The city of Jackson enacted its first non-smoking ordinance in 2008, banning smoking from most public places. It clarified some confusing language two years later. Here are the highlights of the ban:
• Smoking is prohibited in most enclosed public places, including (but not limited to): places of employment; galleries, libraries and museums; professional offices, banks, laundromats, hotels and motels; bars; bingo facilities; health-care facilities; child-care and adult day-care facilities; convention facilities; public and private educational facilities; theaters; polling places; buses, cabs and their waiting areas; restaurants; common-use areas such as restrooms, lobbies and hallways; stores; sports arenas.
• Hotels and motels can designate up to 20 percent of their rooms as smoking rooms. The rooms must be contiguous on the same floor, and smoke must not infiltrate into other rooms.
• Smoking is allowed outdoors within the following parameters: a minimum of 20 feet away from windows, doors and ventilation systems of places where smoking is prohibited, including outdoor areas of restaurants and bars. In outdoor arenas, smokers can light up in designated smoking areas, which must be a minimum of 20 feet away from concession stands and public seating such as bleachers and grandstands.
• You can smoke in your private residence and in a private club without employees unless it's being used for a public event.
To read the complete ordinance, go to Jacksonms.gov and search the site for "smoking ordinance."
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