If you have any questions or comments about any city ordinance or state law, please contact GASP. We would especially like to talk with citizens of other municipalities if you think your city council might be interested in learning more about any type of tobacco or smoke free ordinance. You may contact GASP at:

Mark Welsch, President
GASP of Nebraska, Inc.
5611 Howard Street
Omaha, NE 68106-1257
402-558-0463
President@SmokeFreeNebraska.Org

Click on one of the following links to read Lincoln's Smoke Free Ordinance After Ken Svoboda's Amendment on June 28, 2004 in RTF or PDF format.

RTF Format

PDF Format


Access to Tobacco and Other Nicotine Products

The following link contains a PDF file of Omaha's tobacco and nicotine access ordinance. It regulates the placement and retail sales of tobacco and all other nicotine products. This ordinance took effect on February 1, 2003.

Omaha Nicotine Sales Ordinance 2003-02-01.PDF

Nebraska's No Smoking laws and regulations can be found in the following PDF documents. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read these documents, available at this link.

Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act (The state law)

Rules and Regulations for the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act

Do you realize Nebraska state law requires NO SMOKING everywhere except where a business has posted a "Smoking Area" sign? This has been true since 1979. GASP helped change this law in 1999, 2000 and 2003. In 2003 GASP worked with the Senators and got them to make it easier to enforce our state law. The law now makes it illegal for the following types of businesses to allow smoking in their public areas.

City and County buildings (except in smoking break rooms and separately ventilated private offices, behind constantly closed doors)

All state government nonresidential buildings (INCLUDING private offices)

All State vehicles

Outside (within ten feet) of a State building entrance

Commercial Daycare Centers - it is NOT banned in daycare centers in people's homes

Restaurants (unless they have posted "smoking area" signs)

Bars (unless they have posted "smoking area" signs)

Apartment building hallways

Auto parts stores

Banks

Barber shops and beauty parlors

Churches and other buildings of worship

Cigar and Cigarette shops

Dentist and Doctor's offices

Gas Stations

Grocery stores

Hardware stores

Hotel lobbies

Insurance companies

Liquor Stores

Office Supply stores

Oh, what the heck, smoking is not allowed in ALL retail stores. Just about the only place you can legally smoke in Nebraska are in bars and restaurants that have areas properly posted.

Some businesses lie to their customers by illegally posting "Smoking Area Everywhere" signs on their doors, or inside their business. This does not change the law. Smokers can be ticketed for smoking in those businesses. Business owners may also be taken to court if they illegally allow smoking in their business.

Nebraska's law regarding sales of tobacco to minors is a little confusing. The main points in it are:

It is illegal for a clerk to sell tobacco to a minor. They can and sometimes are, convicted and fined for doing so.

It is illegal for a business owner to "knowingly" allow sales of tobacco to a minor to occur. To the best of GASP's knowledge, no business has ever been prosecuted for "knowingly" selling tobacco to a minor.

It is illegal for a minor (under 18 years-old) to use any form of tobacco, i.e.: Smoking, chewing or snorting it up their noses.

It is illegal for anyone, including parents, to give or sell tobacco to a minor.

It is illegal for a minor to buy tobacco if they lie about their age and/or use a fake ID to buy it.

It is not illegal for a minor to buy tobacco if they DON'T lie about their age and/or use a fake ID to buy it.

It is not illegal for a minor to possess tobacco in any form. Most people who work in the pro-health field believe it is a bad idea to make children criminals by passing local or state laws making possession against the law.

The children are being victimized by the clerk, the retail store and the big tobacco companies. These people who should know better, market and sell tobacco to minors. These people profit greatly at the expense of turning children into tobacco addicts. Most people who work in the pro-health field believe the retail store owner should be held accountable when their clerks sell tobacco to minors.

Woodridge, Illinois passed a law that allowed their tobacco license to be revoked or suspended through civil, instead of criminal, action. They reduced the number of stores who failed compliance checks to nearly zero. They also reduced the number of children who smoked by 70%.