When senior Ryan Hopkins walks to class, he smokes his first cigarette of the day.
"It's like my coffee," Hopkins said. "It gets me ready for the day."
But the Tennessee Legislature is considering a smoking ban in public places, a move that would change Hopkins' morning ritual.
A bill to ban smoking in state buildings has moved through a House subcommittee Tuesday, where it now joins another anti-smoking bill in the Senate.
"I think it would be a good start. Tennessee hasn't made a move at all to ban smoking in public places and so many other states have," said Shelly Stockton, project director of the Lifestyle Enhancement Program, a University of Memphis organization that helps smokers quit and develop healthier lifestyles.
"Statewide, Tennessee has one of the highest rates of smoking in the country, ranking third in the proportion of adults that smoke, and fifth in youth smoking," said Kenneth Ward, a professor of health and sport sciences at The University of Memphis and director of the Center of Community Health. "Tennesseans pay $2 billion annually in smoking-related health care costs, with productivity losses costing an additional $2.6 billion."
With half of smokers dying from tobacco-related diseases, and one non-smoker dying for every eight smokers because of second hand smoke, many believe something must be done now, Ward said.
Law student Lauren Decker said legislation is needed for the public good.
"Stopping smoking is an extremely hard process (and) there needs to be something in place that will possibly help smokers stop, and to stop them from harming non-smokers," Decker said.
Many cities and states such as California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Lexington, Ky., Texas and New York have already established or strengthened anti-smoking laws in public places.
"We need effective legislation to ensure clean air for all and to reduce tobacco use, especially among young people," Ward said.
While the proposed Tennessee bill will not ban smoking in all public places, it will make a statement that Tennessee is trying to make a difference.
Tennessee is still one of the country's largest tobacco producers, but the production is slowly trimming down.
According to news reports, in 2004 65 million pounds of tobacco were produced, roughly half the production from a decade ago.
"I really think that this bill will be the first of many that will make our state join the many others to stop smoking and harming the ones that don't smoke," Decker said.
