Council votes 8-2 for clean air

CHEYENNE (WY) -- Cheyenne will become the second city (after Laramie) in Wyoming to eliminate tobacco smoke from all workplaces, including bars and restaurants, under an ordinance approved by the Cheyenne City Council. After four hours of testimony and debate, the council voted 8-2 in favor of the law, which also prohibits smoking within 10 feet of the entrance to a public building. The ordinance will go into effect Aug. 15. Laramie City Councilman Seth Carson testified that no bar in Laramie had gone out of business since a smokefree law went into effect there about a year ago. Carson said he represented the part of Laramie that includes downtown. He said he believes bars are doing better now than they ever have. Grace United Methodist Pastor Jon Laughlin said he's been the pastor for roughly 200 funerals and spent many hours at the bedsides of people dying from respiratory illness. "Maybe tonight's action would prevent some of my business from occurring," he said. The entire states of California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Montana, Vermont, Washington, New Jersey, Utah, and Colorado, as well as Puerto Rico and Washington DC, have passed comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation for workers, including restaurant and bar workers. To send a letter in support of smokefree air where you live, go to www.smokefree.net/alerts.php

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