Wilmette (IL) Goes Smokefree

Illinois' First 100% Smokefree Workplace Law

Parts excerpted from Chicago Sun-Times, 11/13/03

Wilmette's cobblestone streets and mom-and-pop stores may recall the past, but its tough new smokefree workplace law has put the village on Illinois' forefront in the fight against secondhand smoke.

The North Shore suburb now has the state's first 100% smokefree workplace ordinance after village trustees voted 6-1 late Tuesday to ban the butt in restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, country clubs and other indoor public places.

The law goes into effect July 1.

"We just want the same right to a smokefree workplace that everyone else won five or ten years ago," says Joe Cherner, founder of BREATHE-- Bar and Restaurant Employees Advocating Together for a Healthy Environment.  "Laws should treat the health of all workers equally.  Bar and restaurant workers should have the same right to a smokefree work environment as everyone else.   No worker should have to breathe tobacco smoke pollution to hold a job, because it causes cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disease."

Wilmette's decision is not sitting well with some businesses and residents. Beth Lambrecht, co-owner of a local jewelry store and the lone trustee voting against the law, called it one of the most divisive issues the board has faced.

Village President Nancy Canafax didn't decide to support the ban until Tuesday. She now feels uneasy being on the cutting edge, fearing Wilmette diners will go to nearby towns where smoking is allowed. She wants other towns to ban smoking. "That would relieve the pressure on our restaurants," she said.

Joel Africk, CEO of the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, helped lead the effort in Wilmette, his hometown.  "Once you accept this is a serious public health problem . . . then you understand it's no longer a matter of personal choice," he said.