1. First, fill out this form to send an email to all of the members of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and tell them to reject SB 348.
2. Phone the representative that represents your district and tell him or her that we do not want to sacrifice our freedoms anymore. To find your representative, look up your House Legislator below.
   • House of Representatives Switchboard: 225-342-6945.
3. Finally, tell everyone you know about this important issue.

Find your Legislators by Address:

Address:

City:

Instead of calling the switchboards, you can also find phone numbers for each legislator by visiting their webpage after submitting the above form.

Legislators usually have little time to chat, so be ready to state your position. If they are unavailable, leave a message that summarizes your point of view.

1. First, fill out this form to send an email to all of the members of the Louisiana Senate, and tell them to reject SB 348.
2. Phone the legislators that represent your district and tell them that we do not want to sacrifice our freedoms anymore. To find your representatives, look up your House and Senate Legislators below.
   • Senate Switchboard: 225-342-2040.
   • House of Representatives Switchboard: 225-342-6945.
3. Finally, tell everyone you know about this important issue.

Find your Legislators by Address:

Address:

City:

Instead of calling the switchboards, you can also find phone numbers for each legislator by visiting their webpage after submitting the above form.

Legislators usually have little time to chat, so be ready to state your position. If they are unavailable, leave a message that summarizes your point of view.

We recently added a new member, Havana Dreams Cigars. With the addition of Havana Dreams Cigars as a business member, we have officially expanded the reach of Louisiana for Fair Tobacco Reform to include any business that wishes to stand up against smoking bans regardless of whether the currently proposed legislation would effect them. While cigar shops such as Havana Dreams Cigars are not being directly targeted by the current bill, if smoking is banned in bars and casinos in Louisiana, the anti-smoking political machine will push a ban on smoking in cigar shops as well. Thus, we are in the process of gathering support from businesses that will be gravely affected by this systematic denial of freedoms by our local government.

For more information, please read the updated About section.

One of the interesting things about smoking prohibition is how similar it is to alcohol prohibition. Smoking bans are a powerful political issue today. Similarly, alcohol prohibition was a powerful political issue in its day. In the late 1910’s many Americans said that prohibition was the wave of the future, and many states were enacting alcohol bans. The political momentum of that movement ultimately led to the nationwide prohibition of 1919, which, as we know, was eventually repealed.

Since publishing this website, we have had many conversations with people on either side of this issue. One of the common themes was the inevitability of smoking bans, and this sentiment is understandable when considering current national trends. But when we take a step back and look at the history of prohibition, we learn that bans can be part of our country’s natural progression in learning how to deal with addictive substances in a responsible manner. When we finally stop
obsessing over banning smoking in every place imaginable, maybe then we can start to learn how to better deal with addiction, teen smoking, and teaching people how to make healthy lifestyle choices.

workplace bans are not associated with statistically significant short-term declines in mortality or hospital admissions

Please educate yourself on this important issue by reading the study. Here are some additional problems with the smoking ban:

• The smoking ban will force smokers to smoke at home around their children.
• The smoking ban will take away your constitutional right and the right of business owners to The Pursuit of Happiness.
• The smoking ban will force the will of the majority onto the minority (similar to how other minority groups have been treated in the history of our country).
• The smoking ban will put businesses that cater to smokers out of business, resulting in layoffs and more Louisiana citizens receiving unemployment payments from the state.
• The smoking ban will result in less tax revenue for the state, and contrary to popular anti-smoking propaganda, this money will not be made up by a decrease in health care costs.
• The smoking ban will lead more parents to smoke at home in front of their children, influencing their children negatively and increasing the likelihood that their children will become smokers in the future.
• The smoking ban will cost the Louisiana convention business hundreds of thousands of dollars as Cigar Retailers are forced to have their conventions in other cities that haven’t lost their minds.
• The smoking ban will cost Louisiana casinos millions of dollars as out-of-town gamblers flee to casinos in other states which allow smoking. Again, more lost tax revenue for the state.

