Tougher smoking laws may soon come to NOLA

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – A new ordinance significantly limiting where you could smoke in New Orleans has been introduced to the city council. Among the changes: no smoking in bars, gaming facilities, casinos and in or near public parks. You can light up in your home, your back yard, a designated hotel room, and retail tobacco businesses.

“People don’t come to New Orleans to smoke. They come here to partake in our culture, in our music, in our food, and it is time for us to be a progressive city,” says Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, “Everyone, all of our employees, they deserve a smoke-free environment. Second-hand smoke kills. We now have over 27 of our national conventioneers saying look we will not return to New Orleans if it is not a smoke free city, and so when you talk about revenues, we stand to lose millions.”

Councilwoman Cantrell believes New Orleans is falling behind, saying New York City made the change roughly a decade ago.

Alex Fein, co-owner of Court of Two Sisters also represents the Freedom to Choose Coalition consisting of several French Quarter businesses and Harrah’s. Fein says the focus should lie on making the city safer, not smoke free.

Councilwoman Cantrell believes New Orleans is falling behind, saying New York City made the change roughly a decade ago.

“We also feel like we should be allowed to run our businesses the way we see fit. Smoking is a legal substance so if we want to allow smoking in our establishments we should be allowed to do that,” says Fein, “New Orleans is kind of a place where you can do the things that you want to do, so if you want to come to New Orleans and stay out until 6am and have a drink on the street and smoke in a bar, you can do that. I kind of think that’s what makes us special and unique.”

The proposed ordinance prohibits not only cigarettes, but all tobacco products as well as hookahs, and electronic cigarettes.

Councilwoman Cantrell says this will head to a committee and then before the council for a vote. She expects the council to vote on the ordinance after Mardi Gras in February or March.

To read the full ordinance click here.