Last night, April 19th, Mayor Ballard signed Proposal 136 into law. Now more Indianapolis workers will be protected from the dangers of secondhand smoke! Thank you to all of our coalition members and supporters for your help in making this possible!

Join Smoke Free Indy at the Shamrock Run and Walk on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th.  The event will be held downtown on the Circle with the run kicking off at 10 a.m.  There will be a post-race event, Shamrockin’ the Circle, immediately following the race. Make sure to join us at this fun-filled event!

Join Smoke Free Indy at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16th at 11:30 a.m. in downtown Indy.  We will again be walking in this year’s parade and will be handing out green beads.  Make sure to come out and watch this annual event!

The Surgeon General has released the 2012 report on Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. “This Surgeon General’s report details the causes and the consequences of tobacco use among youth [12-17] and young adults [18-25] by focusing on the social, environmental, advertising, and marketing influences that encourage youth and young adults to initiate and sustain tobacco use.”  Click below for more information.

The Marion County Public Health Department has launched the “My Tobacco Free Future”  video contest. The contest is open to Marion County middle and high school youth (must be at least 13 yrs old). Winners will recieve a flip camera and one grand prize winner will have their video shown on the big screen in an Indianapolis Theatre! For more information and contest rules, visit mytobaccofreefuture.com. 

Proposal 18 was passed by the Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday night and is awaiting Mayor Ballard’s signature! Unfortunately, it will not be implemented prior to the Super Bowl this weekend. So until all of Indy’s bars and taverns are smoke-free, we have created two bar guides to help residents and visitors find smoke free Indy bars and clubs. A downtown guide will be printed and distributed to downtown hotels and is available here and a guide for  those of you who will be visiting other areas of the city can be found here.  Please thank these smoke free bars for protecting the health of their patrons and workers!

Don’t see your favorite smoke free bar on these guides? Email info@smokefreeindy.com and we will be sure to add them!

Several Indy bars have decided to make the switch from smoking to non-smoking before the Super Bowl. In a recent WTHR 13 news story, bar owners and managers stated that the potential for passage of a stronger smoke-free air law and the influx of visitors for the Super Bowl were major catalysts for the decision.

Researchers from the Bowen Research Center at Indiana University School of Medicine have released a new economic impact study that examines the costs associated with secondhand smoke exposure in Marion County. The study reports these costs to be $195 million annually in medical care and lost years of expected life. Read the full report here.

The Indiana Convention and Visitors Association announced last week that they support Proposal 352 which will strengthen Indianapolis’ current ordinance to cover more businesses, including bars, bowling alleys, and hotel/motel rooms.

Smoke Free Indy Radio Ad & Smoke Free Indy Print Ad Smoke Free Indy has launched a new ad campaign in support of protecting all workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.