Senate passes ban on smoking

ATLANTA - Bars and restaurants in Georgia are one step closer to kicking the smoking habit after the Senate approved legislation Wednesday for a statewide ban.

Senators endorsed the ban on smoking in most public spaces 44-7, which now sends the proposal to the House.

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Don Thomas, a Republican physician from Dalton, also survived the Senate last year but was buried in a House committee.

Armed with a lengthy list about the dangers of smoking and secondhand exposure, Mr. Dalton called the issue a matter of life and death, kicking off a two-hour debate as senators presented amendments for how to craft the ban and exemptions.

"Georgia spends $1.2 billion in direct health-care costs every year in tobacco-related diseases," he said. "Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death.

"The right to breathe clean air supersedes the desire of the smoker to smoke."

Dr. Thomas said the bill would not hurt businesses and argued that cash receipts have increased in areas that have adopted a ban.

"This doesn't make anyone stop smoking; it just asks them to be reasonable and go outside," he said.

The bill initially proposed extends nonsmoking areas to 25 feet of a main entrance unless that hits a public road or someone else's property. The proposed ban also includes bars and restaurants and their outdoor patio areas.

If approved by the House and the governor, the law would take effect July 1. It would also overrule any local smoking bans if those rules are weaker.

Columbia County enacted a smoking ban this year but allowed smoking in ventilated outdoor seating areas, an exemption not included in the state measure.

Sen. Jim Whitehead, R-Evans, voted against the bill, saying he was concerned about the government's involvement in personal decisions.

"I'm not deliberating whether smoking is good, bad or indifferent," he said. "I'm trying to stand up for the veterans who have asked me not to take another freedom away.

"I don't smoke; nobody in my family smokes ... but I think (it's) a freedom we have to be careful with."

Reach Vicky Eckenrode at (404) 589-8424 or vicky.eckenrode@morris.com.

No Smoking Zones

The state Senate has approved a bill that would ban smoking in these places:

 •  Business areas used by the general public, such as professional offices and banks

 •  Bars and restaurants, including patios

 •  Convention facilities

 •  Bingo facilities when a bingo game is being played

 •  Sports arenas, including enclosed places in outdoor arenas

Places that would be exempted from the Senate-approved ban include: •  Private residences, unless they are used as a licensed child care, adult day-care or health-care facility

 •  Hotel and motel rooms designated as smoking rooms, as long as only 20 percent of the rooms are smoking

 •  Retail tobacco stores, as long as the smoke does not affect other areas covered by the ban

 •  Smoking areas in international airports

 •  Corporate offices and manufacturing facilities of tobacco manufacturers

 •  Businesses that have fewer than five employees, except for public reception areas. (Bars or restaurants would not be covered by this exemption.)

- Morris News Service