Lawmaker to pursue statewide smoking restrictions

Publication Date: 2008-11-14

• Author:Mike Smith
• Publication:Chicago Tribune

Smoking would be snuffed out in almost all enclosed public places in Indiana, including restaurants, bars, bowling alleys and casinos, under a bill a powerful state lawmaker plans to push in the upcoming legislative session.

"It is a public health issue," said Democratic state Rep. Charlie Brown of Gary, chairman of the House Public Health Committee. He said his primary aim is protecting the health of nonsmokers who work in places where smoking is allowed.

Brown will have plenty of backing from a coalition called the Indiana Campaign for Smokefree Air, a group of more than 30 organizations that include the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The coalition held a town hall meeting in Fort Wayne this week to advocate a smoke-free ban in all enclosed workplaces in Indiana, and it plans similar events in other cities across the state, said Tim Filler, the group's grassroots committee chairman.