Columbus, OH Considers Smoking Ban

By Robin Erb

Like their Toledo counterparts, Columbus residents soon might be forced to grind out their smokes before entering a restaurant or bar. "You went first. … We looked at the 35 best ordinances in the country and Toledo was among them," said Dr. Marie Collart, president of the Central Ohio Breathing Association. She is one of three co-chairmen of the SmokeFree Columbus Coalition, which has proposed a smoking ban in most workplaces in Columbus, including bars and restaurants.

A proposal before Columbus City Council is similar to a nearly year-old Toledo ordinance, and it faces some of the same opposition the Toledo law did when it was being proposed.

It also would make Columbus one of a growing list of communities with "clean indoor air ordinances," or smoking bans.

Under a recommendation by SmokeFree Columbus, the owner of a bar or eatery would be fined $150 the first time a patron is caught lighting up.

After that, it's $400 and $600 fines for the second and third offenses. By comparison, Toledo's ordinance, which went into effect July, 2003, limits fines at $100.

That is because Toledo Municipal Court Judge C. Allen McConnell last month ruled that the fines of up to $1,000 exceeded state limit for misdemeanors, which at the time the ordinance passed was $100.

That has since been increased to $150.

For the most part, though, Toledo's smoking ban has withstood initial court challenges.

That is one of the reasons that Columbus proponents of a smoking ban have been looking north. Toledo Mayor Jack Ford and Dr. David Grossman, Toledo-Lucas County Health Department commissioner who originally proposed a countywide smoking ban, both have spoken at their gatherings.

Columbus Councilman Charleta Tavares, chairman of council's health committee, has scheduled two public hearings on the proposal from SmokeFree and plans a vote on the issue as quickly as June 28.