List of smoking bans in the United States

Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The United States Congress has not attempted to enact any type of nationwide federal smoking ban in workplaces and public places. Therefore, such policies are entirely a product of state and local laws.
In 1995, California was the first state to enact a statewide smoking ban for restaurants. Throughout the early to mid-2000s, especially between 2004 and 2007, an increasing number of states enacted a statewide smoking ban of some kind. As of 2018, the most recent statewide smoking ban is Alaska's, which was signed into law on July 18 and went into effect on October 1.
As further detailed in this list, smoking laws vary widely throughout the United States. Some places in the United States do not generally regulate smoking at all, some ban smoking in certain areas and not others, and some ban smoking nearly everywhere, even in outdoor areas (no state bans smoking in all public outdoor areas, but some local jurisdictions do). As of October 1, 2021, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, 82.1% of the U.S. population lives under a ban on smoking in "workplaces, and/or restaurants, and/or bars, by either a state, commonwealth, or local law", and 62.3% live under a ban covering all workplaces, restaurants, and bars. A smoking ban (either state or local) has been enacted covering all bars and restaurants in each of the 60 most populated cities in the United States except these ten: Henderson, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Memphis (no smoking in restaurants, government buildings and most indoor public places), Miami, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Tampa, Tulsa, and Virginia Beach.
As of July 2018, 29 states have enacted statewide bans on smoking in all enclosed workplaces, including all bars and restaurants: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Ten other states have enacted statewide smoking bans but have carved out an exception for certain establishments and workplaces: Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
However, these states exempt a variety of places from their respective smoking bans. All except seven (California, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Washington) exempt tobacconists. All except six (Alaska, Michigan, Indiana, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin) allow hotels and motels to designate a certain percentage of smoking rooms. Many also exempt or do not cover casinos (10), private clubs (8), cigar bars (14), or certain small workplaces (8). The following is a table of common exemptions from these 28 states' smoking bans:
In Connecticut, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin, the state law preempts local governments from enacting stricter smoking bans than the state, though some cities and counties in some of those states have enacted local versions of the state's smoking ban. In the other 23 states with a statewide general smoking ban, some cities and counties have enacted stricter local smoking bans to varying degrees. In California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont, usage of e-cigarettes is prohibited indoors. The strictest smoking ban in the United States is in Calabasas, California, where smoking anywhere a non-smoker could congregate, including public sidewalks and apartment complexes, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of at least $250.
As of July 2017, five states ban smoking in most enclosed public places, but permit adult venues such as bars (and casinos, if applicable) to allow smoking if they choose: Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, and Nevada. In Florida, state law preempts local governments from enacting stricter smoking bans than the state, though in Idaho, Indiana, and Louisiana, some cities and counties have enacted stricter local smoking bans to varying degrees, in some cases banning it in all enclosed workplaces. See individual state listings below for details.
As of July 2018, four states have enacted smoking bans in particular places that do not fit in the other categories:
As of July 2018, twelve states have not enacted any general statewide ban on smoking in workplaces, bars or restaurants: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Instead, laws in most of these states (see individual state listings below for further information) require proprietors of certain places to designate smoking and non-smoking areas and post warning signage.
In Oklahoma and Virginia, state laws prohibit local governments from regulating smoking more strictly than the state, making those states among the fewest in the nation without any legislated smoking bans. In the other ten states, cities and counties have enacted stricter smoking laws than the state, in some cases banning smoking in all enclosed workplaces. In Alabama and Mississippi, the state smoking law expressly allows all local governments to do so. In Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia, a court has ruled that certain local governments have the power to do so. See the individual state listings below for details.
In the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, smoking is banned in all enclosed public places, including bars and restaurants. Guam prohibits smoking in restaurants, but the ban does not extend to workplaces or any other businesses. The Northern Mariana Islands prohibits smoking in most workplaces and restaurants, but not in bars.
Although Congress has not attempted to enact a nationwide federal smoking ban in workplaces, several federal regulations do concern indoor smoking. Effective April 1998, inflight smoking is banned by the United States Department of Transportation on all commercial passenger flights in the United States or by American air carriers. On August 9, 1997, President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 13058, banning smoking in all interior spaces owned, rented, or leased by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, as well as in any outdoor areas under executive branch control near air intake ducts.
Effective January 1, 2004, California bill AB846 bans smoking within 20 feet (6.1 m) of the entrance or operable window of a public building ("public building" means a building owned and occupied, or leased and occupied, by the state, a county, a city, a city and county, or a California Community College district.) The law also prohibits smoking in state owned vehicles.
Additionally, effective January 1, 2008, smoking in a moving vehicle while in the presence of a minor (18 years or younger) is an infraction; the charge is not serious enough to be pulled over, and only can be cited along with a stricter offense, such as a moving violation or traffic accident.
Local jurisdictions may regulate smoking more strictly than the state. Many California communities have established smoke-free registries for private residential apartment buildings, which range from complexes where smoking is entirely prohibited (whether inside private dwellings or outside) to those where certain sections of dwellings may be designated as smoking dwellings. Most California cities allow landlords to regulate smoking at will.
In 2012, the California Legislature passed the following into law, California Civil Code Section 1947.5. (a) A landlord of a residential dwelling unit, as defined in Section 1940, or his or her agent, may prohibit the smoking of a cigarette, as defined in Section 104556 of the Health and Safety Code, or other tobacco product on the property or in any building or portion of the building, including any dwelling unit, other interior or exterior area, or the premises on which it is located, in accordance with this article. (b) (1) Every lease or rental agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2012, for a residential dwelling unit on property on any portion of which the landlord has prohibited the smoking of cigarettes or other tobacco products pursuant to this article shall include a provision that specifies the areas on the property where smoking is prohibited, if the lessee has not previously occupied the dwelling unit. (2) For a lease or rental agreement entered into before January 1, 2012, a prohibition against the smoking of cigarettes or other tobacco products in any portion of the property in which smoking was previously permitted shall constitute a change of the terms of tenancy, requiring adequate notice in writing, to be provided in the manner prescribed in Section 827. (c) A landlord who exercises the authority provided in subdivision (a) to prohibit smoking shall be subject to federal, state, and local requirements governing changes to the terms of a lease or rental agreement for tenants with leases or rental agreements that are in existence at the time that the policy limiting or prohibiting smoking is adopted. (d) This section shall not be construed to preempt any local ordinance in effect on or before January 1, 2012, or any provision of a local ordinance in effect on or after January 1, 2012, that restricts the smoking of cigarettes or other tobacco products. (e) A limitation or prohibition of the use of any tobacco product shall not affect any other term or condition of the tenancy, nor shall this section be construed to require statutory authority to establish or enforce any other lawful term or condition of the tenancy. (Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 264, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2012.)
Two large casinos on Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribal land, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, allow smoking in many areas of their properties.
Chicago has had its own Clean Indoor Air Ordinance since 1988. The Chicago Clean Indoor Air Act was updated to mention e-cigarettes in 2014, making it the first major U.S. city to legislate e-cigarette use. The Chicago Park District's Board of Commissioners has discussed banning all forms of smoking in Chicago parks, beaches, play lots and other facilities, but there is not yet a municipal ordinance.
On August 1, 2019, e-cigarettes were banned in all locations that traditional cigarettes were banned.
On August 1, 2023, smoking cannabis was included in the smoking ban, upon becoming legal.
Local governments are preempted from regulating smoking more stringently than the Act. Since 2006, smoking in state offices, vehicles, and buildings (except for correctional facilities) has been banned by executive order issued by the Governor of Virginia. A law which came into effect on July 1, 2016, banned smoking in private cars with any occupants who are 8 years or younger.