Ban to alter life as smokers know it

05/13/2007

By Mark Brunswick and Pat Doyle,
Star Tribune Staff Writers
Last update: May 12, 2007


At the Main Street Grill in tiny Alden, Minn., near the Iowa border, the lunch special on Saturday was a bacon cheeseburger and fries for $4.75, and the immediate task before owner Sue Minehart was getting through the afternoon rush.

But her thoughts were on a historic vote that had occurred several hours earlier in St. Paul, where, despite the opposition of business owners such as Minehart, the Legislature approved a statewide ban on indoor smoking that will include all bars and restaurants.

While billions of dollars are at stake in much of what the Legislature decides each year, the smoking ban, which will take effect on Oct. 1, will profoundly change everyday life across Minnesota, permanently altering the social fabric inside American Legions, bingo halls and mom-and-pop Main Street Grills from Ada to Zumbrota.

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