The Zionsville Town Council recently approved an amendment creating an exception for the town's no-smoking rule for private clubs, but not without objection.
The town's ordinance on smoking includes exceptions for some designated facilities. The amendment adds private membership cigar lounges to the list of exceptions. The change was requested by Wheelhouse Social Club on 106th Street.
The amendment requires cigar bars to meet specific requirements, including ventilation systems to exhaust air separately from nonsmoking areas of the club. The amendment also restricts the use of any other tobacco products besides cigars defined as "any roll of tobacco that has a wrapper or cover consisting only of tobacco." Cigar lounges also must be licensed by the Indiana State Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.
But some argued against the change.
Stacy Collins, executive director of Breathe Easy Hamilton County, and Taylor Williams, advocacy specialist with American Lung Association of Indiana, spoke during public comment this month to ask the council to reconsider the amendment. Collins said Zionsville and Boone County were among the first in the state to institute smoking bans, and the amendment represents a step backward.
"Even with restrictions, allowing an exemption for cigar bans weakens (Zionsville's) strong protections," she said. "It risks undermining the leadership this community has developed and sets a precedent for more rollbacks."
Williams said an exception for Wheelhouse Social Club normalizes the myth that cigar smoking is not as bad as smoking other tobacco products.
"Secondhand cigar smoke contains the same toxic chemicals as secondhand cigarette smoke," she said. "Cigars are just depicted as exclusive, but they're not. It harms the message that all tobacco products are dangerous. Across the country, the increasingly well-organized cigar industry has been pushing for cigar bar/lounge exemptions in strong local and state smoke-free laws, peeling back life-saving protections designed to maintain indoor smoking and boost industry profits, all while putting workers at risk."
Councilor Sarah Esterline Sampson said that while she had some reservations about the change, she was pleased at how the amendment narrowly defines what a cigar lounge is, and what specifically can be smoked inside one.
A cigar lounge is defined as "a private membership paid to a private club that has a designated area specifically for cigars only purchased at the cigar lounge or brought on the premises by a member or the member's guest."
"I do want people to remember the health problems that come with smoking, but as adults, people are -- rightfully so -- able to make their own choices, and that is why I am voting yes," Sampson said.
The smoking ban still prohibits the use of hookah, cigarettes and vapes in public-serving businesses. Smoking in bars and restaurants remains prohibited.
The amendment passed with a 4-2 vote, with councilors Brad Burk and Craig Melton voting no.
"I appreciate that it's been as narrowly defined as it can be (but) I do worry that it normalizes cigar smoking and tobacco smoking in general," Burk said.
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