking prohibition in all restaurants, including bars and casinos, in the state.
“Let’s afford our citizens the right to have dinner with their families without the bother of secondhand smoke,” said Marionneaux.
Marionneaux’s bill was rejected by the state Senate when first introduced, partly because of the provision outlawing smoking in casinos, political experts said.
“To prohibit smoking in casinos would be a bad idea,” said Christopher Mays, an Atlanta native majoring in social work at Southern. “The time that a customer spends going outside to smoke, that time could be spent inside spending money on drinks and gambling.”
An amendment to the “Free Air Act” was filed by Sen. Ken Hollis to permit smoking inside restaurants with clearly distinguished bar areas that were segregated from the main dining area.
Despite opposition from Marionneaux, who said the amendment was a “hidden attempt to kill the measure by drawing further opposition from the restaurant industry,” senators approved Hollis’ amendment to the act with a 25 to 15 vote.
“I think that smoking should be banned in restaurants because smoke still travels to the non-smoking sections,” said Tatiana Cooper, a junior nursing major from Atlanta. “If the bars serve food, smoking should be banned there too.”
Cooper isn’t the only Southernite who feels the “Smoke-Free Act” is a practice in good legislation.
“Smoking should not be banned from night clubs and casinos, but should be banned from restaurants because the elderly and children are present,” said Percy Gayton, a sophomore criminal justice major from Kentwood.
Others said specific areas should be assigned to smokers as a consolation prize.
“If people would like to smoke (there) should be designated areas for them so that everyone could be comfortable in their surroundings,” said Ronald Dorton Jr., an architecture and business double major from San Francisco.
Then there are those at Southern who feel there are more important issues at hand in the state that legislators need to be focusing on.
“Louisiana should focus their attention on other issues that affect the public much more than smoking,” said Derek Cole, an instructor of biology at Southern, and smoker.