Smoking banned on Bismarck’s playgrounds

BISMARCK, N.D. – In a 5-0 vote on Thursday, the Bismarck Park Board took swift action to ban smoking on the 44 playgrounds and play areas it manages. People must step 20 feet away from the playground before they light up. Alecia Uhde, chairwoman of the Go! Bismarck Mandan coalition, said she made the request […]

New tobacco limits fail in Mandan parks

Two attempts to tighten tobacco limits in Mandan’s park system failed Monday. In the end, the Mandan Park Board voted to support keeping several locations where tobacco is already banned by park staff. The Go! Bismarck Mandan Coalition in April proposed that tobacco use be banned in all playgrounds in the district. Based on survey […]

Parks ponder playground tobacco ban

Mandan and Bismarck park systems will consider making their green space smoke-free next week. The Mandan Park Board, which surveyed its park users, will revisit the issue at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Both park entities were approached by the Go! Bismarck-Mandan Coalition to remove tobacco from the play areas. The group will make its pitch to […]

House rejects tobacco prevention budget

A narrow House majority voted down the budget for the North Dakota Center For Tobacco Prevention and Control Policy on Thursday. “We’ll get that back and get that through tomorrow (Friday),” said Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo. The House voted against Senate Bill 2024 Thursday morning by a 46-47 vote. A motion to reconsider the […]

How Obama’s tobacco tax would drive down smoking rates

By Sarah Kliff, Washington Post President Obama’s proposal to nearly double the federal tobacco tax would help fund a universal pre-K program. And, if history is any guide, it would likely have a marked impact on driving down the country’s smoking rates. “Increasing the price of tobacco is the single most effective way to discourage […]