Justice
Cities Don't Need Smoking Bans to Be Smoke-Free
Longtime holdout New Orleans just banned smoking in bars. But there are better measurements of what most major cities are doing to clear the air.
In the early hours of Wednesday, smokers pulled their last drags and stubbed out their last butts in bars in New Orleans. As of midnight, the city became the latest to adopt a policy prohibiting smoking in bars, restaurants, and casinos.
As Willie Nelson once said: Turn out the lights, the party's over. If a smoking ban can find its way onto the books in New Orleans—a city that depends on tourism and a reputation for, you know, being New Orleans—then there's no hope for smokers in bars and restaurants anywhere. Smokers, your time is up.