Louisiana smoking laws ban smoking in most enclosed public places and workplaces under the state’s Smoke-Free Air Act, but the statute exempts standalone bars, designated casino gaming areas, tobacco shops, and several other spaces. Local ordinances in New Orleans and Baton Rouge close most of those loopholes and add vaping to the list of restricted activities. Where you can and cannot light up in Louisiana depends heavily on which city you’re standing in.
Where Smoking Is Banned Statewide
Under the Smoke-Free Air Act, it is illegal to smoke in any public building, any school, and any enclosed area within a place of employment.1Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1291.11 – General Smoking Prohibitions; Exemptions The term “public building” reaches most of the indoor spaces people use every day: healthcare facilities, government offices, restaurants, retail stores, and public transportation. Employers have a direct obligation as well, since the statute makes it illegal for an employer to knowingly allow smoking in an enclosed workplace area.
Smoke-free spaces must be marked. Building owners, operators, or managers are required to post “No Smoking” signs or the international no-smoking symbol (a cigarette inside a red circle with a red bar across it) conspicuously in every public building, public place, and enclosed workplace where smoking is prohibited.2Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1291.21 – Notice of Prohibition Against Smoking
Where Smoking Is Still Allowed
The exemptions written into the state law are broad, and they surprise a lot of people. The following spaces remain legal to smoke in under state law:3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1291.11 – General Smoking Prohibitions; Exemptions
- Standalone bars. Any establishment that qualifies as a bar is fully exempt. There is no revenue test and no special condition.
- Designated smoking areas in gaming facilities, including riverboat casinos, the official gaming establishment, video poker venues, slot machine venues, charitable gaming operations, and pari-mutuel wagering facilities. Restaurants, snack bars, and eating areas inside those venues are still smoke-free, even without a physical separation.
- Up to 50 percent of hotel and motel guest rooms, if the owner or general manager chooses to designate them as smoking rooms.
- Retail tobacco businesses that primarily sell tobacco products.
- Private homes and private vehicles, except when used for child care or day care, or when a private vehicle provides public transportation of children or health-care transportation.
- Limousines under private hire.
- Outdoor areas of workplaces. The statewide ban covers only enclosed spaces, though a business can voluntarily post no-smoking signs outdoors and make that outdoor zone legally smoke-free.
- Private or semi-private rooms in assisted living and long-term care, if every occupant is a smoker, each has made a written request, and the smoke does not drift into prohibited areas.
The bar exemption is the one worth remembering. Louisiana did not close the bar loophole when it passed the Smoke-Free Air Act, so outside of cities with stricter local laws, smoking indoors at a standalone bar is generally permitted.
Distance Rules Around Schools and State Buildings
Even where you’re outdoors, two buffer zones apply. No one may smoke within 200 feet of the entrances, exits, or outdoor areas of any public or private elementary or secondary school.4Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1291.24 – Smoking Prohibited Near Schools The rule applies to K–12 schools and covers surrounding outdoor space, not just the building itself.
Smoking is also banned within 25 feet of any unrestricted public entrance to a state-owned office building, and within 25 feet of any wheelchair ramp or disability-access structure serving such a building.5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1293.3 – State Office Buildings; Smoking Regulation; Enforcement Stepping outside doesn’t get you around it if you’re near the door.
Vaping and E-Cigarettes
The statewide Smoke-Free Air Act was written to cover the “carrying of a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or any other lighted smoking equipment.”5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1293.3 – State Office Buildings; Smoking Regulation; Enforcement Because e-cigarettes and vaping devices don’t involve combustion, the state law doesn’t clearly reach them in most locations. Vaping in an enclosed workplace or restaurant may not violate state law, even where cigarette smoking would.
Local ordinances go the other way. In New Orleans and Baton Rouge, vaping is treated the same as smoking under the city rules described below. If you’re in either city, assume vaping is restricted anywhere smoking is.
Stricter Rules in New Orleans and Baton Rouge
Louisiana allows local governments to enact tougher smoking restrictions, and its two largest cities have done so aggressively.
