Smoking ban in Colorado

The Colorado Legislature passed the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act this past session. This Act, which takes effect tomorrow, bans smoking in all indoor public spaces. The exceptions are: private homes, limousines under private hire, hotel rooms (no more then 25%), retail tobacco stores, cigar-tobacco bars, airport smoking concession, outdoor area of a business, workplace with 3 or less employees, farm or ranch (making less then $500,000), and casino retail floor plan. On a related note, the Surgeon General of the United States released a report on secondhand smoke this Tuesday. This report showed that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause harm. For the executive summary and press releases, check out the Department of Health and Human Services web site. If you are a resident of Colorado and want to learn more about the law, you can read more about it at the Smoke Free Colorado web site. There are also links to the Colorado Quitline and Quitnet which provide resources for those who are trying to quit smoking.