Senate Panel Approves Smoking Ban Bill

A Senate committee today voted for a bill that would ban smoking in all bars and restaurants, the Associated Press reports.

The Legislature banned smoking in most public places in a 2003 law, but granted some exceptions. Restaurants, for instance, were allowed to build smoking rooms for their customers who smoke.

Under the bill passed Monday by the Senate Business and Labor Committee, restaurants that built separate smoking facility will have until 2013 to go completely smoke free.

However, smoking in bars, even cigar bars, would be banned when the law takes effect on Nov. 1.

Senator David Myers of Ponca City sponsored the legislation, citing the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Senator Randy Brogdon of Owasso says the bill went too far because tobacco is a legal substance. He offered an amendment to ban the sale and distribution of tobacco products, but it died for lack of a second.

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