Anti-smoking is ratcheting up, it seems. Choice Hotels International recently announced that its 433 Comfort Suites hotels in the US will be 100% non-smoking as of May 1, 2007. They claim the decision to make these 34,000 hotel rooms was driven by market research, but I wonder if it was becoming too costly to get the smoke-smell out of its suites.
Here are a few other places that have implemented anti-smoking laws recently or will be doing so in the near-ish future-ish:
- Effective, October 2006, Buenos Aires has banned smoking in public spaces smaller than 1,100 square feet.
- Hawaii banned smoking in public places on November 16, 2006.
- On February 1, 2007, France made it illegal to light up in public places including schools, hospitals, and offices. The second phase of the ban, which extends to bars, restaurants and night clubs, goes into effect on January 1, 2008.
- England will launch their smoking ban July 1, 2007.
- In the US, smoking laws are passed fairly haphazardly. Some cities ban smoking, some counties do it, and some states do it. Here’s a breakdown of the policies by state.
France bans smoking in hospitals!? Dang, so if you head to a Parisian ER, leave your Gitanes in the rental car.