Councilwoman Introduces Smoking-Ban Proposal

INDIANAPOLIS -- A proposed ordinance that would ban smoking in Marion County's public buildings and vehicles owned by local government was introduced Monday to the city-county council.

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The ban would include bars, restaurants and stores.

Among the places that would be exempt from the ban are: hotel rooms; retail stores that deal exclusively in the sale of tobacco products; conference rooms while being used exclusively for private functions; private rooms in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, as long as all of a room's occupants agree to permit smoking; and private clubs and recreation facilities.

The typed proposal says its purpose is to protect public health, to guarantee the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air, and to "recognize that the need to breath smoke-free air shall have priority over the desire to smoke."

Such a ban would not be totally new for Indiana. Fort Wayne bans smoking in restaurants. In Bloomington, smoking has been banned in all new restaurants, bars and public buildings since 1993.

Owners and managers of public buildings would pay fines of $100 to $500 for noncompliance.

The proposal was expected to be assigned to a committee after its introduction.