It's Illegal for Women to Smoke in Public..

January 22, 2008 - Profile America --- You may think the debate over smoking is fairly recent. But 100 years ago this week, the New York City council passed an ordinance that made it illegal for women to smoke in public. The ordinance was the result of a campaign by the National Anti-Cigarette League, the first to use the term "coffin nails" for cigarettes. At the time, a number of cities had banned smoking, along with the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, and Tennessee. All of these laws were revoked by 1917, since they were not only difficult to enforce, but added to the allure of smoking. Now, just under 21 percent of adults in the U.S. currently smoke. The highest proportion is in Kentucky, at 28 percent. The lowest is Utah at 11 percent. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at www.census.gov. Recently, an excellent article on Women and Smoking by Cynthia Crossen appeared in Wall Street Journal we subscribe to. Click on image to enlarge..