Changes under review by Gov. Jesse Ventura's administration are expected to require a more stringent separation between smoking and nonsmoking sections in restaurants. Although the governor has yet to sign off on the Health Department's recommendations, one of the final steps in making them law, the new rules have become a factor in the protracted debate over Duluth's bedeviled ordinance. That angers health advocates, who argue that the Health Department's proposed changes to the Clean Indoor Air Act fall short of protecting patrons and wait staff from toxic elements in secondhand smoke.
Bans are better, argue health advocates.
They say cities such as Moose Lake, Minnesota's first city to ban smoking in restaurants, and Duluth, which followed Moose Lake, make a difference by passing tough ordinances that go beyond Minnesota's statutes. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said she agrees, but the Health Department lacks the legal authority to outright ban smoking in restaurants. The Legislature passed Minnesota's Clean Indoor Air Act in 1975, allowing restaurant patrons to smoke under certain conditions. Malcolm said the Clean Indoor Air Act sets the minimum safety standard for exposure to secondhand smoke. She supports legislation or city ordinances to go further.