2008 Woodie Awards
Council prohibits all public tobacco use
Decision made by close 4-3 vote.
By: Louise Goodman
Issue date: 6/13/08 Section: News
Beginning July 1 of this year students can expect to breathe a little easier around Clemson. A smoking ban was passed by a 4-3 vote within the Clemson City Council.
The new ordinance will prohibit smoking or tobacco use, including snuff, chew or dip, in a city-owned building.
It will also prohibit any city employee from using tobacco at work or in a city-owned vehicle.
Private homes and offices will be exempt from the ordinance, as will tobacco use at religious ceremonies. In addition, hotels will be allowed to designate 25 percent of their rooms to smoking use.
The ordinance has been proposed twice before, but received approval Jan. 14 at a city council meeting. Clemson city mayor, Larry Abernathy, has long supported the ordinance, having lost two parents to smoking related illnesses.
The ordinance also received public support of Clemson University students who attended the city council meeting to voice their health concerns, as well as their hopes for a cleaner environment.
The main opposition of the bill was comprised of restaurant and bar owners concerned on the effects the smoking ban would have on their businesses.
A general consensus of business owners estimate the ordinance will bring a decline in business, because they feel a large number of their customers smoke in their establishments.
However, the opposition was not limited to business owners; some Clemson University students voiced their disapproval of the bill, describing smoking as a personal decision for individuals, that the city had no right to involve itself in.
After the ordinance goes into effect individuals violating the smoking ban, as well as business owners and managers who violate the ordinance will face a $100 fine, enforced by the Clemson Police Department.
Clemson will not be the first city in South Carolina to undergo a smoking ban. Greenville passed its own no smoking ordinance effective in Jan. of 2007.
The ordinance has been reviewed by multiple judges and is now on its way to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Despite the Greenville controversy with a majority of the Clemson City Council behind it, the smoking ban will go into effect on July 1.
The new ordinance will prohibit smoking or tobacco use, including snuff, chew or dip, in a city-owned building.
It will also prohibit any city employee from using tobacco at work or in a city-owned vehicle.
Private homes and offices will be exempt from the ordinance, as will tobacco use at religious ceremonies. In addition, hotels will be allowed to designate 25 percent of their rooms to smoking use.
The ordinance has been proposed twice before, but received approval Jan. 14 at a city council meeting. Clemson city mayor, Larry Abernathy, has long supported the ordinance, having lost two parents to smoking related illnesses.
The ordinance also received public support of Clemson University students who attended the city council meeting to voice their health concerns, as well as their hopes for a cleaner environment.
The main opposition of the bill was comprised of restaurant and bar owners concerned on the effects the smoking ban would have on their businesses.
A general consensus of business owners estimate the ordinance will bring a decline in business, because they feel a large number of their customers smoke in their establishments.
However, the opposition was not limited to business owners; some Clemson University students voiced their disapproval of the bill, describing smoking as a personal decision for individuals, that the city had no right to involve itself in.
After the ordinance goes into effect individuals violating the smoking ban, as well as business owners and managers who violate the ordinance will face a $100 fine, enforced by the Clemson Police Department.
Clemson will not be the first city in South Carolina to undergo a smoking ban. Greenville passed its own no smoking ordinance effective in Jan. of 2007.
The ordinance has been reviewed by multiple judges and is now on its way to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Despite the Greenville controversy with a majority of the Clemson City Council behind it, the smoking ban will go into effect on July 1.
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