Tobacco.org

Sioux Falls forum on tobacco use opens this morning  

A specialist on the use of media and critical thinking skills will discuss at a Sioux Falls forum updated strategies for preventing tobacco use.

Peter DeBenedittis will speak at 9 a.m. today to open a four-hour program hosted by the Volunteers of America Dakotas at 1309 W. 51st St.

DeBenedittis, from Santa Fe, N.M., holds a doctorate in speech communication from Pennsylvania State University. The Sioux Empire Tobacco-Free Coalition is sponsoring his visit.

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• Iowa smoking ban might help S.D. casinos 

Casino owners, managers and workers in North Sioux City said they expect Iowa's public smoking ban will bump up their business when it goes into effect July 1.

At the same time, they worry South Dakota will be the next to pass a similar law; the legislature has come close to it several times. A 2001 state law banned smoking from public buildings and restaurants, except for those with beer licenses, which casinos have.

Food, drink and smoking, too

Sherry Beavers, a longtime employee at Ike's Casino and Lounge, predicted Iowa's new ban will be a windfall for North Sioux City casinos, which all serve food and alcohol. She said Ike's already gets a lot of business from Sioux City. Now she's hoping that the people who come so they can have a cigarette with their cocktail and supper will try the games of chance while they're there.

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Iowa smoking ban might help S.D. casinos 

Casino owners, managers and workers in North Sioux City said they expect Iowa's public smoking ban will bump up their business when it goes into effect July 1.

At the same time, they worry South Dakota will be the next to pass a similar law; the legislature has come close to it several times. A 2001 state law banned smoking from public buildings and restaurants, except for those with beer licenses, which casinos have.

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Tobacco prevention seminar set for Sioux Falls  

A specialist on the use of media and critical thinking skills will discuss at a Sioux Falls forum updated strategies for preventing tobacco use.

Peter DeBenedittis will speak at 9 a.m. April 22 to open a four-hour program hosted by the Volunteers of America Dakotas at 1309 W. 51st St.

DeBenedittis, from Santa Fe, N.M., holds a doctorate in speech communication from Pennsylvania State University. The Sioux Empire Tobacco-Free Coalition is sponsoring his visit.

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Students smoke, drink and drive less 

Fewer South Dakota high school students report drinking and driving or riding with someone who has been drinking than did two years ago, according to the recently released 2007 South Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey Report.

The report presents data from the survey that students took in 2007. Students in grades nine through 12 at randomly selected public, private and Bureau of Indian Education schools participated. . . .

In this year's survey, 55 percent of the students said they have tried cigarettes, down from 61 percent in 2005.

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Tobacco culture not native  

Within his lifetime, Stephen Yellowhawk has fought stereotypes about his Native American culture and heritage. When a recent art contest opened with a theme asking how the use of commercial tobacco had impacted the Lakota culture, traditions and values, it resonated with Yellowhawk's personal goal to keep youths healthy and tobacco-free.

For the first-time art contestant, the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health's "The Oniyan Wakan" ("Sacred Breath") art contest offered an opportunity to display his skills at beadwork and the cultural knowledge he wanted to share.

"It all fell together," he said. . . .

According to Henderson, the tobacco industry has long targeted Native Americans as a subgroup for its products, using Native American images and names to market its products while also sponsoring tribal rodeos, athletic tournaments and powwows with money and handing out cartons of cigarettes.

"It worked," she said of industry hooking its target.

Commercial tobacco today is not what native tribes introduced to the colonists, she said. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are saturated with 4,000 different chemicals . . .

Afraid of Lightning said it was a contradiction to his tribe's value system and a misconception that tobacco was part of the Lakota culture.

"Tobacco doesn't grow around here, and it never has. What was traditionally used for tobacco was taken from the bark of the red willow tree. … It was never smoked for pleasure or addiction," he said. . . .

"The tobacco companies are tricking us; cigarette smoking is not traditional in any way," he said.

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Civic center fears loss of smokers' money  

The failure of a bill to ban smoking in public places throughout the state means the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center will still be on unequal footing for hosting the state pool and dart tournaments.

Though the bill, HB1237, was intended to protect people from second-hand smoke, it also would have protected the civic center, which will go smoke-free entirely by 2010, from market forces.

The city decided in 2006 to phase out smoking entirely in the facility, despite the potential loss of business if the tournaments decided to leave Rapid City.

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Mayor Favors Smoking Ban  

As South Dakota lawmakers debate smoking on a statewide level, Aberdeen's mayor, Mike Levsen, says he knows what he'd do if he could: There would be no smoking in Aberdeen.

"It's not a question of free choice," Levsen said. "It's a question of public health. We don't allow employers to have other unsafe working conditions. We don't allow restaurants to have dirty kitchens. Why should we allow them to have dirty air?"

According to existing state law, the Legislature is the exclusive regulator of all matters relating to the use of tobacco

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Aberdeen Mayor Favors Smoking Ban  

According to state law, the Legislature is the exclusive regulator of all matters relating to the use of tobacco products. But if it were up to Aberdeen Mayor Mike Levsen, there would be a smoking ban in his city.

He says it's a question of public health.

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Smoking Ban Backer Weighs Options  

State Rep. Joni Cutler said she will keep trying to get a smoking ban in most businesses approved by the Legislature, even though it's too late to introduce a new bill.

The Sioux Falls Republican said her plan involves a legislative maneuver called "hog-housing," in which the substance of a bill is replaced with something else.

Cutler believed she had done exactly that Tuesday when the House State Affairs Committee approved a hoghoused version of HB1237.

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Legislation would allow patio drinking 

Patio and sidewalk-cafe dining and drinking may be coming to a South Dakota town near you.

The state Senate has passed a bill that would allow alcohol businesses to serve drinks outside their buildings, if city officials pass ordinances to that effect.

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• Tobacco Bill Dies  

A bill to let South Dakota cities and counties adopt their own smoking and tobacco regulations has died in the House State Affairs Committee on a 9-4 vote. A state law passed several years ago gives that authority to state government, but anti-tobacco lobbyists say local officials should be able to set their own rules for tobacco use.

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Local control of tobacco considered 

A bill to let cities and counties regulate smoking, the ultimate in local control to some legislators, is a blueprint for confusion to others.

A bill introduced in the House would let cities and counties regulate "use, distribution, marketing, promotion and sale of tobacco." The local ordinances could be more restrictive than the state's but could not threaten enforcement of the master settlement that provides the state millions of dollars each year from the major tobacco companies.

Current law says the Legislature "is the exclusive regulator of all matters relating to the use of tobacco products."

That so-called pre-emption clause is at the heart of the coming debate over HB1237. No hearing has been set on the bill, but legislators are beginning to talk.

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EDITORIAL: Fund anti-smoking efforts 

Congratulations to the state of South Dakota for the huge strides it has made recently in efforts to protect kids from tobacco use. . . .

Wouldn't it be great to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the tobacco settlement in 2008 by adding South Dakota to the list of states that are fully funding that CDC mandate?

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EDITORIAL: Fund anti-smoking efforts  

Congratulations to the state of South Dakota for the huge strides it has made recently in efforts to protect kids from tobacco use.

A coalition of public health organizations praised the state last month for increasing its spending on tobacco prevention programs to $5 million per year. . . .

We've made significant progress in the fight against tobacco use this past year, and it is critical that public health leaders here continue to build on that progress in the coming years to saves lives and health care dollars. Turning the teen-smoking situation around in South Dakota will take time, patience and more money.

Wouldn't it be great to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the tobacco settlement in 2008 by adding South Dakota to the list of states that are fully funding that CDC mandate?

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