http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/state/ND.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=206786&section=News&freebie_check&CFID=53364623&CFTOKEN=19596578&jsessionid=8830276ccc167c486f50 http://tobacco.org/news/268225.html 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 Fargo In-Forum Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=206858&section=Opinion&freebie_check&CFID=53364279&CFTOKEN=33530409&jsessionid=8830844571737c2c3a34 http://tobacco.org/news/268224.html 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. Fargo In-Forum Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/archive/index.cfm?page=archive_article&id=441498 http://tobacco.org/news/268223.html 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? Fargo In-Forum jlamb@forumcomm.com (JOHN LAMB The Forum ) Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/archive/index.cfm?page=archive_article&id=442144 http://tobacco.org/news/268222.html On what’s sure to be a busy bar night for a Monday, with puffers savoring the final throes of the dirty-air era, The Aquarium and Dempsey’s Public House are hosting a smoke-out party that includes a raffle for cartons of smokes, says co-owner Bert Meyers. “It was just like, what can we do, you know what I mean?” says Meyers of the bar-inclusive smoking ban that officially begins Tuesday at 8 a.m. Fargo In-Forum droepke@forumcomm.com (Dave Roepke ) Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/rss.cfm?id=206403&freebie_check&CFID=52608159&CFTOKEN=48590418&jsessionid=8830a60596f73c564510 http://tobacco.org/news/268028.html North Dakota’s Attorney General is weighing in on a possible playground smoking ban in the city of Fargo. The Fargo Park Board is considering banning smoking in and around the city’s public playgrounds. Fargo In-Forum jmonk@wday.com (Jim Monk, WDAY-AM ) Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/07/01/news/state/159145.txt http://tobacco.org/news/267969.html Fargo-area bar customers will have to stop puffing, under a smoking ban that takes effect today. Some bars planned a party for the night before to give smokers one last chance to light up. AP Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.jamestownsun.com/articles/index.cfm?id=68451&section=news&freebie_check&CFID=51529049&CFTOKEN=92636325&jsessionid=8830c6ce58c3784e1939 http://tobacco.org/news/267790.html Fargo Park District staff members have been told to draft a regulation that would ban smoking in and around the city’s playgrounds. Park Board President Joel Vettel made the request during a meeting of the board’s facilities committee. Jamestown Sun Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/06/27/news/state/158881.txt http://tobacco.org/news/267746.html Fargo Park District staff members have been told to draft a regulation that would ban smoking in and around the city's playgrounds. AP ken.rogers@bismarcktribune.com Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=19764 http://tobacco.org/news/267651.html Talks have started in a number of communities around North Dakota about smoking bans, now that voters in Fargo and West Fargo have approved them. A spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society of North Dakota, Deborah Knuth, says that`s the typical cycle seen in other states. KFYR-TV-Ch.5 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=205735&section=Opinion&freebie_check&CFID=49162550&CFTOKEN=75846248&jsessionid=8830b957c8122c47f596 http://tobacco.org/news/267407.html Really? Another vote on the smoking ban? Haven’t we had enough discussion and votes on this issue to realize what the public wants? We can’t keep voting about the same issue over and over until bar owners hear what they want to hear. The decision has been made. Everyone needs to accept the decision and move on. Fargo In-Forum Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=19554 http://tobacco.org/news/267122.html Former West Fargo City Commissioner Brenda Warren says she has no regrets about leading the charge for a smoking ban in bars. Warren`s hard-line stance on the issue may have cost her the election. She was defeated in the June 10 vote, even though the smoking ban was approved. Warren spent eight-and-half years on the City Commission. And she says she has battle scars from the smoking debate. KFYR-TV-Ch.5 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/rss.cfm?id=205303&freebie_check&CFID=47271083&CFTOKEN=17609633&jsessionid=8830ce7a9ee844353617 http://tobacco.org/news/267071.html West Fargo city commissioners decided unanimously Monday to enact a complete smoking ban in all public indoor workplaces, including bars, starting at 8 a.m. July 1. The commission approved the ban by a 4-0 vote after less than five minutes of discussion, ending a five-year wait for ban supporters including City Commissioner Brenda Warren, who pushed for the ban last year. The stricter ban will prohibit smoking in bars, public places rented to private parties and all areas in truck stops. Those places are exempt under the current smoking ban. Fargo In-Forum bpolacca@forumcomm.com (Benny Polacca, The Forum) Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.jamestownsun.com/account/index.cfm?user=login&return_page=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ejamestownsun%2Ecom%2Farticles%2Findex%2Ecfm%3Fid%3D67857%26section%3DOpinion%26freebie%5Fcheck%26CFID%3D46912111%26CFTOKEN%3D28319641%26jsessionid%3D8830da63a5cd65464911 http://tobacco.org/news/267006.html Opponents of the new Fargo smoking ban overplayed their hand with an expensive advertising campaign that ranged from ridiculous to insulting. It was ridiculous in that it hammered away on the discredited notion that bars could promote poisoned air because patrons and employees knew it was toxic and came in anyway. It was insulting because it denigrated the noble work of men and women in uniform by insisting they are fighting and dying for the “right” to smoke. Fargo voters didn’t buy it. Instead a majority favored Measure 2 (the total ban) over Measure 3 (the status quo). They correctly concluded that smoking and secondhand smoke are health issues, not business priorities or personal choice matters. Jamestown Sun Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=205152&section=Opinion&freebie_check&CFID=46914498&CFTOKEN=17358871&jsessionid=8830e6fffe3c96f63436 http://tobacco.org/news/267005.html 2008 Congratulations, Fargo. By voting a complete and total smoking ban into effect, you may have sounded the death toll for a number of small businesses in Fargo. Bars, where smoking and drinking go hand in hand, will likely find business slowly decreasing . . . Where can the smokers go now? We can’t smoke in restaurants, bars, truck stops, rental halls, government buildings, hospitals, gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores – we can’t even smoke in cigar bars, places where we’re intentionally going to buy tobacco to smoke on the premises. What next, Fargo? Can’t smoke in our own vehicles or our own homes, for fear that some innocent non-smoker might be exposed to second-hand smoke? Think about that the next time you’re sitting around your little backyard campfire, inhaling God knows how much in the way of smoke and carcinogens. Fargo In-Forum Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=204980&section=Opinion&freebie_check&CFID=46913981&CFTOKEN=86840461&jsessionid=883046c090dc212e6633 http://tobacco.org/news/267004.html I suggest that those of you who don’t like the results of this vote, go to your favorite pub on July 1 and light a cigarette. Even if only 20 percent of the people in all bars in Fargo smoke on July 1 the police would be bogged down with dozens (hundreds?) of complaints. Those of you who get fined (or arrested) request a hearing in front of a judge; this will plug up the courts. After one week of these “protests” the city’s justice system would become so crippled in bureaucracy that the City Commission would have no choice but to temporarily lift the ban and re-evaluate. The true power of the people lies not in the majority, but in who makes the most noise. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” So if the results of this vote really bother you, you still have power to protest those results. Just be prepared for the consequences, as all fights have casualties. Fargo In-Forum Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT