Maine - Statewide Smoking Ban

Statewide smoking ban: Effective January 1, 2004, laws from 1985 and 1999 were expanded such that smoking is banned statewide in all workplaces and public places in Maine, including bars and restaurants.

The law exempts places open to the public during hours when it is closed, stage performances involving smoking, smoking for religious rituals, factories where labor unions have contracted to have smoking areas, designate areas in hospitals, designated hotel/motel smoking rooms, private residences except when used as a childcare or healthcare facility, beano and bingo halls, tobacco specialty stores, and off-track betting parlors that were in existence on June 30, 2003.

The state law is silent as ot whether local governments may regulate smoking more strictly than the state, though as of April 2009 no local government in Maine has done so. Effective September 1, 2008, smoking is banned in any car when a person under the age of 16 is present, though no driver may be pulled over or searched solely for violation of this law.