Smoking Ban Starts Next Month | Video

Michelle San Miguel | 11/8/2012

Smokers will soon have significantly fewer places to light up. On Tuesday, voters approved Measure 4, which bans smoking in public places. The measure passed by a two to one margin. Now that many public venues will soon be smoke free, many are left wondering where they can still smoke.

The answer: private residences and casinos.

Come December 6 you won`t be seeing people smoking in public places anymore in North Dakota.

"I feel like they`re discriminating against us. And I mean non-smokers don`t need to come into every single business there is," said smoker David Markwed.

A new state law bans smoking in public places, that includes bars, hotels, and sports arenas, making North Dakota the 30th state to go smoke-free.

"It`s really about public health. We`re trying to ensure that everybody has the right to breathe clean air," said Smoke-Free North Dakota Chair Chelsey Matter.

So where can you smoke? Smokers will have to be at least twenty feet away from the opening of a building before they light up.

"I`m gonna have to build my own little place on my land and let everybody come there and smoke," Markwed said.

"We know that smoke-free laws encourage people to quit smoking," Matter said.

Matter says the law is about saving the lives of both smokers and non-smokers. Secondhand smoke contains dozens of chemicals that cause cancer. But those opposed to the new law say bar owners should be able to decide for themselves whether to allow smoking.

Bars will soon be receiving information that outlines what they need to do to go smoke-free.

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