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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Tobacco Report Card Shows Minnesota Has Been “Hitting the Books”

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Monday, January 14, 2008   

St. Paul, MN – The yearly "Tobacco Report Card" from the American Lung Association is out, and Minnesota goes to the head of the class when it comes to preventing providing smoke-free environments. State spokesman for the ALA Bob Moffitt is excited about the results.

"Minnesota did great. This is actually the best score that we have ever had. For the first time, Minnesota scored all passing grades in the report card. "

The state went from an "F" to an "A" in the category of "Smoke-free Air," thanks to its new smoking ban in bars and restaurants, says Moffit. But he believes there's still room for improvement, especially when it comes to restricting youth access to tobacco.

"If we can convince more young people just not to start –- or, if they have started, to quit -- that will have benefits that will go throughout generations. It will save millions of dollars, and it will save lives."

Minnesota is in the middle of the pack nationally for the amount of its cigarette tax, although research shows more expensive "smokes" reduce tobacco sales. Moffit notes there may be efforts by the State Legislature to increase the tax this year.

Although the number of Minnesota smokers has been declining slowly for 30 years, he points out that tobacco still takes a high toll.

"Here in Minnesota, the economic cost due to smoking every year exceeds $2.7 million. And the deaths, just here in Minnesota, attributed to smoking, are more than 5,000 people every year."

Smoking is the top cause of preventable death in the United States.

The 2007 grades for Minnesota from the American Lung Association's national survey: "B" (for Tobacco Prevention and Control Spending); "A" (for Smoke-free Air); "C" (for the state Cigarette Tax); and "B" (for Youth Access laws and prevention efforts). More information is available online at www.alamn.org.






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