Hennepin County’s new ban on tobacco anywhere on county-owned property begins kicking in July 1, starting with downtown Minneapolis property, including the central library.
The ban on smoking and all tobacco products is being phased in around the county and includes:
- Buildings and grounds of property owned by Hennepin County government and leased properties where Hennepin County is the sole tenant
- Parking garages, lots and ramps owned by Hennepin County government
- County-owned vehicles and equipment
- Personal vehicles on county property
- Tobacco use within 45 feet of street-level entrances to county buildings.
Dates the ban takes effect:
- July 1, for all downtown Minneapolis property
- Aug. 1, for Hennepin County libraries
- Sept. 1, for suburban Hennepin County facilities
- Oct 1, for sites where Hennepin County is the single leasing tenant
“By making our campuses tobacco-free, we’re beginning an era of cleaner facilities and lower costs — and hopefully getting folks to reconsider smoking altogether,” said County Board Chair Mike Opat.
In this day and age of huge deficits and watchful spending, don’t you think that the Hennepin County board would have better things to spend its time on. Most smokers attempt to be considerate of others but now we are making smoking outside a crime. I just wonder how much county money will be wasted to inforce thse new regulations. Are we going to start pulling our county sherrifs off from the responsibility of fighting crimes to now stand in county parking lots, county parks, an around the land that county buildings sit on to now start writing tickets for smoking anywhere outside. This is not what my taxpaying dollars were meant for. Many of our elected county commissioners need to get a life and face reality. Wasting taxpayer dollars will no longer be tolerated. WASTE! WASTE WASTE!
So they’re banning No Smoking?
Shouldn’t it be “Smoking ban on Hennepin County property widens” or “No-smoking on Hennepin County property widens”