Montana Backtracks on Smoking Ban

Montana’s governor said Friday she would sign a bill to limit an indoor smoking ban that researchers say resulted in a sharp reduction in heart attacks.

The bill, which exempts certain businesses from any local ordinance more restrictive than the state’s indoor clean-air law, targets Helena’s smoking ban.

The ordinance prohibits smoking in all buildings open to the public, including bars and casinos. It was adopted by 62% of the city’s voters in June and suspended by a legal challenge in December.

Two weeks ago, a study found that during the six months the ban was enforced, hospital admissions for heart attacks in the Helena area dropped from seven a month to about three.

However, Republican Gov. Judy Martz said she would sign the bill because it protects property rights of businesses and because of strong bipartisan support in the state Legislature.

Rich Miller, a lobbyist for the Montana Gaming Industry Assn., said his clients see the issue as a matter of personal choice.

“You don’t have to work in these places and you don’t have to go in there” if you don’t smoke, he said.

The doctors who wrote the study, Richard Sargent and Robert Shepard, were strong supporters of the smoking ban.

The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago on April 1, is considered the first to examine what happens to public health when people stop smoking and breathing secondhand smoke in public places.

Supporters of the ban urged the governor to veto the bill, saying it goes against the wishes of voters.