New Push for Smoking Ban Statewide

Several Tennessee businesses are starting the new year by banning smoking in their buildings, including downtown Nashville’s fondue restaurant The Melting Pot.

Meanwhile, cities across the state have pushed for the right to regulate smoking, but a state law passed in 1994 keeps local governments from banning smoking in public places or taxing tobacco products beyond the state rate.

Smoke-Free Nashville has been advocating for local restaurants and bars to ban smoking altogether, and many have. Spokesman Jason Stamm says until recently, he doubted Tennessee would ever have a real shot at restricting smoking statewide.

“But I think the momentum is changing. With the legislators passing legislation that bans smoking in state-owned buildings last year, I think that was a really good sign. There’s been a lot of talking about increasing our tobacco tax. We have one of the lowest in the nation. And I think if we could ever get smoke-free workplaces and increase our tobacco tax, we would start to see the number of smokers here in Tennessee decline immediately.”

Tennessee is well above the national average with nearly 27 percent of adults smoking. That’s the third highest usage in the country according to the Centers for Disease Control, behind Kentucky and Indiana.

Smoke-Free Nashville will present a resolution for the Metro Board of Health to sign today that will outline a need to strengthen anti-smoking laws. The board is expected to approve the resolution, which will then act as a statement of position when the General Assembly takes up anti-smoking measures. The legislative session starts next week.