Smoking Ban Passes In Montgomery County

The Montgomery County council has expanded the area's smoking ban.

The vote was unanimous to extend the smoking ban to nearly all county-owned property. That includes bus stops and bus shelters, which were added to the original bill despite concerns about how the ban would be enforced at those locations.

Councilman George Leventhal says he doesn't expect people to call the police to report smokers at bus stops and shelters.

"The culture has changed and we anticipate that, as in elevators, as at people's desks, as at other places where people congregate, it will just become acknowledged as improper to smoke at bus stops and bus shelters," Leventhal says.

Also added to the expanded ban are homes that are on county-owned or leased property. But tenants who live in those homes now would not have to follow it. Only those who move into those houses once the expanded ban takes effect would have to comply.