Smoke-free crusaders may now be at your door

Fresh from their success winning a statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants, Minnesota's anti-smoking advocates are ready to zero in on where you live.

One anti-smoking group will kick-start a campaign this week to encourage landlords to outlaw smoking in their buildings. While the program would be purely voluntary for now, some communities might follow two California cities by considering broader ordinances that would apply to multi-unit dwellings.

Smoke-free groups are also considering pushes to restrict drivers who smoke with kids in their cars, park users who smoke and even cigarette-dangling youth-sport coaches. Still, condos and apartments appear to be the next battleground in the state's smoking wars.

It's part of a national trend aimed at snuffing out those who light up. Chicago can now fine people up to $500 for smoking within 15 feet of beaches and playgrounds. Albuquerque nixed smoking at the zoo. Davis County, Utah, has extended its ban to golf courses and cemeteries.

Outdoor smoking bans grow

The number of cities and counties that prohibit smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, stadiums and outdoor cafes has jumped from 30 in 1999 to 1,124 today, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

In Minnesota, groups still have many millions of dollars from their tobacco settlement warchests to combat the harm of tobacco and secondhand smoke -- and many ideas about how to do it.

"We're getting a lot of calls from tenants saying that they are getting second-hand smoke getting into the living unit from somewhere else in the apartment building," said Brittany McFadden, director of the Live Smoke Free campaign. "They are not letting anyone smoke in their unit but smoke is drifting in from other people's units, balconies or patios. They are getting sick from their own living space and there's not a lot they can do to protect themselves."

The program will focus on apartment buildings in the seven-county metro area and seeks to educate landlords about the benefits of adopting smoke-free policies.

Big Brother or deterrent?

At the 58-unit Talheim Apartments in Chaska, residents have had six months to brace for the building-wide ban that goes into effect Saturday.

"Some residents have complained: 'What's next?' But one person told me he's so glad because he's been trying for years to quit and this might help," said Sheila Knox, Talheim's apartment manager. "I'll be out sniffing in the hallways."

While the statewide law prohibits smoking in common areas of apartment buildings, there is no provision regarding individual apartment units. Earlier this year, two California cities -- Belmont and Temecula -- passed ordinances for smoke-free rental unit housing.

Some local smokers interviewed on Friday thought government was overstepping its bounds by shifting bans inside the confines of their homes. Others shrugged and said they expect the smoke-free screw will only be tightened.

"It's ridiculously Big Brother to go and tell me what I can and can't do in my own home," said Brian Van Sickle, 32, of Minneapolis.

"I can see not allowing smoking in cars with kids, but going into your own space if the landlord doesn't mind? That's too far," said Barb Jensen, another Minneapolis renter.

Electrician Mike Riggs of Becker, who was taking a cigarette break while helping build a 200-unit apartment building in Minneapolis, said fewer fires might be ignited by smokers falling asleep. "But I don't see smoke drifting through an inch-and-a-half of drywall," he said.

Dollars and sense

Economics will be part of the pitch to voluntarily go smoke-free. On average it costs two to three times more to prepare a rental unit for a new tenant after a smoker moves out because of the increased costs of carpet replacement and re-painting, McFadden said.

ClearWay Minnesota, the state's independent nonprofit that administers $202 million of Minnesota's tobacco settlement funds, said the adoption of the smoking ban will mean refocusing some of its resources. Leaders foresee a shift from advocacy and lobbying efforts against secondhand smoke to helping ensure monitoring and compliance of the law, which took effect Oct. 1.

Anti-smoking advocates see other opportunities, including pushing for laws that restrict or prohibit smoking, largely at the local level. Norwood Young America, for example, has an ordinance that prohibits smoking in city parks during youth activities. The Three Rivers Park District, formerly Hennepin Parks, is discussing a proposal to make portions of the district tobacco-free.

Statewide ban wasn't the end

"I think we are really short-sighted if we think that we just crossed the finish line," said Jeanne Weigum, executive director of the Association for Nonsmokers -- Minnesota. "The smoking rate in Minnesota didn't go down because we passed a law. Anybody that looks at this as anything except another important step along the way is really missing the point."

But with the enactment of the smoking ban, some of the usual funding partners are declaring at least a partial victory and have begun to deploy some of their resources elsewhere.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Minnesota, for instance, has allocated approximately $35 million from 2006-2008 toward tobacco prevention efforts, including about $14.5 million in 2007. But next year, at least partially because of the enactment of the smoking ban, Blue Cross expects to redirect a portion of its budget for nonsmoking efforts to a new anti-obesity campaign. It expects to reduce its anti-tobacco spending by about $4.5 million.

"We continue to adjust our budgets annually, based on our progress in each area, the opportunities, and judgments about what will be most effective," explained Blue Cross spokeswoman Karen Lyons.

As the debate continues, one thing that won't be discussed is an outright prohibition of smoking.

"That's no more likely to work than the alcohol prohibition was likely to work," said Weigum, of the Association of Nonsmokers. "It was a real failed strategy in the '30s and it's no more likely to succeed now."

Staff writer Josephine Marcotty and staff researcher John Wareham contributed to this report. mbrunswick@startribune.com • 651-222-1636 curt.brown@startribune.com • 612-673-4767