Tobacco.org

• County adopts reduced smoking ban 

One of the first entities to adopt an all-out smoking ban in Georgia soon will allow adults to light up in certain locales.

In a divided vote, commissioners decided to dismiss a strict 17-month-old law in favor of the new state law, which allows smoking in places only open to people ages 18 and up.

District 1 Commissioner Lorraine Green, who proposed the measure, said the changes would help clear up confusion between the county’s law and the state’s law, which applies in the majority of Gwinnett’s cities.

But health advocates said the changes take away all the hard work of the past two years, including that of a study committee whose recommendations were never considered.

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