Smoking Ban

Beginning tomorrow--August 1--smoking will no longer be permitted at bars in Lafayette.

Kenneth Boudreaux has been working with musician Chubby Carrier and the group Tobacco-Free Living to craft the ordinance that bans smoking.

The casino had failed earlier to have itself carved out of the new law altogether.

Lafayette City-Parish Government Council President Kenneth Boudreaux announced his future intentions Wednesday to draft an ordinance that would ban smoking in bars and clubs in Lafayette.

New Orleans joined a short list of cities in Louisiana Thursday to ban smoking in bars, and City-Parish Council Chairman Kenneth Boudreaux said he wants to add Lafayette to the roster.

Those who violate the new smoking ban on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which takes effect Aug. 1, will not have to worry about criminal charges, according to Joseph Pons, the university's associate director of public safety and risk management.

The law would not make tobacco use on city property a criminal offense, meaning that people could not be arrested for violations.

Representative Frank Hoffman's legislation would prohibit smoking within 25 feet of the entrance to any building where smoking is banned.

Alexandria residents who plan to ignore the city's expanded smoking ordinance better be willing to be a little lighter in the wallet.

An update to this story The ordinance to ban all smoking from bars and casinos in Alexandria has been passed. Alexandria has become the first city in Louisiana to pass this ordinance. The city council passed the measure unanimously. Smoking will be banned from all public establishments in Alexandria starting on January 2nd...

The Alexandria City Council will take up for vote on Tuesday an ordinance that would eliminate all smoking in public workplaces in the city.