City of Lafayette Officially Goes Smoke-Free
Aug. 1, 2017
Celebration events to be held throughout the week
Today, August 1, 2017, the City of Lafayette officially became smoke-free by enacting and beginning enforcement of the smoke-free ordinance the City-Parish Council passed on April 18th.
The fourth largest city in Louisiana, Lafayette now stands among 12 other municipalities as a role model to the rest of the state on how to protect the health of their communities. The smoke-free measure, passed by Councilmembers Kenneth Boudreaux, Liz Webb Hebert, Kevin Naquin, Pat Lewis, Nanette Cook, Jay Castile and Bruce Conque, ensures that all employees, including bartenders, gaming facility employees, and entertainers will be protected from the dangerous health effects of secondhand smoke in the workplace.
“Lafayette joins eleven Louisiana communities and more than 1,200 municipalities nationwide that have gone smoke-free today,” said Rene Stansbury, Regional Manager, Greater Lafayette area, for TFL. “This ordinance is about protecting health, plain and simple, and I want to thank the City-Parish Councilmembers for taking a stand for the health for all in Lafayette.”
In celebration of this milestone for the Lafayette community, numerous events are taking place over the coming week, in addition to the kick-off party held Sunday evening at Club 337. These include:
August 1, 2017 – Anthony’s Winners Circle (303 Prejean Road, Carencro LA); 7 – 10 pm featuring DJ Ice, drink specials and more.
August 3, 2017 – La’Debs (2201 Moss Street, Lafayette LA); 9 pm – 2 am featuring DJ Spiderman, drink specials and more.
August 5, 2017 – Club Flamingo (1001 E. Simcoe Street, Lafayette LA); 8 – 11 pm featuring DJ Disco Kid, door prizes, drink specials and more.
“I think it’s one of the best things that could have possibly happened to Lafayette,” said Wayne Singleton, founding member of the Same Ol’ 2 Step band.
"As a musician, smoke filled nightclubs threaten my health,” said Corey Arceneaux of Cory Arceneaux and the Zydeco Hot Peppers. “Performing in smoke-free venues is a dream come true!"
With the Lafayette ordinance going into effect, now 15.96 percent of Louisiana residents are protected by comprehensive smoke-free policies. But we have more work to do. More than 6,500 Louisianans die from smoking-related causes yearly and costs Louisiana almost $1.5 billion in health care costs every year. The evidence on secondhand smoke’s toll on public health is clear. Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, hundreds of them are toxic and at least 69 cause cancer. In addition, the Surgeon General has found that secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and respiratory problems, sudden infant death syndrome, and low birth weight in infants and children.
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The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living
The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (TFL) and the Office of Public Health, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Well-Ahead initiative coordinate their efforts in tobacco prevention and control by providing statewide coordination of existing tobacco control initiatives, funding innovative community programs for tobacco control, offering services for people who are ready to quit and developing statewide media campaigns to help reduce the excessive burden of tobacco use on the state’s resources and improve the overall health and quality of life in Louisiana. For more information visit www.tobaccofreeliving.org. To find out more about the dangers of secondhand smoke and show your support for a 100-percent smoke-free Louisiana, visit www.healthierairforall.org. To learn more about quitting tobacco, visit www.quitwithusla.org.
About the Louisiana Cancer Research Center (LCRC)
The Louisiana Cancer Research Center of New Orleans provides a structure in which Tulane University Health Sciences Center and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - the state's two leading medical research institutions - will work together and coordinate cancer research development in preparation for recognition as a National Cancer Institute (NCI) - Designated Cancer Center. The consortium is funded through five cents of the tobacco excise tax, three cents to fund infrastructure and cancer research program development for the new Consortium and two cents for tobacco control and prevention programs. Conservative estimates indicate that approximately $10 million per year will be generated from this revenue source. For more information, visit www.lcrc.info
About the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI)
LPHI, founded in 1997, is a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit and public health institute that translates evidence into strategy to optimize health ecosystems. Our work focuses on uncovering complementary connections across sectors to combine the social, economic, and human capital needed to align action for health. We champion health for people, within systems, and throughout communities because we envision a world where everyone has the opportunity to be healthy. For more information, visit www.lphi.org.