US states North Carolina, Wisconsin to ban smoking
Emery P. Dalesio, Associated Press, Raleigh | Thu, 05/14/2009 4:05 PM
Beer and cigarettes go together like cows and hay in hard-partying Wisconsin. North Carolina is the top U.S. tobacco-growing state.
Yet bars and restaurants in boh states are poised to go smoke-free after their state Legislatures passed bans Wednesday. Both North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle have said they support the measures.
Twenty-two U.S. states and the District of Columbia have prohibited smoking in bars and restaurants since Nework City passed its landmark ban in 2003. Four more states - Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Virginia - will do so by the end of the year. Florid, Idaho and Nevada ban smoking in restaurants, but not bars.
The North Carolina House's 62-56 vote marked yet another step away from the legacy of tobacco in a state that is still the nation's top producer by sales. Last year, North Carolina farmers produced $686 million worth of tobacco, nearly half the value of the entire U.S. output.
"It is definitely a historic move," said Betsy Vetter, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association's North Carolina chapter. "We think this will protect a large portion of the population from secondhand smoke, and that's quite an accomplishment for public health."
Their law would allow fines of up to $50 for smokers who keep puffing after being asked by an establishment's managers to stop, but the law can only be enforced by a local health director and not police. Hospitality owners or managers could be fined up to $200 after being warned twice to enforce the smoking rules.
In Wisconsin, lawmakers voted for a bill that marked an uneasy truce between the Wisconsin Tavern League, which has opposed past attempts at smoking regulations, and anti-smoking and health groups.
The ban, which takes effect July 2010, would apply in almost all workplaces. Smokers in violation would face fines of up to $250. Bar owners could set up outdoor smoking areas within a reasonable distance of the establishment. Owners who don't try to stop smokers would get a warning and then face a $100 fine for subsequent violations.
Tag Grotelueschen, 41, co-owner of the Club Garibaldi bar in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood, said it's "ludicrous" to regulate consumption of a legal product, but he's glad the ban would be statewide.
"If it were by municipality it would hurt the bars on the fringes, but if it's statewide I don't think it's going to hurt us," he said. "Customers might complain at first, but I think they'll acclimate."
But Republican Rep. Leah Vukmir branded the ban "anti-smoking zealotry."
"The only thing that's compromised are individual rights and individual freedoms," she said.
Meanwhile, in Texas, a statewide ban on smoking in public places passed a Senate committee on Monday and went to the full Senate for consideration.
In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco lobbyist who long opposed raising the state's cigarette tax, signed a bill Wednesday that raises it from 18 cents a pack to 68 cents.
Barbour signed the legislation as Mississippi struggles with an estimated revenue shortfall of $400 million. The tax is estimated to generate more than $113 million in the coming fiscal year that begins July 1. The governor declined to comment on the legislation.
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