Smoke-free Natchez 

The number of cities and municipalities adopting smoke-free ordinances across the state is leading to more constructive conversations to do the same in Natchez, said Paige Dickey, director of the Mississippi Tobacco Free Coalition of Adams, Jefferson and Franklin Counties.

Hattiesburg, Petal, Laurel, New Augusta, Starkville, Oxford, Jackson, Meridian, Madison and many other cities have passed a comprehensive smoke-free air ordinance.

“You have people who come to Natchez from different areas, and they just think smoke free is the norm,” Dickey said. “Some government buildings are smoke free already here, but why not everywhere else? Everybody has the right to breathe smoke-free air, so why do some places have it and others don’t?”

Those types of questions led to a gathering of dozens of physicians and community activists at Natchez Community Hospital last month for the city’s first Smoke-Free Coalition meeting.

Dickey said the push of the coalition is to educate as many people on the benefits of a smoking ban and to gauge the interest of business owners and city leaders on supporting the ban.

A promising thing about the possibility of Natchez becoming a smoke-free city, Dickey said, is that so many of its restaurants and bars have voluntarily adopted no-smoking policies.

Last year, a number of Natchez’s restaurants and bars went smoke free, including Bowie’s Tavern, Fat Mama’s Tamales, Corner Bar and Under-the-Hill Saloon.

Dunleith General Manager John Holyoak said the decision to make Bowie’s smoke free came shortly after the Castle Restaurant & Pub at Dunleith did the same.

“We’ve gotten a lot of customers come back because we went smoke free,” Holyoak said. “It’s been going great.”

But Holyoak said businesses in Natchez should be able to choose whether they want to go smoke free instead of being forced by the city.

“I believe for my businesses that it’s worked out well, but I still don’t want Natchez to make the city smoke free,” Holyoak said. “I’m a believer in people making their own decisions, so if you want your business to allow smoking there that’s their decision, and I don’t have to go there.

“But your eliminating opportunities for a cigar bar or something similar when you force it.”

Andrew’s Tavern still allows smoking inside, and owner Sammy Atkins said it would stay that way until his customers voice a different opinion or the city passes a smoke-free ordinance.

“I’m 100 percent a non-smoker, but the majority of my customers are smokers, therefore I’ve kept the smoking inside for the betterment of my business,” Atkins said. “It’s strictly a business decision.

“But if the city were to enact a city-wide ban, I wouldn’t cry one bit, and Andrew’s would be smoke free.”

Natchez Mayor Butch Brown said he isn’t opposed to the idea of a smoke-free Natchez, but also said he believes too many businesses would voice opposition to any sort of city ordinance.

“It wouldn’t bother me, but I think there would be a lot of push back on it and a lot of concern from the majority of our citizens and business owners,” Brown said. “It would be a tough sell.”

Taylor and Dickey said members of the coalition are in the process of garnering as much support as possible before approaching the city’s Board of Aldermen with a formal request to consider a no-smoking ordinance.

“We have an opportunity to educate and really expand people’s understanding of the dangers of second-hand smoke to where we can get enough community support to make some change,” Taylor said. “The city officials of Natchez are elected to represent the citizens, and we hope in the near future they will make that tough decision to begin protecting the public health of citizens by creating a smoke-free Natchez.”