Baton Rouge Metro Council Approves Smoke-Free Ordinance

East Baton Rouge Parish joined a growing list of the world’s great cities on August 9, 2017, when the Metropolitan Council voted 7-5 for a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance guaranteeing workers throughout East Baton Rouge Parish the right to breathe clean air.

The Smoke-free EBR coalition applauds and thanks the Metro Council for their votes in favor of protecting the health of all employees in the parish by making all workplaces – including bars and gaming establishments – completely smoke-free.

The smoke-free ordinance was co-sponsored by seven council members and extends the 2007 statewide smoke-free law to include previously exempt businesses such as bars and casinos.  As a result, bartenders and bar workers, gaming facility employees, entertainers, and vendors will be protected from the dangerous health effects of secondhand smoke in the workplace.  The ordinance will go into effect on June 1, 2018. While the Coalition would have preferred less of a delay in implementation, passage of the measure remained paramount.

“We are tremendously grateful to all the community leaders and city officials who stood up and took action to protect the health of all employees,” said Tonia Moore, Director of the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (TFL).  “We want to send a special thanks to the ordinance sponsors who have championed this effort since it began over a year ago - Chauna Banks, Donna Collins-Lewis, Erika Green, Tara Wicker, and LaMont Cole.  These leaders not only did the right thing for the health of all East Baton Rouge citizens, but they have continued paving the way for other cities and the state to do the same.”

“East Baton Rouge Parish has just become a very important leader in the fight against cancer,” said Raegan Carter, Coalition spokesperson and Region 2 Manager for TFL.  “We are very grateful to the Metro Council for listening to the voices of local citizens and passing an ordinance ensuring bar and casino workers will no longer have to choose between their health and a paycheck.”

The following members of the Council voted in support of the smoke-free ordinance:

Chauna Banks, LaMont Cole, Donna Collins-Lewis, Barbara Freiberg, Erika Green, Matt Watson and Tara Wicker.

Click here to read the full story.

Media coverage:

WAFB-TV: EBR Metro Council approves proposed ban of smoking from bars, casinos
WBRZ-TV: EBR Metro Council votes in favor of parish-wide smoking ban
WVLA-TV/WGMB-TV: Metro Council passes amended smoking ban in East Baton Rouge Parish
The Advocate: Metro Council passes smoking ban in bars and casinos, but it won't take effect until June
KLFY-TV: EBR Metro Council approves proposed ban of smoking from bars, casinos