Baltimore will join hundreds of communities across the nation that prohibit smoking in bars after the City Council approved a smoking ban last night with a margin of support that swelled in the hours leading up to the final vote.Nine council members - one more than needed for approval - stood to support the smoking ban just weeks after it appeared dead, a rapid turnaround that some attribute to lucky timing and others to an 11th-hour lobbying effort by Mayor Sheila Dixon. The ban, which Dixon said she will sign, takes effect Jan. 1. With Baltimore's ban set, attention now shifts to Annapolis, where the General Assembly is considering a statewide ban that has failed in past legislative sessions.
Nearly half of Maryland's population will be covered by stringent smoking prohibitions by next year, and supporters hope that will prompt the state to act. "This is a historic night in this chamber and for our city," said City Council Vice President Robert W. Curran, the lead sponsor of the bill who has been methodically working toward its approval for nearly two years. "Lives will be saved."