On August 1, a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance will take effect in Shreveport, Louisiana, banning smoking in workplaces including bars and the city’s two casinos, El Dorado and Sam’s Town Casino; officials at both said designated smoking areas will be established. The ban was passed one year ago but casinos were given time to make any necessary changes. Councilwoman LeVette Fuller said, “Whether you’re a teacher, bartender or card dealer, no employee in Shreveport should have to be exposed to deadly secondhand smoke every second of their work shift.”
Shreveport will be the 30th municipality in the state that has passed such an ordinance to protect all indoor workers from second-hand smoke. An earlier law, the Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act, passed in January 2007, banned smoking in most public places and workplaces, but it exempted bars and casinos, according to the Smoke-Free Louisiana Coalition.
Data provided by the coalition said each day Shreveport did not ban smoking in bars and casinos, healthcare costs increased, employers’ productivity slowed and tourism revenue was lost. In addition, thousands of Louisiana residents died from smoking-related causes every year, and smoking results in $1.89 billion in health care costs annually.
American Heart Association Government Relations director Ashley Hebert said, “This is the step in the right direction for health equity in Shreveport, jobs in Shreveport, better health just in general for Shreveport. It’s beyond time to treat our hospitality workers the same. For years they have been left out when it comes to their health, having to put their health on the back burner and their paycheck first.”
Louisiana Office of Public Health Regional Medical Director Martha Whyte noted, “People who have jobs, they have no option but to be around those people who are smoking. This ordinance allows them that freedom to be able to go to work and not be exposed to that smoke.”
