You can still legally smoke inside a bar in roughly 22 states, either because the state never passed a comprehensive ban or because its law carves out drinking establishments. There is no federal law prohibiting smoking in privately owned bars, so the states where you can smoke in bars come down to each legislature’s choices and, often, the city or county you happen to be in.
The 12 States With No Statewide Ban
A core group of states has never passed a comprehensive law prohibiting smoking in bars. According to the most recent federal data, 12 states fall into this category: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System Smokefree Indoor Air Fact Sheet
Within that group, the details vary. Six of them — Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming — have no state provision at all addressing smoking in bars, so the decision defaults to the business owner. Georgia and Missouri allow smoking in designated areas of bars. Virginia requires separately ventilated areas rather than a blanket permission.1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System Smokefree Indoor Air Fact Sheet
Bar smoking is common in these states, especially outside major metro areas. Cities like Louisville, Lexington, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio ban it through local ordinances even though their states don’t. Once you leave those cities, the permissive state default takes over.
States That Allow Bar Smoking With Conditions
These are the states people most often misunderstand. Each has some form of indoor smoking law on the books, but each still permits smoking in bars under specific circumstances.
Indiana. The state’s smoke-free air law covers workplaces and restaurants, but bars are explicitly exempt. Some Indiana cities have passed local ordinances that include bars; statewide, a bar owner faces no prohibition.
Louisiana. Bars and restaurants that restrict entry to adults (no one under 18) and employ no one under 18 can allow smoking. In practice, many Louisiana bars qualify.
Nevada. Despite passing a broad indoor smoking ban nearly two decades ago, the state exempted casinos, bars, strip clubs, and similar adult-oriented businesses. Aside from a handful of properties that went smoke-free voluntarily, most casino floors and standalone bars in Nevada still allow smoking.
Pennsylvania. The state’s Clean Indoor Air Act includes loopholes for casinos, private clubs, and certain drinking establishments. Bars that draw a large share of their revenue from alcohol rather than food can qualify, so smoking remains legal in a significant number of Pennsylvania bars.
Florida. A 2002 constitutional amendment banned smoking in enclosed indoor workplaces, but standalone bars that don’t serve food are exempt. Florida also preempts local governments from enacting stricter smoking laws, so cities cannot close this loophole on their own.
Alaska. The state passed a smoke-free law covering bars, but municipalities can opt out through a voter referendum. Because of the opt-out, Alaska is not counted as having a comprehensive statewide policy, and bar smoking rules vary by community.1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System Smokefree Indoor Air Fact Sheet
If you’re in one of these states, the only reliable way to know whether a particular bar allows smoking is to check with the establishment directly or look up the local ordinance.
States Where Bar Smoking Is Banned Outright
Twenty-eight states and three territories have comprehensive smoke-free indoor air laws that cover bars, restaurants, and workplaces without exemption: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System Smokefree Indoor Air Fact Sheet
Four additional states — Idaho, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Tennessee — prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants specifically, even though their overall indoor air laws have gaps in other categories of workplace.
In all of these states, lighting a cigarette inside a bar is illegal for the patron and can trigger fines against the business. Exemptions still exist for specific establishment types, which is where it gets more nuanced.
Exemptions That Exist Even in Ban States
Cigar Bars and Tobacco Lounges
Cigar bars are the most common exemption. States that allow them typically require the establishment to earn at least 10 to 15 percent of gross revenue from on-site cigar sales and humidor rentals, maintain a working humidor, physically separate the smoking area so smoke doesn’t drift into adjacent spaces, and prohibit entry to anyone under 18. Some states add minimum cigar price thresholds or bar the smoking of any tobacco product other than cigars. Criteria vary, but the core idea is that a genuine cigar-focused business gets treated differently from a regular bar that happens to sell cigarettes.
Casinos
Several states that otherwise ban indoor smoking still permit it on casino floors, sometimes in designated sections and sometimes throughout the gaming area. Nevada is the best-known example; Pennsylvania also allows casino smoking. Tribal casinos add another layer. Because federally recognized tribes exercise sovereignty over their lands, state smoking bans generally don’t apply on reservations. The vast majority of the roughly 240 tribal casinos in the United States still allow smoking, and only a handful have voluntarily gone smoke-free.
Private Clubs, Tobacco Shops, and Hotel Rooms
Private membership clubs, including organizations like VFW posts and fraternal lodges, are exempt from smoking bans in some states on the theory that a members-only space doesn’t serve the general public the way a commercial bar does. Retail tobacco shops that earn most of their revenue from tobacco product sales are commonly exempt, provided smoke doesn’t migrate into neighboring businesses. A smaller number of states allow designated smoking rooms in hotels, though that exemption covers guest rooms rather than hotel bars or common areas.
Vaping Is Not Always Covered
A state banning cigarettes in bars does not automatically ban vaping. As of mid-2024, 20 jurisdictions (19 states and Washington, D.C.) prohibit both traditional smoking and e-cigarette use in indoor spaces like bars, restaurants, and workplaces, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont.2Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smokefree Indoor Air Laws, Including E-Cigarette
Thirteen jurisdictions that ban indoor smoking have not extended those bans to vaping. Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Washington, and Wisconsin all prohibit cigarettes in bars but do not prohibit e-cigarette use in those same spaces under state law.2Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smokefree Indoor Air Laws, Including E-Cigarette Individual cities may fill that gap, but at the state level, vaping in a bar is legal in those places even when smoking is not.
Cannabis Is Not Part of This
Legalized recreational marijuana does not mean you can smoke cannabis in a bar. Every state with legal recreational cannabis prohibits public consumption, and most define “public” to include any bar, restaurant, or business open to the public. States that have begun licensing cannabis consumption lounges prohibit those venues from serving alcohol. Massachusetts approved regulations in late 2025 for social consumption sites, and the rules explicitly ban alcohol and tobacco at those locations. Even in states where you can legally smoke tobacco in a bar, smoking cannabis in that same bar is almost certainly illegal.
Why the City Often Decides
Cities and counties in states without comprehensive bans frequently pass their own smoke-free ordinances. Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio ban bar smoking despite Texas law allowing it. Louisville and Lexington did the same in Kentucky. If your state is on the “no ban” list, the city you’re in may have closed the gap entirely.
The reverse exists too. Twelve states have preemption laws that prevent local governments from passing smoking restrictions stricter than the state standard.3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System Preemption Fact Sheet Florida is the most prominent example: the constitutional amendment banning indoor workplace smoking carved out standalone bars, and a separate preemption statute prevents any city or county from going further.
In states without preemption, the patchwork can be extreme. You might drive 20 minutes from a city with a total ban into a county where ashtrays sit on every bar top. The only reliable approach is to check both the state law and the local ordinance for wherever you plan to go.
What Happens If You Light Up Where You Shouldn’t
Smoking bans are typically enforced on a complaint basis, with local health departments or liquor control agencies following up on reports. Proactive spot-checks are rare.
Fines escalate with repeat offenses. First-time violations for an individual patron generally run from $25 to $100 depending on the state. Repeat violations within the same year can reach $200 or $500. Business owners face higher penalties, often starting around $100 to $250 for a first offense and climbing to $1,000 or more for repeated violations. In some jurisdictions, bars that repeatedly violate the smoking ban risk suspension of their liquor license, though that penalty is usually reserved for chronic offenders.