Ashtrays atop eatery tables and inside lobbies may go the way of the spittoon in Brandon if the city’s aldermen pass smoke-free legislation now under consideration.
Aldermen are considering an ordinance that will bar smoking inside most public spaces, such as restaurants and public buildings. The driving force behind the measure is the health of the city’s citizens, Alderwoman Yvonne Bianchi said.
“It would make a healthier community and a healthier city,” she said.
The legislation isn’t on the agenda yet. If passed, it will be the first of its kind in any Rankin County city.
Bianchi said Brandon Mayor Tim Coulter has asked aldermen for their opinions on the matter.”I’m ready to go forward with this,” Bianchi said, who has written to Coulter about her position.
Tawni Lovorn, of Mississippi Tobacco Free Coalition of Rankin, Scott and Simpson Counties, said her group has done presentations to a handful of municipalities in those three counties. Pelahatchie is studying the issue, and she said she’s pleased Brandon is considering tobacco-free legislation.
“This is a great example of city leadership taking on a controversial issue in order to protect the health of the citizens and visitors of Brandon,” Lovorn said. “Brandon would be the first of all the cities this coalition serves to go smoke-free, and we feel that it will help other cities do so as well.”
Such legislation prevents people from numerous health risks, Lovorn said.
“Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States,” she said. “Each year in Mississippi, smoking accounts for an estimated 5,250 premature deaths, including 550 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke. Sixty-nine thousand Mississippi kids now under 18 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.”Thirty-two cities in Mississippi are smoke-free, Lovorn said.
Rankin County approved a measure last year barring smoking and tobacco use in county buildings and county-owned vehicles. Although it raised some eyebrows at first, Board of Supervisors President Greg Wilcox said the measure was important to the health of citizens.
“At first, we had people questioning, but people understand that in public facilities like that, it’s smokers’ prerogative to smoke,” he said. “Non-smokers don’t have a say so unless we make some rules and regulations. We make sure people don’t get second-hand smoke in public facilities.”
The Mississippi State University study released this month showed Starkville’s smoke-free laws have improved the health of residents. It showed a 27 percent decrease in heart attacks among the city’s residents since 2006, when the city adopted its smoking ban.
Two cities in neighboring Madison County – Ridgeland and Flora – have adopted smoking bans, and Madison has a voluntary ban since its restaurants opted to go smoke-free on their own.
“(The study results) do not surprise me at all since smoking is so bad for your health,” Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee said. “I really believe that the smoking ban in Ridgeland will have a very positive effect on our citizens.”