The 30 day waiting period has passed.

Today, the City of Laurel became smoke-free in public places and places of employment.

The Laurel City Council — with a vote for 4-3 with Councilmen Tony Thaxton, Tony Wheat and Johnny Magee voting against it — on Nov. 4th approved a smoking ban that prohibits smoking in all public places in the city.

The approval came after a year of discussions, preparations and two readings by the Laurel City Council.

Some business owners came to the meeting to express their objections to the proposed smoking ban. However, no changes were made to the ordinance.

Councilwoman Willie Evans said she fully supports the smoking ban.

Council president George Carmichael said the city has been working on this ordinance for more than a year.

Lillie Willis with the American Cancer Society and a group of people began working to develop the smoke-free ordinance for the city in October 2007.

The ordinance, titled as “City of Laurel Smoke-free Air Act of 2008,” is designed to eliminate smoking in public places and places of employment within the City of Laurel.

Throughout debates concerning the ordinance, Thaxton, Wheat and Magee have questioned the need for the ordinance.

Thaxton said he “questions the real need to have an ordinance of this nature when 90 percent of the businesses are already smoke-free.”

“The issue is beyond smoking,” Thaxton said last month. “It’s about government interfering with private enterprise.”

The city gave no exceptions in the ordinance.

The city also made no provisions for a business owner, who had already established a no-smoking policy and had provided a ventilated break room for those desiring to smoke on their breaks from work.

Anyone caught smoking in a public place or in violation of the ordinance can be fined for an amount not to exceed $50. However, a business owner not enforcing the ordinance or where a violation is found can be fined for the first offense an amount not to exceed $100 for the first violation, for a second offense in a year’s time an amount not to exceed $200 for the first violation, and for each additional violation in a year for an amount not to exceed $500 each.