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Wisconsin smoking ban kicks in

By Joe Kimball | 07/06/10

A broad smoking ban takes effect this week in Wisconsin, prohibiting smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.

That will keep some Minnesotans from hopping across the state line for a cigarette with their beer, says the Red Wing Republican Eagle:

The Badger State smoking ban brings to an end the opportunity for smokers in Minnesota border communities like Red Wing to skip across the border for a cigarette inside a tavern.

Count Roger Blanchard among those who seek a smokers' sanctuary in Wisconsin. The Red Wing man said he likes to have a cigarette while enjoying a cold beer at a bar.

Blanchard likely will stay home and smoke there, the paper said.

Brad Smith, owner of the Harbor Bar in Hager City, Wis., hopes non-smokers will come to his restaurant now that smoking is forbidden. That could make up for lost drink sales, he said.

Still, he doesn't like the government intrusion, Smith told the paper:

"The free market system should have driven this - not government regulations," Smith said.

Wisconsin Gov. Doyle Jim Doyle estimates the ban will ultimately save $400 million a year in health care costs.

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Comments (6)

Submitted by Thomas Laprade on July 6, 2010 - 10:21am.

Where and how did Gov. Jim Doyle gets these figures from?

'Four hundred million a year in savings in the health care costs.'

http://thetruthisalie.com
http://fightingback.homestead.com

Submitted by Robert Moffitt on July 6, 2010 - 10:49am.

Actually, the statewide law began just after midnight July 5, not the 6th.

Submitted by Rebecca Rogers on July 6, 2010 - 7:38pm.

The progressive, socialist anti-smokers want to make certain that everyone suffers equally. Such a crock!

Submitted by Thomas Laprade on July 6, 2010 - 8:58pm.

Gov. Jim Doyle gets these figures from a risk computor called SAMMEC
Google SAMMEC

Submitted by Thomas Laprade on July 6, 2010 - 9:04pm.

In actual fact. The government will not save 'one penny' because of smoking bans
The Govenor has been led by the nose by the special interest groups.
The Lung Associatio.
The Heart and Stroke Association
The Cancer Society

Submitted by Michael Crafferty on July 7, 2010 - 1:41am.

Smoking bans are here to stay for the simple reason that tobacco would never be a legal product if it were invented today. But, nobody wants Prohibition. That being the case, however, does not grant one the right to come into a room and start poisoning people. The contradiction in policy that governs how this one particular poisonous substance has been treated in the past is no reason to not act with sense today. What other poison can you walk into a room and just paint upon the skin of the people you find there (as happens with thirdhand smoke) or cause them to breathe in (as happens with secondhand smoke)?

Smoking is legal and will be. It is subject to restrictions to keep others safe. For people who cannot quit, you can avoid exposing others to smoke by switching to an electronic cigarette. It produces no smoke. I bought a quality brand not made cheaply or produced in China under questionable/non-existent quality control measures. Check it out at http://CleanGreenNicotine.com