MUSIC VENUES ARE WORKPLACES
When most people think about workplaces, they think of offices or retail establishments. Given the proliferation and popularity of smokefree restaurants, many may also include these dining establishments in their definition of a workplace.
But when we start to talk about bars, clubs, dancehalls, and other entertainment venues, including casinos and card rooms, most people do not think about those establishments as workplaces. The truth is that these are workplaces as well as public places – and secondhand smoke is just as hazardous in these environments as it is in an office building.
Music lovers have a special appreciation for their favorite artists. Engaging musicians into the smokefree workplace campaigns in music cities such as Austin, TX and New Orleans, LA brought fresh new voices to explain the real experiences of trying to sing or play in smoke-filled venues. Their stories put a human face to the smokefree issue. Several major music cities are not yet smokefree including Memphis, TN. In addition, many entertainers perform in casinos, and major gaming and music cities such as Biloxi, MS, Atlantic City, NJ, and Las Vegas, NV – all of which are not yet smokefree.
THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL
OF SECONDHAND SMOKE EXPOSURE
Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke that is given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar, often called sidestream smoke, and the smoke that is exhaled from the lungs of a smoker (mainstream smoke). Tobacco burns at a lower temperature while smoldering (thus it doesn’t burn as cleanly), releasing more toxins into the air than are in the smoke actually inhaled by the smoker. Approximately 90% of the time they are lit, cigarettes are smoldering and generating air pollution that nonsmokers are forced to breathe. If smoking is allowed within a music venue, all musicians, employees, and patrons are at risk. Secondhand smoke exposure from commercial tobacco is known to cause heart diseases, lung cancer and other breathing problems.
SMOKEFREE STATUS OF MUSIC CITIES
While some may haggle over the definitive list of their favorite music cities, there is some consensus that the following make the Top Music Cities List. Musicians are more than entertainers for our listening and dancing pleasure; performing is their job and they deserve a safe, healthy smokefree workplace just as much as someone who works in an office, a hotel, a restaurant, and even a bar or casino.
Cities are listed in alphabetical order by state; Blue indicates that the city is smokefree in restaurants, bars, and commercial gaming facilities, and Black indicates it is not yet a Smokefree Music City.
Muscle Shoals, AL
El Dorado, AR
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Denver, CO
Fort Collins, CO
Miami, FL
Atlanta, GA
Athens, GA
Chicago, IL
Bowling Green, KY
Baton Rouge, LA
Lafayette, LA
Lake Charles, LA
New Orleans, LA
Shreveport, LA
Detroit, MI
Branson, MO
Kansas City, MO
Minneapolis, MN
Las Vegas, NV
Asheville, NC
Atlantic City, NJ
New York, NY
Tulsa, OK
Portland, OR
Philadelphia, PA
Newport, RI
Nashville, TN*
*Smokefree in March 2023!
Memphis, TN
Austin, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Seattle, WA
Appleton, WI
Don’t see your favorite music city listed? Contact us to let us know!
SMOKEFREE MUSIC CITIES RESOLUTION
ENCOURAGE YOUR ORGANIZATION TO SIGN OUR RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF SMOKEFREE MUSIC CITIES TO PROTECT MUSICIANS FROM SECONDHAND SMOKE EXPOSURE!
