Letter to the editor: Politicians shouldn’t try to undo what citizens want

As someone who proudly voted for Measure 4 and continues to support the law that helped North Dakotans breathe cleaner air by going smoke-free, it is ridiculous to see a handful of North Dakota politicians attempting to undo what 67 percent of us have done! Collectively 67 percent of North Dakotans voted for this smoke-free law, by majority in every single county.

After all, if we had waited for our legislators to do it for us, we’d still be coughing in clouds of tobacco smoke.

When I heard that 11 state legislators, including one of them who owns a bar, sponsored a bill requiring the North Dakota Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control to reimburse businesses (including bar owners) for putting up no-smoking signs, I laughed out loud. The simplicity of the center’s response to this silly idea was classic: in short, get out your paper and a pen, make a sign and post it. It’s truly that simple.

The center even has signs on its website, www.breathend.com, where you can print one, for free. So why are these elected leaders trying to make things harder than they are and undermine the citizens of North Dakota?

Tags: opinion, letters, tobacco