Legislators change the ban on smoking to exempt truck stops

Publication Date: 2005-04-07

• Author:JAMES WARDEN
• Publication:Bismark (ND) Tribune

Trying to fashion the Legislature's final anti-smoking bill, state lawmakers agreed to exempt truck stops from proposed restrictions on workplace smoking, and include a fine for smokers who are caught lighting up.

Both the North Dakota House and Senate have approved legislation that would impose a smoking ban on most indoor workplaces. However, the details of both bills are different, and a proposed final version is being worked out in a House-Senate conference committee, which includes three House members and three senators.

At a meeting Wednesday, the committee agreed to exempt truck stops from the smoking ban, but only if they provide a separate, ventilated room for smoking, which children could not enter.