Source: Times Picayunne

Senate already OK'd bill, others support it

Saturday May 31, 2003

By Ed Anderson

BATON ROUGE -- Smoking in the Superdome may be a thing of the past by the time the New Orleans Saints tee it up against Ricky Williams and the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 28.

A bill making its way through the Legislature would completely ban smoking in the Superdome, and not just in the arena area where puffing away has been off limits for years, said Sen. Jon Johnson, D-New Orleans, sponsor of Senate Bill 869.

Johnson's bill was unanimously approved by the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare May 21 and, on Tuesday, was given 31-0 approval by the full Senate. It now goes to the House Committee on Health and Welfare and if it survives there it will go to the full House. If approved and signed into law by Gov. Foster, the bill would become effective Aug. 15.

"I think we are going to pass the bill," Johnson said Friday. "I think people fully realize the impact smoke has on public health."

Johnson said that smoking in the Dome is the "No. 1 complaint" registered by Dome patrons.

A state law passed years ago bans smoking in the arena area of the stadium. Dome officials have tried to designate smoking areas in the lobby areas by Gates B, D, F and H, said Dome spokesman Bill Curl, but those areas have been difficult to manage.

In a letter to Johnson, Doug Thornton, general manager of the Superdome and the New Orleans Arena, said SMG, which manages both facilities, backs the bill.

"Patrons tend to smoke in the seating sections, the concourses and restrooms," Thornton said. He said that "on more than one occasion," cigarettes ignited fires in trash cans. He said the Dome can easily implement a plan to let smokers outside and readmit them if the bill becomes law.

Johnson's bill gives the Superdome Commission, which oversees operations of the Dome and the nearby Arena, the authority to adopt rules that would boot smokers from the stadium if they smoke anywhere in the facility after being warned not to do so.