Talk:List of smoking bans in the United States

Why not make a separate page for California? (List of Smoking Bans in California) Its numerous cities have enacted a whole range of smoking bans, which are not really covered well.

To whoever keeps deleting the status of the Smoke Free Illinois Act before the Illinois General Assembly: why do you think this information is not pertinent?

Other Bans

This was at the head of the "Other Bans" section. I've removed it for what I hope are obvious reasons. I believe SOME of the info contained within is likely legitimate, but without citations.....

If someone has sources (et al), feel free to merge back in, in a more appropriate manner.

Do not trust wikipedia it gives rong informationCalifornia has designated certain areas, such as all public schools and even prisons, as "tobacco-free" zones, where the possession of tobacco in any form (whether by students, parents, teachers, or others) is strictly prohibited indoors and outdoors. The sale and advertisement of tobacco is banned within 1000 feet (300 m) of educational facilities.

Shan 03:06, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Map

This is the table from which the map is generated. Please update it in-place if you have any changes.

state	smoke-free areas
AK	none
AL	none
AR	WR
AZ	WRB
CA	WRB
CO	WRB
CT	WRB
DE	WRB
FL	WR
GA	R
HI	WRB
IA	none
ID	R
IL	WRB
IN	none
KS	none
KY	none
LA	WR
MA	WRB
MD	WRB
ME	WRB
MI	none
MN	WRB
MO	none
MS	none
MT	WRB
NC	none
ND	W
NE	none
NH	RB
NJ	WRB
NM	WRB
NV	WR
NY	WRB
OH	WRB
OK	none
OR	WRB
PA	none
RI	WRB
SC	none
SD	W
TN	WR
TX	none
UT	WRB
VA	none
VT	WRB
WA	WRB
WI	none
WV	none
WY	none

This map should not be included in the article. Most states are white or grey and there is no explanation what white and grey mean. Only 6 or so states are coloured. Get your map right then post it. As for now, it is misinformation. It should be deleted until you fix it. This article is not a work in progress. --Jon in California 208.127.73.82 22:12, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

The map is not a work in progress, or at least not any more so than Wikipedia in general. Regarding your comment that "there is no explanation what white and grey mean", this is explained in the map's caption: "Colors are additive." So if a state bans restaurants and bars, you add the colors for restaurants (red) and bars (blue). Red plus blue is purple, so such a state would be colored purple. White is red + blue + green (restaurants, bars, and workplaces). If you can suggest a new caption that gets the point across without being overly verbose, i'd be happy to change it. --Mike Schiraldi 05:55, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

I will grant Jon in California that the concept of additive color is not exactly user-friendly, but the map is in fact accurate if you understand how it works. Perhaps the best solution is to explicitly spell out what each of the six colors (including black and white) in the map represent rather than using the additive color system. I don't think the Average Joe understands additive color. Ortcutt 19:36, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

I added a key, but now the map+key combination really takes up an awful lot of space. I'll look into a better solution. --Mike Schiraldi 05:02, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

I would suggest changing the "white" color to perhaps a light blue hue? I indeed understand how the map works, but the white is a bit misleading... it almost indicates that "we have no information on this state." I know when I first came ot the article I definetly needed to look at the key. Reccommend changing the white colour to a light blue, cyan, or another light color that has not been used. 24.251.84.221 08:01, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Terminology

There seems to be some confusion over what exactly a "workplace" is -- Ortcutt appears to believe (based on the comments above) that it includes restaurants and bars, and thus we should use phrases like "non-hospitality workplaces" or "workplaces other than resturants and bars" when referring to typical offices and the like. On the other hand, the article is filled with dozens of uses of the term "workplace" which clearly are intended *not* to include restaurants and bars.

I have no opinion either way, as long as we're consistent between the map and the text of the article. What does everyone think? --Mike Schiraldi 23:07, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, certainly there is no dispute that bars and restaurants are indeed workplaces, insofar as they are places of employment as much as any other workplace. Bars and restaurants are frequently singled-out in discussions of workplace smoking bans because they have frequently been specifically exempted from general workplace and public place smoking bans. Any instances in the text of the article where the phrase "workplaces" is used in a way that does not include hospitality workplaces should be corrected. Ortcutt 20:49, 8 July 2007 (UTC)