House approves smoking ban bill

Publication Date: 2005-03-26

• Author:DALE WETZEL
• Publication:Bismark Tribune

After years of defeating antismoking proposals, the North Dakota House has endorsed one, a bill that would ban smoking in most public workplaces. The measure exempts bars, but includes provisions stricter than some local laws against indoor smoking.

"Would we think twice about ensuring that we have clean drinking water? Our sanitation laws are specifically designed to protect our health. The costs are sometimes significant," said Rep. Lee Kaldor, D-Mayville. "But our health is more important than our so-called right to pollute the water or the air."

Critics of the bill said it infringed on the property rights of business owners.