Chautauqua County officials want to push the remaining organizations that have indoor smoking waivers to go smokefree.

Smoking indoors in public places became largely illegal in New York state with the passage of the Clean Indoor Air Act on July 24, 2003, banning smoking in most workplaces, restaurants, and bars. There are five remaining private organizations with waivers to allow indoor smoking – and those five clubs will begin paying more for the privilege: $300 annually to $650 in 2026, and to $1,000 in 2027.

We can’t argue with the health benefits of going smokefree. There are no studies that say smoking cigarettes is healthy, nor are they studies that show secondhand smoke has any health benefits. After more than 20 years of the state’s Clean Indoor Act being law, it’s hard to argue that society hasn’t changed enough to make the smoking waivers an anachronism in today’s society.

Jessica Wuerstle of the county Health Department said during a recent meeting that Chautauqua County has more indoor smoking waivers than any other county in the state by population and the third-highest rate of smoking in the state. The most recent state Health Department statistics released in July 2023 showed 23.6% of Chautauqua County residents smoked – tied with Allegany County for the third-highest percentage in the state following Chenango County (28.5%) and Chemung County (24%).

Why does this matter to the rest of us? Smoking is, after all, a personal choice. Smoking isn’t healthy, and it’s costing everyone. A 2025 state Health Department report found 9.3% of smokers are on Medicare, another 15.2% are on Medicaid and another 15.3% have no health insurance whatsoever. Taxpayers are helping pay for treatment for almost a quarter of the state’s smoking population. Those with lower education levels, which comprise 30.8% of the state’s smoking population, and those with lower incomes – those who earn $50,000 and less comprise 42.6% of the smoking population. Of the state’s smoking population, 14.4% are qualified as disabled.

Those statistics indicate it is more than fair to question the efficacy of the state’s efforts to curb smoking, particularly among . That would indicate, at least to us, that the state’s efforts to tax smokers into quitting or scare smokers into quitting with television commercials that give some young children nightmares aren’t working.

Making it harder to smoke in the county’s few establishments that allow smoking sounds good, but in the end it’s not likely to do much when it comes to actually decreasing the number of county residents who smoke.