Are S.D. Voters For or Against Smoking Ban? Yes.

When advocates recently debated a South Dakota voter measure that would ban smoking in bars, restaurants and casinos, both sides claimed to have public support, the Argus Leader reported Oct. 22.

The measure came before the voters after a petition drive and subsequent court decision prevented enforcement of a law passed by South Dakota's legislature in 2009 to ban smoking in all public places.

The Legislature banned smoking in the workplace and in public in 2002, but it left a loophole for bars, casinos, restaurants, tobacco shops, existing cigar bars, and hotel rooms designated for smoking. The 2009 law was designed to close that loophole.

Representatives on each side of the issue debated it at a recent public forum. Arguing against it was the spokesman for South Dakotans for Better Health and Freedom, Jack Poppen. He argued that the ban violated private property rights, and that when the question was framed that way for voters, they agreed. 

“They say, 'I'm with you,'” he said.

Jennifer Stalley of the South Dakota American Cancer Society argued in favor of the ban because of the hazards of second-hand smoke. She drew a parallel between it and other measures taken to protect the health and safety of the public, such as the regulation of alcohol sales, the state's video lottery, and restaurants.

She pointed to polls conducted by the Argus Leader newspaper and KELO-TV, in which two-thirds of respondents approved of the ban, and similar results from polling done by the American Heart Association. 

“Your individual rights end where my individual rights begin,” she said to Poppen. “That's the cornerstone of this debate.”