The findings of a recent study, conducted by Dr. Cullen Goenner of the Economic Department at the University of North Dakota,  show when one controls for outside factors, the passage of two separate pieces of legislation had no effect on aggregate sales of restaurants, bars, or truck stops in the city of Grand Forks. A copy of the executive summary and the final report can be found in the Links and Resource tab.

The Grand Forks City Council will hear the second reading of the proposed smoke-free ordinance on Monday, December 3rd.

This proposed ordinance meshes the 2010 city ordinance for smoke-free workplaces and public places with the provisions of the new state-wide smoke-free law that passed by initiated measure in November.

While the new state law is considered comprehensive, some of the provisions from Grand Fork’s 2010 law are stronger than state law and will remain in effect, pending the second reading.

To read the proposed ordinance, visit the Laws and Policies Tab of the tobaccobyes.com website.

In November, North Dakotans voted definitively in support of Measure 4, which will make all public places and workplaces 100 percent smoke free. In all, 66.66 percent voted in favor of Measure 4. Not one county in the state had less than 50% of the vote.

On December 6, North Dakota will become the 30th state with a 100 percent smoke-free law that protects all North Dakotans from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke

The Grand Forks community has been reeping the health benefits of a comprehensive smoke-free law for almost 2 years now. Please visit http://www.facebook.com/SmokeFreeND for more information about how the entire state of North Dakota could soon be protected from the dangers of secondhand smoke!

On May 30, the Grand Forks Tobacco Free Coalition released results of the Comprehensive Smoke-Free Ordinance Community Impact Study.

This survey shows that the community supports the smoke-free ordinance and that the Grand Forks City Council did the right thing by protecting it’s citizens from the harful effects of secondhand smoke.

Click HERE to view the full study.

In August 2010 and January 2011, before and after the implementation of the comprehensive smokefree ordinance in Grand Forks, indoor air pollution levels were sampled and analyzed.

Click HERE to view the Grand Forks Air Quality Monitoring Study.

Don’t forget to tell your favorite hospitality venue how much you appreciate patronizing thier establishement, especially when they provide and environment free from Secondhand Smoke!

The Smoke Free Workplace and Public Place Ordinance ( No 4290) that was passed by the Grand Forks City Council on April 5th, will take effect on August 15th as intended.  In an attempt to refer this ordinance, area bar owners have been collecting signatures on petitions for the last 30 days.  Although they only needed 3805, their original goal was 6000 to allow for duplicate or invalid signatures. Breaking news yesterday on the gfherald.com website indicated that the bar owners were still about 1800 short of the required number, putting them nearly 3000 short of their original goal.

This truly proves that the citizens of Grand Forks were ready for this policy. Smoke free environments are becoming the national norm and Grand Forks recognizes that.  Get ready, because on August 15th, we’re clearing the air…

After the Grand Forks City Council’s majority vote to strenghthen the local smoke-free law on April 5th, the local bar owners have decided to refer the new ordinance to a ballot by gathering signatures on petitions. By virtue of the City of Grand Fork’s Home Rule Charter, any ordinance enacted by the City Council can be referred to a vote of the people through the gathering of signatures on circulated petitions within 30 days. This gives the bar owners in GF until May 6th.

The number of signatures that the bar owners will need is determined by the number of residents of the City of Grand Forks that voted in the last gubernatorial election (November of 2008).  The Home Rule Charter states that in order to refer, the Committee of Petitioners needs to collect signatures from 15%  of the number of voters from the November 2008 election. By record, this equals 3,805 signatures.

The Grand Forks Tobacco Free Coalition will be monitoring the progress of the petitions, but a survey conducted by the Social Science Research Institute at the University of North Dakota indicated that the support in the community for strengthening the local ordinance is very strong.

The voice of the community has spoken, and the Grand Forks City Council decided to listen.

The Grand Forks City Council strengthened the local smoke-free law on April 5th to include bars, truckstops, and casinos. Councilmembers Glassheim, Kruen, and Christian voted in favor of the amendments, while Councilmembers McNamara, Bakken, and Bjerke voted against the amendments. Mayor Mike Brown cast the tie breaking vote, in favor of expanding the laws protections to bars, truckstops, and casinos. The new law is slated to take effect on August 15th, 2010. The language of the new law can be found on the tobaccobytes.com website.