Right now, in Oklahoma, the decision is not in your hands, because cities are not allowed to pass smoking laws that are stronger than the state law. Oklahoma is one of only two states in the Nation that cannot ban smoking in public places. The other being Tennessee.

But, the State Board of Health would like to change that and put the power in your hands. "We'd like to see local communities, really the local citizens have a voice in local policy-making," says Julie Cox-Kain, Chief Operating Officer, of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. "We have multiple communities in the state of Oklahoma who are willing to take charge of their own health and address this issue of smoking as a hazard, but they're not allowed to because the state law prohibits it."

Partnering with the Oklahoma City-County Board of Health and the Tulsa City-county Board of Health, the State Board is behind a push for a new bill to pass in the upcoming legislative session. The bill would allow citizens to vote locally on whether or not they want smoke-free public places. "At least it gives us the option. Currently, we don't have that option," says Robert Jamison, Deputy Director of the Oklahoma City-County Health Department.

"We did try to pass this before," says Cox-Kain, referring to Senate Bill 2267. "It actually had quite a bit of approval."

But, not enough. The bill stalled in the Senate. "We'll continue to try to educate our legislators about why it's important," says Cox-Kain, also stating that this new bill is the Board's number one priority this session.

The group plans to educate legislators, business owners and the general public by using studies, like one done in Colorado, where researchers examined the results of banning smoking in public places. "What came out of that over a three-year-period was a 41-percent drop in heart attacks," says Jamison.

"There is no safe exposure to cigarette smoke," adds Cox-Kain. "It's the leading cause of preventable death in the state of Oklahoma.... All we'd like to do is restore the rights to local communities to let them decide on a local basis how they can take control of their health."