Smoking Ban Bill Passes House

A smoking ban has come before the House and has passed. 

House Bill 4377, as amended and passed on Tuesday, May 26, would prohibit smoking in public places, including places of employment, restaurants and bars. Exceptions for places that cater specifically to smokers, such as cigar bars and tobacco retail shops, and home offices, are now part of the bill as well. While I was hopeful for a complete indoor smoking ban, I voted for this bill as it is the best we can get at this point. I am encouraged by Senator Michael Bishop, the Majority Leader in the Senate, who has indicated his caucus supports a complete ban.

Michigan must enact a smoking bill in order to stay competitive with other states. Earlier this month, Governor Beverly Perdue of North Carolina signed into law an indoor smoking ban, making her state the 35th to regulate this deadly practice. For me, it is not a matter of personal freedom. On the contrary; a ban on smoking in public indoor places will enhance the basic human freedom to breathe.

As the bill now awaits action in the Senate, I hope for positive movement on this in the next few weeks. Having seen the effects of long-term smoking in my work as a registered nurse, tending to patients whose lives are cut short by tobacco use, I see any action taken to reduce smoking as necessary to save lives. The arguments made by opponents of a smoking ban that the state would lose revenue from tobacco taxes is rendered moot by the subsequent decline in health care costs to Medicaid and other state-run health programs. I want a continued debate on this legislation. I am encouraging Speaker Dillon and Majority Leader Bishop to take a lead role in protecting the lives, and lungs, of Michigan citizens, and send a smoking ban bill to the Governor for her signature.