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Atlanta council passes ordinance to make city smoke-free

The council passed it with a 14-1 vote during a public meeting July 1.

ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council has adopted a proposed ordinance banning smoking city-wide. 

The council passed it with a 14-1 vote during a public meeting July 1.

The legislation, proposed by Councilmembers Matt Westmoreland and Andre Dickens, bans smoking in the majority of public spaces, including restaurants, bars, hotels and city facilities. It does not include outdoor seating and serving areas. 

It also eliminates smoking at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and updates the definition of smoking to include e-cigarettes. It does not ban smoking at businesses where tobacco sales make up the majority of their sales, such as Hookah lounges and cigar bars.

A proposed amendment to exclude strip clubs failed.

Opponents to the proposal argued that it would harm business, but city officials argued that Metro-Atlanta is the largest metropolitan area that is not smoke-free, and that smoking bans actually don't hurt the bottom line at restaurants and bars. Add to that, the city is also home to the Centers for Disease Control and the American Cancer Society, both of which have warned of the dangers of second-hand smoke.

MORE: Smoking pot vs. tobacco: What science says about lighting up 

Violators of the smoke-free laws would be subject to a $100 fine for the first violation, then up to a $200 fine for any violation after that. Councilmembers assured that adults will still be allowed to smoke in the privacy of their homes or cars, so long as they are not care facilities.  

Georgia already has smoke-free laws on the books, chiefly the Smokefree Air Act of 2005. Westmoreland said the proposed smoke-free laws for Atlanta are the next logical step.

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