Ohio’s Top Court Bars Local Smoking Bans in All Public Places

Local health boards are not allowed to ban smoking in all public places when the Legislature specifically exempted bars and restaurants from such bans, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

Anti-smoking groups said that they would continue their crusade and take their pleas for smoking bans directly to the voters.

Ohio’s highest court, in its 6-1 ruling, called the activists’ goals well-intentioned but said state law does not allow them to overrule the Legislature, which exempted bars and restaurants from smoking bans.

“We grant that local boards of health are better situated than the General Assembly to protect the public health,” Justice Andy Douglas wrote for the majority. “However, local boards cannot act in any area of public health without prior legislative approval.”

Tracy Sabetta, project director for Tobacco-Free Ohio, said anti-tobacco groups will push for bans through ballot initiatives and legislation instead.

Almost 500 communities nationwide now have total smoking bans or comprehensive public bans with exceptions for bars and restaurants, and the national trends show that more bans are likely on the way, said John Banzhaf III, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Action on Smoking and Health.

“As the evidence continues to emerge that secondhand tobacco smoke kills nonsmokers, people are worried about their health,” he said. “They’re worried about dying from everything from cancer to heart attacks.”

Two states, California and Delaware, ban smoking in all public places. Utah bans smoking in all public places except membership-only restaurants and bars. Minnesota bans smoking in all public buildings and most medical buildings, except in specifically designated smoking areas and in bars. And bans in Maryland and Maine allow smoking only in restaurants with liquor licenses.

Florida voters in November will decide whether to outlaw smoking in restaurants, except for outdoor seating areas, and in all enclosed workplaces, including employee break rooms.

In a victory for Massachusetts’ health department, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled last year that a local health board had the power to ban smoking in restaurants and bars.

The Ohio court’s decision Wednesday went against backers of a total ban in Lucas County, approved in June 2001 by the Toledo-Lucas County Board of Health. The ban prohibited smoking in all indoor public places, including bars and restaurants.

Arnie’s Eating and Drinking Saloon, a sports bar near the University of Toledo, and 26 other businesses took their challenge of the ban to the high court.

County Health Commissioner David Grossman said that his department likely will begin working with anti-tobacco groups to put a smoking ban on the ballot in Toledo, which had the nation’s highest smoking rate, according to a federal report released in December.

A vote would be easier than asking local governments to approve such a ban, he said.

“I don’t think any city councils will want to touch it,” he said.