Tobacco.org

Dozens come out to support measure to control tobacco use  

BISMARCK — Organizers of the tobacco prevention and control initiative made a show of force Monday, announcing more than 40 groups and individuals around the state who are backing Measure 3.

If passed, Measure 3 will devote a new 10-year bonus tobacco settlement fund to stopping cigarette smoking in the state. The result will be fewer people smoking, and savings to the state in health care costs and fewer shortened lives, they said.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in North Dakota, they said.

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South Dakotans Hear From the Nebraska Doctor Who Wrote His State's Smoking Ban  

Bars, some restaurants and video lottery establishments are the main exceptions. And a push to get rid of those exceptions could create a big stir when state lawmakers head back to Pierre in January. KSFY was in Yankton where the possibility of an all-out ban was discussed.

Here at the Walnut Tavern in Yankton, the regulars say they like the fact that ash trays are on the tables and if they want to they can grab a pack of cigarettes and have a smoke. They say if the state told them they couldn't do that it just wouldn't be the same. . . .

But doctor, and Nebraska State Senator Joel Johnson, no relation, sees it much differently. Dr. Johnson wrote Nebraska's smoking ban that doesn't have exceptions. He was in Yankton to share advice with a group about bringing a full ban to South Dakota. Dr. Johnson says it's the right thing to do. "We have to draw the line when one person's actions inflict poor health on someone else."

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• North Dakota lawmakers question cost of tobacco measure on November ballot  

North Dakota lawmakers have questions about the cost of an anti-tobacco measure, and whether they can be forced to earmark money for it.

The Legislative Council held hearings on the potential costs of three initiatives on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The measures would spend more money on anti-tobacco efforts, cut state income taxes and change the management structure at North Dakota's workers' compensation agency.

The tobacco proposal says more money from a lawsuit settlement against the nation's largest tobacco companies should be spent to discourage smoking.

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New Report: Ballot Measure 3 Will Reduce Smoking, Save Lives and Save Money in North Dakota  

Ballot Measure 3, which would increase funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs in North Dakota, would not only reduce smoking and save lives but also save money and strengthen the state's economy, finds a report released today by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The report, titled "Measure 3: Comprehensive Tobacco Prevention and Cessation for North Dakota," finds that the passage of Measure 3 would:

-- reduce youth smoking by 12.7 percent and prevent 4,570 North Dakota kids from becoming addicted smokers;

-- prompt more than 3,500 adult smokers to quit; . . .

Thanks to a special "bonus payment" provision in North Dakota's original tobacco settlement, the cigarette companies' settlement payments have just increased by about $15 million per year. Measure 3, which will be on the November 4 ballot, would ensure these new bonus payments will be allocated to the state's tobacco prevention program to bring its funding up to the CDC recommended level.

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• Tobacco initiative makes Nov. ballot  

North Dakotans will vote Nov. 4 on an initiated measure to set up a special tobacco use prevention program funded by national tobacco settlement funds.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger said Tuesday he’s verified that the measure, driven by former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp, had enough valid signatures and will be Measure No. 3 on the ballot.

The tobacco measure sponsors submitted 17,154 signatures and Jaeger accepted 16,394 of them. Sponsors needed at least 12,844 valid signatures.

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• ND Anti-Tobacco Initiative Petitions Approved 

The secretary of state`s office has approved an initiated measure for the statewide November election ballot.

The measure would set aside money from a North Dakota lawsuit settlement against tobacco companies to pay for programs that discourage tobacco use.

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Secondhand Smoke Education  

Details of the revamped campaign, called BreatheND, are to be announced Monday in Fargo and Bismarck by the health units` Public Education on Tobacco Task Force.

The campaign already sponsors TV ads. One facet of the new campaign is a Web site, www.breatheND.com.

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ND anti-tobacco initiative petitions turned in  

North Dakota is spending only a third of the money that it should to discourage tobacco use, say advocates of a ballot initiative to hike such funding that voters are likely to decide in November.

