Local dining may be smoke-free

By Sara QuamBased on a request from a concerned citizen, Luverne City Councilman Maynard Lafrenz brought the issue of smoke-free restaurants and bars to the Tuesday meeting.The legislature is considering making all restaurants smoke free, but some people think bars should be smoke free, too.Lafrenz said he didn’t want to be in the position to change the city ordinance, but said it may be something the City Council could put on a ballot.Council member Esther Frakes said she thought it was worth looking into as well. "However," she said, "I don’t want this to be something to further drive customers to Sioux Falls for leisure activities."Nobles Rock Public Health Educator Paula Anderson said that before it goes to a vote, more groundwork should be done to educate the public.She said times are changing and so are attitudes, so finding smoke-free places to eat or socialize might become easier."Even smokers are recognizing that it’s not about their rights, but it’s about other people’s health," she said.Businesses typically put up a fight to the smoke-free change. A few cities in the state have passed smoke-free ordinances for both restaurants, and the industry still thrives in those towns.More recently, cities and counties have been passing smoke-free ordinances in bars as well as restaurants: Ramsey County, Hennepin County, Bloomington and Minneapolis.A recent survey of Rock County people had a 66 percent response rate and a 6 percent margin of error.Some key findings of that survey were:
82 percent of smokers and 96 percent of non-smokers find secondhand smoke annoying.
74 percent of residents believe that restrictions on smoking in public places do not discriminate against smokers.
92 percent of residents believe that smoking should be limited around the entrances to stores and public buildings.
80 percent of residents believe that smoking should be limited at outdoor recreation areas, like parks or fairgrounds.