CLEMSON — South Carolina was recently recognized for its efforts to provide a smoke free environment through its local businesses and restaurants and four Pickens County municipalities played an important part in making that happen.

Clemson, Liberty, Pickens and Easley are among 27 municipalities that have passed smoke-free workplace ordinances within the past two years. In fact, Liberty and Sullivan’s Island passed their ordinances as early as 2006 and Clemson, July 1, 2008; Easley, Jan. 1, 2009; and Pickens, May 1, 2009; eventually followed suit.

As a result, the State Department of Health and Environmental Control recently announced that South Carolina has been recognized as the 2008 winner of the Americans for Nonsmokers Rights Smoke free Air Challenge Award.

“It is an honor for our state to have been selected for this award that is considered a top achievement award in tobacco control,” said Sharon Biggers, director of DHEC’s Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control. “The real winners are the thousands of South Carolinians protected from secondhand smoke in the workplace because of the state’s 27 local smoke-free ordinances.”

Since 2006, when the Surgeon General released a landmark report called “The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke,” four South Carolina counties and 23 cities and towns have passed smoke-free laws. Since January 2008, 16 communities in the state have passed comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws that include restaurants and bars.

Clemson was among those municipalities and the passage of that ordinance, which also prohibits smoking in any city owned or leased vehicle, was a dream come true for Mayor Larry Abernathy.

“We worked on it for a long time,” Abernathy said. “But it was an idea whose time had come.”

But the Clemson ordinance didn’t come without a fight, with some local business owners speaking out in opposition and its passage by council coming by a slim 4-3 margin. As the first anniversary nears for when the ordinance officially went into effect, Abernathy said he doesn’t hear as many complaints.

“I think smokers are adjusting in that, when it happened, instead of protesting, they shrugged their shoulders and said they would adjust,” Abernathy said, adding that the city provided smoking ban posters in order to help owners educate their customers.

Abernathy, who has served as either a city council member or mayor for more than 30 years, said he has been in politics long enough to know that change doesn’t come easily. For 10 years, the mayor said he mentioned the need for a smoke-free city just to test the waters, but discovered the time wasn’t right. However, Abernathy’s persistence and support from a majority of council members eventually paid off.

“It’s a great time in which to be a pioneer,” he said.

While four of Pickens County’s municipalities have passed smoke-free ordinances, Central isn’t among them. While no smoking is allowed in Town Hall, Mayor Mac Martin said he doesn’t expect town council to carry it any further.

“When we initially addressed a smoking ordinance, I sent a letter to all the business owners, asking them if they were interested and the response was overwhelmingly ‘no’,” Martin said. “They said they could decide on their own whether or not they wished to participate.”

To some extent, Martin said that has happened as a number of business owners have since banned smoking from their restaurants. Though Martin, a non-smoker, would prefer that all restaurants and businesses be non-smoking, he also feels that should be up to the owners to decide.

“I don’t see the government infringing on everything people does,” he said. “While I feel that smoking is a bad habit that causes a lot of problems, until they outlaw tobacco, where a person smokes should be left to the property owner.

“The free market has proven the model of a non-smoking restaurant will be more successful than one that allows smoking and I think this is one issue where we need to let the free market determine this.”

Abernathy disagrees, adding, “Should we leave it up to the person driving an automobile to determine how fast he wants to go.”

“Part of being a legislative body is passing ordinances and regulations that improve people’s lives and, in some cases, save lives,” Abernathy said. “It’s an idea whose time has come and, even if you get beat up a little bit, it’s worth it. I’m proud of city council and this will be part of our legacy.”

The mayor said his reinforcement comes from the praise he hears from local citizens regarding the ordinance.

“You wouldn’t believe that people who say their favorite restaurant once smelled so bad because of the smoke are back eating there because it is smoke free,” he said. “The students also say it’s so nice coming from downtown without smelling of smoke.

“That’s what I want to hear and I believe that’s what council wants to hear.”