Starting today, you can't smoke in New Orleans bars

In New Orleans, you can no longer smoke in bars — (Image credit: AP/YouTube)

The Big Easy just got a little harder for dedicated smokers: When clocks struck midnight on Wednesday, New Orleans put the kibosh on smoking in bars. The newly enacted ban was met with some annoyance and lots of shrugs, The New York Times reports, and at least one bar passed out nicotine gum to smoking patrons. Some bars and Harrah's casino are suing to overturn the ordinance.

New Orleans isn't quashing all its trademark vices — you can still smoke, and drink alcohol, outside — and tobacco-loving revelers can still go to Vegas, Philadelphia, or Atlanta if they want to smoke in bars. Musicians seem especially pleased by the ban, as The Associated Press captures in the video below. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.