San Antonio Strengthens Smokefree Protections

Congratulations to San Antonio for becoming the most recent municipality in Texas to strengthen smokefree protections.  In October, San Antonio’s city council voted to add electronic cigarettes to its nearly 15-year-old smokefree ordinance. The new law, which went into effect January 1st, not only adds electronic cigarettes, but also broadens the definition of smoking to ensure residents, visitors, and workers are protected from all forms of secondhand smoke exposure. 

San Antonio joins other Texas cities with recent updates to include electronic cigarettes including Houston, Irving, and El Paso.  In December 2024, the Dallas City Council voted to add electronic cigarettes to its smokefree ordinance.  However, Dallas residents, visitors, and workers will have to wait until December 2025 to experience enhanced smokefree protections.

Not to be overlooked, the city of Schertz passed an ordinance in May 2024 to extend smokefree protections to all indoor workplaces, restaurants, and bars.  The ordinance also updated language to include electronic cigarettes.

Milestone Smokefree Anniversaries

Local communities in Texas have been blazing a trail in smokefree protections for decades.  This year will mark a few milestone anniversaries.

The city of Austin will celebrate 20 years of comprehensive smokefree protections. As one of America’s most popular Music Cities, Austin’s ordinance also guaranteed smokefree workplace protections for musicians and entertainers working in the city’s music venues and other establishments.

Cities on the heels of Austin’s success are Ennis, Eagle Pass, and Missouri City with 15 years and San Marcos with 10 years of comprehensive smokefree protections.

We would be remiss if we didn’t give a shout out to El Paso, the city that blazed a trail for local smokefree protections throughout Texas, is nearing its 25th anniversary in 2027.

ANR Foundation is proud to be a part of the committed local, state, and national partners fighting to support smokefree protections in Texas. Visit ANR’s list of smokefree municipalities to learn more about which Texas communities are protecting the public from secondhand smoke exposure and which communities need stronger protections.

WATCH: this video where Joe Ables, owner of The Saxon Pub in Austin, Texas, tells how going smokefree in 2005 was surprisingly successful for his business. A few Austin musicians also share their stories of what it’s like to sing and play in a smoky space, and how much they appreciate that Austin is smokefree now.

About ANRF
American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF) is a 501c3 non-profit educational and advocacy group that has been working for over 40 years to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANRF has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANRF aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://no-smoke.org/. ANRF projects include https://smokefreecasinos.org/ and https://smokefreemusiccities.org/.

Read more about Texas here: https://smokefreegaps.org/gaps-texas/