CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Cheyenne will become the second city in Wyoming to ban smoking from all public buildings, including bars and restaurants, under an ordinance approved by the Cheyenne City Council.
After four hours of testimony and debate Monday night, the panel voted 8-2 in favor of the ban, which also prohibits smoking within 10 feet of the entrance to a public building.
The ordinance will go into effect Aug. 15 unless opponents follow up on their vow to refer the smoking ban to a vote this fall.
Before approving the ordinance, the council amended the ordinance to exempt tobacco shops from the ban.
Supporters of the ban say it is needed to protect the public from secondhand smoke. Opponents argue business owners should be able to decide for themselves whether to allow smoking.
Laramie enacted a similar ordinance last year.
During testimony before the Cheyenne City Council vote, Cheyenne resident Bill Besselievre said the proposed ban goes too far and he considered secondhand smoke a “petty” problem as far as health issues should go.
“The medical implications are grossly exaggerated,” he said. “The human body is not so fragile that it’s going to suffer from a medical problem because of occasional exposures (to secondhand smoke).”
Besselievre said residents have a choice to avoid contact with secondhand smoke.
“These organizations and these businesses have the opportunity to prohibit smoking in their establishments and they’re doing this,” he said. “As (the ordinance is) proposed, there is a prohibition being placed on businesses that is unjust.”
DT’s Liquor Mart manager Dan Hatanelas said the smoking ban could hurt business and his workers who depend on tips from customers.
Hatanelas said he was particularly irritated by what he called the hypocrisy of some of the ban’s supporters, including those on the council, who smoked in the past.
“All the sudden, you’re holier than thou trying to stuff this stuff down our throats,” he said.
Laramie City Councilman Seth Carson said no bar in Laramie has gone out of business since a smoking ban went into effect there about a year ago.
Carson said he represents the part of Laramie that includes downtown. He said he believes bars are doing better now than they ever have. He said more women were coming to bars, which as a single man, he said he thought was a good thing.
Grace United Methodist Pastor Jon Laughling said he’s been the pastor for roughly 200 funerals and spent many hours at the bedsides of people dying from respiratory illness.
“Maybe tonight’s action would prevent some of my business from occurring,” he said.
The council voted down an amendment that would have excluded parts of private clubs that were well-ventilated.
Carson told the council they were inviting litigation if they exempted private clubs and not bars.
Smoking ban moves forward
