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Smokers could no longer light up in bars that serve food if a Baton Rouge-area lawmaker gets his way.
State Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Grosse Tete, said Wednesday he wants to close the “loophole” in the 2006 Louisiana Clean Indoor Air Act, which he also sponsored.
The Louisiana Restaurant Association opposed the law’s passage, arguing that restaurants would be put at a disadvantage because they would be subject to the no-smoking ban while bars that serve some food would be exempt.
Marionneaux said the playing field should be evened to create a healthier environment. That, he said, is his aim in proposing Senate Bill 185.
“If you serve any amount of food at any point and time of the day, there’s no smoking in the facility,” said Marionneaux. “Smoking would be banned.”
SB285 is one of several bills dealing with tobacco smoking that have been submitted by lawmakers for consideration in the 2008 Legislature, which opens Monday.
Other bills would raise the legal age for the purchase of tobacco products from 18 to 21 and further limit smoking in cars when youngsters are passengers.
The restaurant association’s legislative committee has not met to discuss the legislation, its chief of staff Tom Weatherly said Wednesday.
But he said Marionneaux’s bill “cuts at the heart of the restaurant association’s concern about the law. … That would resolve the issue.”
Philip Morris USA spokesman Bill Phelps said the company “won’t be engaged” on smoking restriction bills. The Richmond, Va.-based corporation that makes Marlboro and other cigarette brands
A spokeswoman for The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco Free Living said the proposal appears to take another step toward a general smoking ban in places where smokers and nonsmokers mix.
“We would support a smoke-free environment, period. The fewer exceptions the better,” said Carrie Griffin Broussard, program manager for policy and advocacy.
Smoking would still be allowed in bars that don’t serve food and casinos, as it is under today’s law.
Broussard said the coalition wants to talk to Marionneaux about the legislation. “We certainly don’t want anything to weaken the law,” she said.
Meanwhile, the coalition is neutral on bills by state Rep. Walker Hines, D-New Orleans, which attempt to limit tobacco use and accessibility.
While Hines “heart is in the right place,” Broussard said there is no empirical evidence that the approaches he is seeking work. The biggest deterrent, she said, is increased tobacco taxes.
House Bill 240 would make it unlawful to sell tobacco to anyone under age 21. It would also make possession of tobacco products unlawful unless they are in the presence of a spouse, parent or legal guardian.
“This will try to reduce the addictive behavior in those early years that are so critical. Nicotine is highly addictive,” said Hines. He said the aim is to improve the health of Louisiana residents, which would in turn reduce health care costs.
Louisiana would be the first state in the U.S. to adopt the 21 age for tobacco purchase, Hines said. It is already age 21 for purchase of alcohol.
The smoking rate among Louisiana residents between the ages of 18 and 24 is 28.7 percent, said Matthew Valliere, tobacco control program manager with the state health agency.
The national average is 20.1 percent.
Valliere said youth start smoking at age 11 or 12. “We want to stop them there and throughout their adolescent years so they don’t pick up the habit at all,” he said.
Alabama, Alaska and Utah currently have an age 19 restriction, Valliere said.
Hines’ House Bill 1021 would ban operators or passengers in a motor vehicle from smoking when any person under age 18 is an occupant. Today, smoking in a vehicle is banned when a child required to be restrained in safety seats or with safety belts is present.
“It’s all about reducing exposure to second hand smoke,” said Hines.
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