Joining the many cities across the nation that have banned smoking in restaurants and other businesses, the Paris city council passed an ordinance on March 24 that prohibited cigarette smoking in most enclosed public places.
Under the ban: Restaurants, schools, health care facilities, hotels and motels, most indoor businesses that are open to the general public.
Exempt from the ban: Bars and nightclubs, tobacco shops and sexually oriented businesses.
Outdoor smoking is also prohibited, except in designated areas, within 25 or 30 feet of an entrance to a building where smoking is prohibited indoors.
Electronic cigarettes are not regulated by the ordinance.
City officials said that they expect locals to comply with the new law immediately, although law enforcement will not issue citations for violations until the end of a 30-day grace period, concluding April 23.
