Gadsden council considering toughening smoking ordinance

The Gadsden City Council is working on an ordinance that would ban indoor smoking in all public places within the city limits.  The new rules were discussed Tuesday morning at a meeting of the council’s Public Safety Committee. The ordinance would replace one passed in 2007 by the City Council and would be known as the “City of Gadsden Smoke Free Air Ordinance.”  Language in the ordinance says it is designed to protect public health and welfare, to reduce air pollution and to afford non-smokers the right to breathe clean air while out in public or at work.  The old ordinance exempted bars, restaurants that elected to be smoking-only establishments, designated smoking rooms at hotels and private clubs from having to be smoke-free. The new ordinance will ban smoking in all of those places.  The ordinance still is being worked on, with exceptions and certain rules being examined. The committee indicated it wants to make sure it doesn’t hurt local businesses in the process.