Jackson Free Press

Lawmakers and health experts are trying to breathe new life into a statewide smoking ban.

Sen. Briggs Hobson, R-Vicksburg, has introduced the Mississippi Uniform Smoke-Free Public Place Act of 2013, which bans smoking in most public places. The ban would extend to restaurants, which the proposal defines as an establishment where at least 25 percent of revenues come from selling food.

Private homes, bars, hotel rooms and conference rooms that are being used for events, casinos, private clubs and cordoned-off restaurant bars would be exempt from the law.

Steve Demetropolous, president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, told reporters at the Capitol Thursday that passing a smoking ban would be "the single most effective policy change guaranteed" to improve Mississippi's overall health.

The effort comes on the heels of the Mississippi State Medical Association's public-health report card for 2013. The report card, distributed yesterday, depicts a toddler holding a gas mask to her face sitting in front of an adult holding a lit cigarette.

"Demand clean, smoke-free air! or ... JUST GIVE EVERY KID A GAS MASK," the poster reads.

The report does not assign letter grades but notes Mississippi's abysmal rankings in several health categories, which include 5th worst in tobacco use and worst in obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease mortality, infant mortality, teen birth rate and physician access in the United States. Mississippi also has the fewest number of physicians per capita, the report states.

Anti-smoking efforts have been on the uptick in recent months. Earlier in January, officials at the University of Mississippi began issuing $25 fines for violating the school's ban, which went into effect in August 2012.

The Mississippi Housing Authority plans to go smoke-free in April. MHA Executive Director Ron Turner Sr. told the Meridian Star that smoking-related spikes due to insurance and repair costs led to the policy.

Hobson's bill, SB 2077, was assigned to the Public Health and Welfare and Appropriations committees.

An earlier version of this story that went out in the JFP Daily newsletter misspelled Sen. Briggs Hobson's first name. We apologize for the error.