Title 40. Public Health and Safety

Chapter 5-F. Health Provisions: Public Health

Subchapter C. Smoking

Part I. Louisiana Smokefree Air Act

Subpart B. Prohibitions and Exemptions

40:1291.11        General smoking prohibitions; exemptions

A. Except as permitted by Subsection B of this Section, no person shall:

(1) Smoke in any public building.

(2) Smoke in any school.

(3) Smoke in any public place and in any enclosed area within a place of employment.

(4) Smoke in any outdoor area proximate to a state office building where smoking is prohibited pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 40:1293.3.

(5) As an employer, knowingly permit smoking in any enclosed area within a place of employment.

B. Nothing in this Part shall prohibit smoking in any of the following places:

(1) Private homes, private residences, and private automobiles; except that this Subsection shall not apply if any such home, residence, or vehicle is being used for child care or day care or if a private vehicle is being used for the public transportation of children or as part of health care or day care transportation in which case smoking is prohibited.

(2) Limousines under private hire.

(3) A hotel or motel room designated as a smoking room and rented to a guest; provided that a maximum of fifty percent of the hotel rooms, at the discretion of the hotel owner or general manager, available for rent to guests in a hotel or motel may be designated as smoking rooms.

(4) Any retail tobacco business.

(5) Any bar.

(6) The outdoor area of places of employment; except that the owner or manager of such business may post signs prohibiting smoking in any such outdoor area, which shall have the effect of making that outdoor area an area in which smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this Part.

(7) Private and semiprivate rooms or apartments in assisted living residences, and other long-term care facilities that are occupied by one or more persons, who are all smokers and who have requested in writing to be placed in a room where smoking is permitted; provided that smoke from such rooms or apartments does not infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this Part.

(8) Designated smoking areas in which gaming operations are permitted to occur upon a riverboat, at the official gaming establishment, at a facility licensed for the operation of electronic video draw poker devices, at an eligible facility licensed for the operation of slot machines, by a licensed charitable organization, or at a pari-mutuel wagering facility or off-track wagering facility which is licensed for operation and regulated under the provisions of Chapters 4 and 11 of Title 4¹ and Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Title 27² of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, or any other gaming operations authorized by law, except that smoking shall be prohibited in all restaurants, including snack bars and any other type of eating area whether or not such area is separated from the gaming area, that are located within the facilities where gaming operations are conducted regardless of any type of license issued relevant to the operation of the restaurant.

(9) All workplaces of any manufacturer, importer, wholesaler or distributor of tobacco products, of any tobacco leaf dealer or processor, and all tobacco storage facilities.

(10) Convention facilities during the time such facilities are being used for professional meetings and trade shows which are not open to the public that are produced or organized by tobacco businesses or convenience store associations where tobacco products are displayed and limited to the location of such meetings or shows and during the time such facilities are used by a carnival organization, traditionally known as a krewe or a courir de Mardi Gras for the purpose of the conduct of a Mardi Gras ball and limited to the location of such ball.

(11) Designated and well-ventilated smoking rooms in nursing homes which permit smoking, provided that the designated smoking room is not the reception area, lobby, waiting room, dining room, or any other room or area defined as a public place under the provisions of this Part.

(12) A hotel or motel room operated by a casino or gaming operation which is rented to a guest.

(13) An outdoor patio, whether or not food is served.

(14) Any state, local, or private correctional facility prior to August 15, 2009. After August 15, 2009, smoking shall be prohibited in any state, local, or private correctional facility.

C. An individual, person, entity, or business subject to the smoking prohibitions of this Section shall not discriminate or retaliate in any manner against a person for making a complaint regarding a violation of this Section or for furnishing information concerning a violation to an enforcement authority.

D. Nothing in this Part shall be construed to restrict the power of any parish, city, town, or village to adopt and enforce additional local laws, ordinances, or regulations that comply with at least the minimum applicable standards to establish smokefree public places as set forth in this Part.

Redesignated from R.S. 40:1300.256 by H.C.R. No. 84 of the 2015 Regular Session. Added by Acts 2006, No. 815, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2007. Amended by Acts 2008, No. 490, § 1; Acts 2014, No. 546, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2015.

Footnotes

¹ R.S. 4:141 et seq.; 4:701 et seq., respectively.

² R.S. 27:41 et seq.; 27:201 et seq.; 27:301 et seq.; 27:351 et seq., respectively.