Anti-Smoking Advocates Push For Ballot Measure To End Exemptions

ST. CHARLES, MO — Activists and health advocates in St. Charles County are spreading a petition to outlaw all indoor smoking, including vaping, in bars, casinos, hotels, and employer-owned vehicles. The proposed ban would also prohibit smoking within 15 feet of an entrance to a public building. Meanwhile, their counterparts in St. Louis County are hoping to put a measure on the November ballot that would end exemptions to the city's current smoking ban that allows smoking in bars and casinos, The Post-Dispatch reports.

The American Heart Association has donated $355,000 to the initiative, and the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, March of Dimes, and Missouri Nurses Association are among its other supporters.

"It's time to close the gaps in current law because everyone deserves the right to breathe smoke-free air no matter where they live, work and play," Karen Englert of the American Heart Association told the Post-Dispatch. Proponents say the measure is necessary from a public health perspective, while opponents say it infringes on freedom of choice.

To get their measures on the ballot, petitioners in St. Charles County must gather signatures from 10 percent of voters — counted by tallying the total vote for governor in the last election — in five of seven county districts. In St. Louis County, they need 5 percent. That's about 20,000 signatures and 25,000 signatures, respectively.

Read more from the Post-Dispatch.

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