New Orleans kicked butts 10 years ago

The big picture: The City Council is expected to issue a proclamation at their Thursday meeting to recognize the milestone.

Catch up quick: New Orleans made national headlines when it passed the ban 10 years ago under then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

• In the New York Times, reporter Campbell Robertson asked, "Was this a case of regulating the joie de vivre out of a city where permissiveness is a founding principle, turning New Orleans into Orlando, or, heaven forbid, Atlanta?"
• In Slate: "The United States' second-most committed oasis of debauchery will become moderately less debaucherous."
• "For many locals, a ban on smoking seemed unthinkable in this city that loves to tout itself as the capital of the laissez-faire attitude," wrote Cain Burdeau for The Associated Press.

Zoom in: State law went into effect in 2007 that banned smoking in restaurants, but it's still allowed in bars and casinos.

• The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco Free Living and other groups started doing outreach in 2007 about expanding the ban in New Orleans.
• In 2014, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who was a council member at the time, introduced a smoke-free bill.
• It was framed as a worker protection law, with more than 100 musicians and entertainers voicing health concerns about secondhand smoke, according to a report from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
• The council passed it unanimously in 2015, The Times-Picayune reported.

Yes, but: Harrah's, now rebranded as Caesars, Pat O'Briens, Court of Two Cities and other businesses sued the city, citing fears of lost revenues, according to media reports at the time.

• A judge ruled in favor of the city and kept the smoking ban.
• Caesars posted two rough months of gaming revenues before the numbers turned around, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
• The recently renovated property continues to be smoke-free.

Meanwhile, the newly opened Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner allows indoor smoking.

• There's been talk about a smoking ban in Jefferson Parish, but it hasn't gained traction, according to The Times-Picayune.
• New Orleans has exceptions for cigar bars, vape shops and hookah bars. See the rules.

The intrigue: The city's health department recently surveyed residents and 75% of respondents said the smoking ban made New Orleans better.

• Earl Nupsius Benjamin-Robinson, senior director of the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, tells Axios he isn't aware of any studies that have specifically measured the smoking ban's impact on business or health.

By the numbers: Louisiana's smoking numbers are declining, but they are still higher than the national average.

• 15.7% of adults in Louisiana smoke, according to 2024 data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
• In 2013, it was 23.5%, according to the American Cancer Society.
• The CDC says 11.6% of American adults smoked cigarettes in 2022, the most current data.

Zoom out: Benjamin-Robinson says nearly 40 municipalities in the state have smoking bans, which is about double what it was when New Orleans passed its ban.

• "That provided a tremendous amount of social capital," he said. "New Orleans doing that served as a catalyst. ... It was a paradigm shift in the state."

What's next: He says TFL is working with advocates statewide who want to make their towns smoke-free.

• They also are working with schools to help with the growing cases of vaping, especially with middle schoolers.