Port Arthur’s new no-smoking ban will go into effect in a little less than two months — enough time for those who allow smoking in public places to rid their establishments of ashtrays and inside smoking areas in an effort to snuff out second hand smoke.

The city’s smoke free air ordinance goes into effect May 9, just a day after the city is expected to publish a second legal notice in the newspaper apprising citizens of the new ordinance and what it means for them.

Any place where the public has access, even private clubs, are affected by the new ordinance, City Attorney Val Tizeno, said.

“Most cities have already adopted this,” Judith Smith, Port Arthur Health Department director said. “One of the things citizens will not have to worry about is going into a facility and having to go to a smoke free section where a lot of the vents used to prevent smoke do not work.

Smith said she just completed breast cancer treatment and learned that cancer can be linked to cigarettes, smoking or being around second-hand smoke.

“It’s not just associated with lung cancer, it can lead to upper respiratory problems, asthma, cold, emphysema, so just not having an environment in Port Arthur where people have to breathe in cigarette smoke is a plus for Port Arthur.”

Port Arthur will join 49 other Texas cities across Texas enacting smoke-free ordinances including Beaumont, El Paso, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Plano, Abilene, Victoria and College Station, just to name a few.

Port Arthur’s new smoke free ordinance prohibits smoking in all enclosed public places within city limits including, but not limited to, libraries, museums, banks, Laundromats, professional offices, retail service establishments, bars, Bingo facilities, child care and adult day care facilities, gambling facilities, hotels and motels, lobbies, hallways and other common areas in apartment buildings, polling places, public transportation vehicles, restaurants, places of meeting or public assembly, service lines, shopping malls, sports arenas (including enclosed places and outdoor arenas, theaters, etc.

Smoking is also prohibited in all enclosed areas of places of employment.

Private Clubs are also subject to the new ordinance. — something that Jeff Childs, new owner of The Capri Club on Ninth Avenue will have to implement.

Childs said he only recently discovered the new ordinance also applied to private clubs like his, where people pay a membership fee.

Childs said he does not like the new ordinance because people who join the club do so with the full knowledge that smoking has been allowed inside the building.

“You know when you become a member what you are walking into,” he said. “I have a good number of members who come here because they can smoke, so I just pray it does not affect our business.”

His clientele is about 50-50 between smokers and non-smokers.

He does plan to build an outdoor patio area within the next three or four weeks for patrons to go smoke.

“It should be complete in the next three to four weeks, before the ordinance goes into effect. We are certainly going to comply with the ordinance,” he said.

The city’s new comprehensive ordinance does not prohibit people from smoking in their own homes, unless the homes is used as a childcare, adult daycare or health care facility

To comply with the new ordinance, “no smoking” signs must be erected in a conspicuous place and all ashtrays must be removed.

Anyone caught smoking in a no-smoking zone is subject to a $50 fine for breaking the public nusience law.

Persons who own, manage, operate or control a public place or place of employment and fails to follow the non-smoking ordinance can be fined up to $100 for the first violation; $200 for the second violation within one year, and $500 for each violation within a one-year period.

“Smoke-Free Port Arthur is grateful to the city council for taking this step to protect workers and residents of Port Arthur from the health effects of being exposed to secondhand smoke,” Christopher Bates, chairman of the Smoke-Free Port Arthur coalition. “The easiest and least expensive way to safeguard public health in workplaces is to create smoke-free environments. No one should have to choose between their health and their pay check.”

Smoke-Free Port Arthur is a community coalition consisting of American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association and Port Arthur residents concerned with improving public health.

Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including at least 69 carcinogens. The U.S. Surgeon General found that secondhand smoke is a proven cause of lung cancer, heart disease and serious respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome, according to the American Cancer Society.

E-mail: sherry.koonce@panews.com

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