New Orleans
The New Orleans smoke-free ordinance, effective April 22, 2015, eliminates nearly all of the state-level exemptions. Smoking and vaping are prohibited in bars, restaurants, casinos, private clubs, hotels, workplaces, schools, common areas of multi-unit housing, and city- or state-owned buildings and vehicles.6City of New Orleans. Smoke-Free Policy – Frequently Asked Questions Standalone bars and gaming venues are not exempt in the city.
The ordinance reaches outdoors too: outdoor workplaces such as construction sites, sports arenas and stadiums, bleachers and grandstands, recreational areas with playground equipment, and within five feet of certain designated parks and plazas.7City of New Orleans. Overview of the New Orleans Smoke-Free Ordinance The outdoor recreation ban lifts during concerts, festivals, fairs, farmers markets, and parades. Any outdoor space enclosed by two or more walls and a ceiling counts as indoor for these rules.
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge’s ordinance covers smoking, vaping, and hookah use in enclosed public places and certain outdoor areas. It bans smoking within 25 feet of entrances and exits to city-parish buildings, in any public service line, and in all playgrounds and parks.8City of Baton Rouge. Smoke Free Baton Rouge Ordinance
Baton Rouge also restricts where tobacco can be sold. No tobacco retailer may operate within 300 feet (measured by walking distance along the sidewalk) of any park, church, public library, school, or childcare facility. Retailers operating before December 31, 2017 are grandfathered in, but if one of those retailers closes for more than six months, the location loses its exemption.
Smoking in Public Housing
A federal rule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development requires every public housing authority in Louisiana to maintain a smoke-free policy. Fully effective since July 30, 2018, the rule bans cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and hookahs in all public housing living units, indoor common areas like hallways and laundry rooms, administrative offices, and outdoor areas within 25 feet of those buildings.9Federal Register. Instituting Smoke-Free Public Housing The ban is written into every tenant’s lease. E-cigarettes aren’t covered by the federal rule itself, though a local housing authority can add them.
Penalties
Violations of the state office building smoking ban, including the 25-foot buffer around entrances and wheelchair ramps, are subject to the penalty structure in the Smoke-Free Air Act’s enforcement provisions.5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1293.3 – State Office Buildings; Smoking Regulation; Enforcement For tobacco use on school grounds, governing authorities can impose their own penalties, including disciplinary action or fines up to $200.10Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 17:240 – Prohibition Against Use of Tobacco and Marijuana in Schools
Local fines run higher. In Baton Rouge, a first violation can bring a fine up to $500, a second within 12 months up to $700, and a third or later violation within 12 months up to $900.8City of Baton Rouge. Smoke Free Baton Rouge Ordinance Enforcement generally falls to local health departments or code enforcement officers who respond to complaints and inspect businesses.
Off-Duty Smoker Protections at Work
Louisiana law protects employees who smoke on their own time. Under RS 23:966, an employer cannot fire, demote, refuse to promote, or otherwise penalize an employee for being a smoker or a nonsmoker, so long as the employee follows applicable law and the workplace smoking policy during work hours.11FindLaw. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 Section 966 Employers also cannot require, as a condition of employment, that someone abstain from tobacco products outside of work.
The protection reaches hiring. An employer cannot screen out applicants using nicotine testing and refuse to hire them for off-duty smoking, even where insurance premiums are the motivation. The protection depends, though, on the employee complying with the workplace smoking policy on the job.
Minimum Age to Buy Tobacco
It is illegal in Louisiana for any manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or other person to sell or distribute a tobacco product, alternative nicotine product, or vapor product to anyone under 21.12Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 14:91.8 – Unlawful Sale, Purchase, or Possession of Tobacco, Alternative Nicotine, or Vapor Products This tracks the federal Tobacco 21 law passed in December 2019.13Federal Register. Prohibition of Sale of Tobacco Products to Persons Younger Than 21 Years of Age
The state statute preempts local ordinances on tobacco sales, so cities and parishes cannot set a different minimum age or add their own sale restrictions on these products. A narrow exception exists for employees under 21 who handle tobacco products as part of their job.