The proposal's supporters turned in petitions to Secretary of State Al Jaeger's office on Monday that they said included the signatures of 15,667 North Dakota voters, or 22 percent more than the minimum of 12,844 needed to qualify for a vote.

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• ND anti-tobacco initiative petitions turned in 

North Dakota is spending only a third of the money that it should to discourage tobacco use, say advocates of a ballot initiative to hike such funding that voters are likely to decide in November.

The proposal's supporters turned in petitions to Secretary of State Al Jaeger's office on Monday that they said included the signatures of 15,667 North Dakota voters, or 22 percent more than the minimum of 12,844 needed to qualify for a vote.

They collected the names in three months.

"I think this was an easy measure

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Fargo cigar bar separates retail store for smokers 

A Fargo cigar bar owner appears to have found a way around a new city smoking ban.

JT Cigarro has separated its bar from its tobacco retail store, which is exempt from the ban approved by Fargo voters June 10.

Other exemptions to the smoking ban include designated hotel rooms and private homes that are not operating as child care centers. . .

The JT Cigarro bar area is separated by a door from the area where tobacco product sales are allowed.

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• Navajo Council to consider commercial smoking ban 

The Navajo Nation Council is to consider a measure this week during its summer session that would prohibit the use of commercial tobacco in public buildings and shared public air spaces, such as fairs and rodeos.

The measure would prohibit cigarettes and chewing tobacco, but not tobacco used in ceremonies for traditional or religious purposes.

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• 3 more bars plan sections for smoking 

Three more Fargo bars are taking action to skirt the city’s smoking ban.

Woody’s Bar and Bismarck Tavern have applied to build smoking huts, and Dempsey’s Public House wants to remodel an upstairs office for a smoking balcony. All three permits are pending with the Fargo’s Inspections Department.

The requests come on the tail of a June 10 citywide smoking ban, which forbids smoking in bars, truck stops and rental halls, but exempts retail tobacco stores.

The permit application for Woody’s Bar, 1550 32nd Ave. S., seeks to build a 160-square-foot structure behind its building and an accompanying deck. The project value is estimated at $20,000.

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Smokers brace for today’s ban  

Fargo and West Fargo bar owners are worrying about 30 percent sales losses while scrambling to prepare their establishments for new smoking bans.

At 8 a.m. today, smoking bans in both cities will make it illegal to smoke in all indoor workplaces, including bars, restaurants and private clubs.

Kurt Lepiard, owner of the Silver Dollar Bar in West Fargo, said he is expecting as much as a 30 percent drop in sales after his bar goes smoke-free because smoking customers won’t stay as long, cutting their time in the bar by about 25 percent.

Smokers Steve Hansen and Bob Wateland, both 48 and of Fargo, said they frequent downtown bars, but the new ban will keep them at home now

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Ron Lee, West Fargo, letter: Voters spoke clearly about smoking bans 

Here we go again. The anti-smoking cartel is 100 percent publicly funded, according to Archie Anderson (letter, June 27).

Excuse me, but it was the public that loudly stated in their vote, “no smoking.” . . .

How many times do we have to say it?

No smoking.

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LAMB: Songs help say sayonara to smoke  

So smoking will go out with a bang – or at least a long drag – this week. Whether you like the ban or not, July 1 will be a noteworthy day, and I strongly feel all major events should be marked by a soundtrack. Just as Semisonic’s “Closing Time” is a sentimental anthem to last calls and drunken hookups, some songs could be a musical coda for the end of the cigarette era in local bars. A few weeks ago, I mentioned a few smokingrelated titles such as Tex Williams’ “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette),” Patsy Cline’s “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray” and Otis Redding’s “Cigarettes and Coffee.”

Since then, I’ve discovered a number of other tracks that make for great listening. Like all the swinging nico-tunes from the 1930s and ’40s such as Benny Goodman’s “Let’s Have Another Cigarette,” Bing Crosby’s “Two Cigarettes in the Dark,” and who could forget “The Cowboy Serenade (While I’m Rolling My Last Cigarette)” by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra?

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