Louisiana Public Health Institute
FACT:
23.9% of Louisiana adults smoke.

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The Louisiana Campaign
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POLICY & ADVOCACY Resources

LOCAL ORDINANCES

The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living plays an essential role in the establishment of smoke-free ordinances throughout the state by providing infrastructure, materials and experts to assist efforts.

On April 26, 2005, Shreveport led the way by being the first city to pass a smoking ordinance under the new allowances granted by the state in 2003. Aside from being the first ordinance, this effort was also groundbreaking in its protection of outdoor public areas (parks and playgrounds).

Mandeville soon followed (June 9, 2005) and issued its own version of the Shreveport ordinance. The ordinance was amended to properly cover the small rural town, but language which protected outdoor areas was included. Sulphur enacted an ordinance on afterwards (June 13, 2005) that was the fastest effort to ever reach a vote.

In Lafayette, the original languange of the ordinance was rewritten to address several major concerns brought by their council. The outcome of this process was a model ordinance passed on June 21, 2005, which is now used throughout the state.

Throughout the past year, many other places created similar ordinances including these communities:

  • Alexandria (February 7, 2006)
  • Baker (September 27, 2005)
  • Baton Rouge (August 10, 2005)
  • Crowley (April 11, 2006)
  • Cullen (June 26, 2006)
  • Gibsland (December 7, 2005)
  • Grambling (July 7, 2005)
  • Lake Charles (January 4, 2006)
  • Monroe (December 26, 2006)
  • Port Allen (August 24, 2006)
  • Rayville (March 13, 2006)
  • Terrebonne Parish (January 11, 2006)

Ordinances in all of these areas protect over 1 million Louisiana citizens from the effects of smoking and secondhand smoke.

Since some of the early ordinances provided for smoking sections and offered no real protection from secondhand smoke, the new model ordinance brings up issues such as equal protection, equal coverage of restaurants regardless of full service status and the Americans with Disabilities Act.