Two bills have been introduced, one by State Representative Gary Smith, D-Norco, and the other by Senator Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia. House Bill 844 (HB844 bans smoking in bars) and Senate Bill 186 (SB186, bans smoking in bars that serve food). Here’s how you can help:

1. First, fill out this form to send an email to all of the members of the House of Representatives, and tell them to amend HB844 to allow smoking in bars.
2. Then fill out this form to send an email to all of the members of the Louisiana Senate, and tell them to amend SB 186 to allow smoking bars.
3. Phone the legislators that represent your district and tell them that we do not want to sacrifice our freedoms anymore. To find your representatives, look up your House and Senate Legislators below.
   • House of Representatives Switchboard: 225-342-6945.
   • Senate Switchboard: 225-342-2040.
4. Finally, tell everyone you know about this important issue.

Find your Legislators by Address:

Address:

City:

Instead of calling the switchboards, you can also find phone numbers for each legislator by visiting their webpage after submitting the above form.

Legislators usually have little time to chat, so be ready to state your position. If they are unavailable, leave a message that summarizes your point of view.

Rep. Gary Smith, D-Norco, has filed House Bill 844 to ban smoking in “any restaurant or bar.” A state law adopted three years ago banned smoking in restaurants, office buildings and other public places but granted exceptions to bars, gambling boats and casinos.

Commenter feindav expresses a common sentiment:

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t smoke and I hate smelling like smoke after I go out, but this is (used to be) a free country. If a bar wants to ban smoking, go for it; if a bar wants to allow smoking, go for it. Let the people decide.

Many businesses that have operated legitimately for years would be hurt both financially and culturally should this proposed smoking ban be passed, something that we can ill afford in recovering New Orleans. Yet New Orleans’ bars are not alone in this respect: all Louisiana businesses should not have to shoulder such a fiscal burden during these dismal economic times.  Our legislature should be looking for ways to support and encourage Louisiana businesses, not harm and possibly destroy them. Times are already tough enough without the government piling on.

Yet the financial harm these proposed bills would impose on Louisiana businesses is not their only problem: the interference of government in the personal choice of individuals is worse. Individuals are already able to choose for themselves whether or not to patronize a particular business, so why do we need the government stepping in and making the decision for us? A handful of legislators should not be able to decide what is best for us all; the people should decide. Just as customers choose which bars to patronize (and non-smoking options already exist), employees choose where they work and private bar owners choose what to allow on their property. Government is overstepping its bounds when it moves to take that choice away, and that is exactly what is happening now. Stand up and make your voice heard! Contact the Committee on Health and Welfare in both the House and Senate and tell them that you oppose the proposed smoking ban.

You can read Representative Gary Smith’s bill at the Louisiana Legislature’s website by entering 844 under Bill Search, to the right of the box marked HB. To view the bill by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, click to change the HB box to SB and enter 186.

Furthermore, such a ban would cause financial harm to many Louisiana businesses already struggling in these dire economic times.  For the Louisiana Legislature to add to their fiscal burden shows a callous indifference to the important role such small businesses play in providing much-needed jobs and tax revenue in our struggling economy.  The State of Louisiana needs to support its businesses in today’s downturn, not push them to the brink of collapse with ill-considered legislation.

We believe that people who choose to smoke should be allowed to go to bars and businesses that specifically cater to smokers. We also believe that there should be an exception to any ban allowing for the cultural uses of tobacco, most importantly hookah smoking. Currently Louisiana’s Middle Eastern community has been completely left out of any discussion regarding the smoking ban despite the important role of hookah smoking to their heritage. By ignoring this tradition the Louisiana legislature shows great contempt for the culture of Louisianans of Middle Eastern descent. Such scorn is simply not acceptable, and we urge our legislators to allow for cultural exceptions to any proposed smoking ban.

What is at stake here is having the freedom to choose for yourself how you want to live your life. Private citizens do not need the government meddling in every single aspect of their lives, and a smoking ban is just the first step down the slippery slope of government elimination of your freedoms. There will always be people out there who will stop at nothing to take away your right to smoke and who think that they have the right to tell you how to live your life. Through their lobbying efforts and the acquiescence of government they will eventually force their will onto you.  Unless, that is, you find a way to stand up and make your voice heard. Unite with us to fight this un-American legislation today!

Update: In 2010, Louisiana For Fair Tobacco Reform expanded to represent all businesses that oppose smoking bans in Louisiana, even if the currently proposed legislation does not directly effect them. (See the updated Aboutsection)