Artesia will be officially smoke free in a week.
The Lowndes County town’s Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a smoke-free ordinance on April 5. The ordinance — which prohibits smoking in all places of public accommodation — takes effect on Thursday.
Yolanda Pruitt, project director for the Mississippi Tobacco Free Coalition of Oktibbeha, Clay and Lowndes, said the organization worked with the city to develop the ordinance after the city expressed interest in it at a Mississippi Municipal League conference.
Pruitt then met with Mayor Jimmy Sanders and aldermen to tell them the steps it would take for the city to adopt a smoke-free ordinance.
“I provided a sample ordinance they can use,” she said. “The aldermen were interested, as well as the mayor, but they wanted to present to the city. So I came to a public hearing on April 5 and explained the ordinance and what it would entail for business owners and anyone else interested in how it would affect the community.”
The board approved the ordinance the same day.
Artesia Mayor Jimmy Sanders did not respond to calls for comment by press time.
Universities
Mississippi State University is going smoke free in August.
Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Hyatt said the university approved a new tobacco policy in march that will ban smoking anywhere on campus in March. She said the university expects full implementation of the new policy by Aug. 1.
MSU’s current policy prohibits smoking in any facility on campus or university-owned vehicle. It allows smoking in certain outdoor areas.
Hyatt said the push for the new policy began in the fall, when MSU’s student association passed a resolution in favor of a smoke-free campus. The resolution gained support from the faculty senate, and university administration approved it in the spring.
“Since early in the fall term, we’ve been working on the initiative, then had a policy draft that went through several iterations and you see the final policy now,” Hyatt said.
The Mississippi University for Women will also go smoke free, beginning in July.
The initiative for a smoke-free campus began with a push from MUW’s Student Nurses Association in summer 2015, according to a MUW press release.
“I am excited that The W is taking a big leap toward becoming a healthier overall campus,” said Director of Campus Recreation LeAnn Alexander. “Through effective programming and education, it is my hope that this transition will be a smooth one. I look forward to the positive future of this institution as it relates to health and wellness.”
West Point
West Point is the only one of the Golden Triangle’s three main cities that lacks a smoking ordinance.
Mayor Robbie Robinson told the Dispatch that smoking is prohibited on city property, but the city has no laws regulating usage elsewhere.
Robinson said the board of selectmen was approached about the idea in 2014, less than a year into his first term, but talks never really got off the ground.
“They felt at the time it was an intrusion on businesses and businesses should make their own decisions on whether to be smoke free,” Robinson said. “It never really came to a vote. It was discussed in work sessions but there was not enough support for it to have an outright ban.”
Robinson said there hasn’t been much discussion on a smoking ban since then. Pruitt said the Tobacco Free Coalition hopes to work with the city to encourage a smoking ordinance.
Columbus
Columbus has a partial smoking ban.
City public information officer Joe Dillon said Columbus’ ordinance prohibits smoking in public places, unless the owner designates one to be a smoking building. If that occurs, no one younger than 21 years old can go into the building. The ordinance defines a public place as an enclosed area to which the public is invited — a definition that includes the vast majority of the city’s businesses.
“That’s only if they decide to do that,” Dillon said. “By default, everything would be non-smoking.”
The ordinance, which is accessible via the city’s website, allows exemptions, such as for hotels rooms that are designated as smoking rooms, the grounds of a manufacturer, importer or wholesaler or tobacco products, private clubs and retail tobacco stores.
The ordinance also allows smoking in non-enclosed areas of public places, such as open air patios or porches, any area enclosed by garage-type doors when all doors are open, or areas enclosed by tents or awnings when all sides or vents are completely open.
Starkville
Starkville’s smoking ordinance prohibits smoking in all places of public accommodation, except for bed and breakfast or hotel/motel rooms that permit smoking and private clubs, according to Mayor Parker Wiseman.
Wiseman said the ordinance also prohibits smoking outdoors on pass-through entrance/exit areas, as well as patios or decks that are attached to a restaurant, roofed and more than 50-percent walled off. The ordinance further bans smoking in the seat area of outdoor sports arenas and within the security fence of George M. Bryan Airfield.
Starkville also has a no-smoking policy for city property and Wiseman said city employees are forbidden to smoke on the job.
Starkville enacted the ordinance in 2008.
“Starkville was the first major city in Mississippi to go smoke free,” Wiseman said. “It’s been positive for the image of the city, as well as for the quality of life, the assurance or breathing clean air offers to residents and visitors alike.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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