Smoking ban may pass this year

For years, state legislators have been trying to pass a bill to ban smoking in bars and restaurants in North Carolina. Some representatives say this may be the year it passes.

The House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill to ban smoking in bars, restaurants, indoor workplaces and public buildings.

That bill now heads to the House of Representatives.

Representative Bonner Stiller said making restaurants and bars smoke free is the right decision. “I think the overall majority of people who want to go out and eat, and being in a non-smoking atmosphere, is much much greater, than folks who want to go there and smoke.”

The House has voted against similar bills twice in the last four years.