It’s about time that Minnesota catches up with the rest of the country on smoke-free workplace policies. Two Minnesota legislators introduced a bill last week that would make all workplaces 100 percent smoke-free, including restaurants and bars. The bill is modeled after successful smoke-free laws in California, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Maine and Massachusetts. Arizona, Maryland, Rhode Island, Georgia, Washington, and Idaho are all considering similar laws. We’re talking about 25 percent of the U.S. adopting such policies. Minnesota needs to catch up! A 17-year-old girl from Burnsville stood up at a press conference in the Twin Cities last week and said that she had to leave her high school hockey banquet because of the smoke. This could easily happen at our own Luverne Country Club. Actually, it did happen to me at a Big Buddies Golf Fund-raiser last summer. I agree with the Burnsville teenager when she said that "it sucked." Secondhand smoke will suck the life right out of you. Of course, opponents will say that smoke-free policies will be bad for business owners. This has never happened. Revenue will either increase or stay the same for both restaurants and bars as has been shown recently in New York and in our own Duluth. Others may say that the government has gone too far. The government regulates food and water safety; shouldn’t they also regulate indoor-air quality, especially when secondhand smoke is a known killer? The local health inspector would be on full alert if any eating establishment had a problem with rat feces. Secondhand smoke kills a lot more people than rat poop but very few people say anything about it.I say kudos to Sen. Dibble and Rep. Latz for bringing forth legislation that will protect the rights of all Minnesotans to breathe clean air. I hope Minnesotans will support their efforts. Your legislators need to hear from you.Paula AndersonLuverne
