After Much Debate, City of Chicago Finally Passes No-Smoking Ordinance

Last week the City of Chicago joined New York City and Los Angeles, among many other major cities, in passing a ban on smoking in public places. The Chicago Clean Indoor Air Ordinance of 2005 will go into effect on January 16, 2006, for most of the public places covered by the new law.

The passage of the no-smoking ordinance was no small feat. It took more than four years for the city council to reach an agreement on language acceptable to a majority of the council members. The ordinance was approved by the city council by a 46 to 1 vote.