The city of Terrell, Texas is moving forward with a proposed smoking ban that would ban smoking in restaurants, city parks and city owned vehicles on January 1, 2015. According to the Terrell Municipal Development Director a city-wide survey took place in August, and 87% of the restaurant owners surveyed supported or were indifferent about the proposal. Currently establishments that sell food must have a designated smoking area. Councilman D.J. Ory has suggest that the […]
The Board of Supervisors in San Mateo County, California have approved a ban that makes it illegal to smoke tobacco in your apartment, condominium or townhouse. The vote was 4-1. The ordinance makes it illegal to smoke inside or around multiple unit dwellings with one or more shared ceilings, floors, walls or ventilation systems. In addition to banning smoking inside buildings with shared spaces, the ordinance prohibits it within 30 feet of building complexes, including decks, […]
Mecklenburg, North Carolina is set to vote on a proposed smoking ban that includes all government grounds, county parks, greenways and golf courses. The county has invited members of the community to speak at a public hearing on September 2nd, before a proposed September 17th vote. The plan is being pushed by Mecklenburg Country Health Director, Marcus Plescia. County commissioners are unsure if they would support such a sweeping ban. Mecklenburg County is home to […]
The city of Worcester, Massachusetts is taking up two new measures to broaden the city’s restrictions of smoking on Tuesday. The first measures calls on City Manager Edward Augustus Jr to increase buffers around specific buildings and increasing penalties for violators. The second measure calls for the city’s lawyers to change the penalty for violated the tobacco ordinance to a criminal offense and creating a revolving account to help fund compliance. The third measure asks […]
The movement to raise the tobacco age to 21 has been gaining steam in states like Massachusetts, but now the push to change the current law has crossed the country to Healdsburg, California. The city of Healdsburg will vote tonight on the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. If passed, they will become the first city in California to adopt legislation. The legal age is part of a new Tobacco Retail […]
The country of Turkey joins the growing movement to ban smoking and infringe on smokers rights. On Thursday the country announced it will extended the current indoor smoking ban to the outdoors. Included in the new ban are parks, open areas of restaurants, cafes, teahouses, mosque yards and hospital gardens, and shopping mall entrance. Also beginning in January of 2015 all tobacco products will be generic packaging that is black in color. Turkey is home […]
Following 33 other Massachusetts cites and towns that have already raised their tobacco age to 21, Saugus has begun the steps to follow suit. The Board of Health will hold a public hearing at its next meeting on November 3, 2014 at 6:15pm. The meeting will take place at the Saugus Public Library. The proposal for the change came from Joyce Redford, the program directory for North Shore/Cape Ann Tobacco Alcohol Policy Program. Currently the age […]
At the most recent meeting of the city council in Culver City, CA discussions were held about regulating smoking inside a multi-unit housing. The next step will be to draft an ordinance which will prohibit a person from lighting up inside a location that has more than one family. This includes privately owned property. Though no date was set for the ordinance, the draft will be considered at an upcoming city council meeting. Culver City […]
In June, Governor Christie vetoed a resolution that would have banned smoking in the Garden State. However, that didn’t sit well with many municipalities and Newark is looking to pass a similar law that would ban the ability to light up in a city park or other recreational facilities. It will also ban smoking inside city-owned and city-operated cars means many law enforcement officials will not be able to light up on the job. The […]
The state of Oklahoma allows cities to impose smoking bans, however the way the law is written it prevents a total ban on tobacco (thankfully!). On Tuesday, the city council of Lawton approved an ordinance that prohibits all tobacco and vapor products on city owned properties and vehicles in a 5-3 vote despite the Deputy City Attorney indicating there could be legal troubles down the road. The law if unchallenged by the state it goes […]