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RESTRICTIONS:With a statewide ban stuck in the Legislature, anti-tobacco groups are aiming at smaller counties.
Jump to full article: Associated Press (AP), 2006-04-02
Author: MARTIGA LOHN / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Intro: Bob Gehlen isn't proud of the cigarette habit he picked up 40 years ago as a Marine in Vietnam, but one thing's for sure: He doesn't want county officials deciding where he and other veterans can smoke.
"Let them take care of the roads and ditches and stay the hell out of my personal life," said Gehlen, commander of the local American Legion post and a committed opponent of the McLeod County Board's plans for a countywide smoking ban.
Despite Gehlen's objections, this county of small towns west of the Twin Cities is one of the few places in Minnesota where smoking restrictions are on the agenda this spring. But McLeod could soon have company. By summer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will start sending out money to push as many as a dozen local efforts to ban smoking.
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