The Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy (KCSP) will be celebrating local leaders and organizations across the Commonwealth for their work in creating healthier, smoke-free communities during its annual conference, “Envisioning a Smoke-Free Future,” on Wednesday, April 17.

The City of Stanford is among those slated to be honored, being named the winner of the 2019 Smoke-Free Indoor Air Excellence Award for last year’s ordinance making the city smoke-free.

Mayor Scottie Ernst received word of the city’s award in a letter from Ellen J. Hahn, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and director of the KCSP. The KCSP’s goal is to promote smoke-free environments, reduce the burden of tobacco use, and continue to make Kentucky a better place to breathe.

In her letter, Hahn commended the City of Stanford for its “exceptional leadership and collaborative efforts in promoting the health of the citizens of Stanford by enacting a comprehensive smoke-free workplace ordinance.”

The city will receive its award April 17 in Lexington at the Embassy Suites during the KCSP conference awards luncheon.

The Stanford ordinance, passed in 2018, prohibits smoking within 10 feet of public places and places of employment. Smoking is defined as inhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or any other combustible tobacco product or vapor product.

Public places include any enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, the ordinance states. Smoking is also prohibited in outdoor arenas, parks and stadiums.

Exemptions to the smoking ban include: private residences, except when used as a licensed childcare, adult care or health care facility; retail tobacco stores; private clubs and businesses that have no employees; outdoor areas of places of employment (provided that smoke from these premises does not infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited); and hotels and motels with designated smoking rooms.

Any individual who smokes in areas where it is prohibited could be punished with a $50 fine for the first offense, $100 for the second offense and $250 for any additional offense thereafter.

Businesses found in violation of the smoking ban would be fined $100 for the first offense, $2,300 for the second offense within a one-year period and $250 for each additional offense following the second, within a one-year period. Business owners could also face suspension or revocation of any permit or license issued for the premises on which the violation occurred.