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PNS - Tuesday, April 29, 2025 - Mark Carney wins new term as Canada's Prime Minister on anti-Trump platform; Without key funding, Alabama faces new barriers to college access; MS could face steep postal privatization costs under Trump-Musk plan; New Hampshire's rail trails ensure accessibility for all.
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By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - More than three-fourths of Montana voters oppose legalizing cigar smoking in bars, but legislation to do so is introduced most years. The 2025 bill failed a third House hearing, and health experts say that’s for the better. Comments by Richard Sargent, retired family physician in Helena.
Click on the image above for the audio. Montana lawmakers discussed a bill which would have legalized cigar smoking in designated rooms in bars, despite a 2006 declaration by the U.S. Surgeon General there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. (Marco Mayer/Adobe Stock)Kathleen Shannon
April 29, 2025 - A bill to legalize cigar smoking in designated Montana barrooms has failed a third reading in the state House. Similar legislation is introduced most years, although polls show it is unpopular among Montanans.
The 2005 Montana Clean Indoor Air Act outlawed smoking in indoor public spaces and workplaces to reduce secondhand smoke and its negative health effects. Before the law passed, Helena happened to be a laboratory for those effects when a city ordinance outlawed public smoking for six months in 2002.
Richard Sargent is a retired family physician in Helena, who also volunteers with the American Heart Association. He said changes to air pollution rapidly affect health.
"We had all kinds of physiology studies showing the things that lead to heart attacks happen fairly rapidly with exposure to secondhand smoke," Sargent pointed out. "Thirty minutes is enough."
Sargent was the lead author of a study which found the rate of heart attacks in Helena decreased about 40%, from 40% to 24%, the year the ordinance went into effect.
Sargent noted the bill started with distinct buildings allowing cigar smoking outside of taverns and then changed to separate rooms in a shared building. He stressed there is no way to isolate airflow in such a setup.
"The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers has stated repeatedly that there's no ventilation system that'll handle secondhand smoke," Sargent added. "It just can't be done."
Among those surveyed, 77% of Montana voters oppose legalizing cigar smoking in bars and 89% support the Clean Indoor Air Act, according to an American Cancer Society poll.
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PNS - Tuesday, April 29, 2025 - Major shifts in environmental protections, immigration enforcement, civil rights as Trump administration reshapes government priorities. Rural residents and advocates for LGBTQ youth say they're worried about losing services.
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PNS - Tuesday, April 29, 2025 - Trump touts immigration crackdown despite concerns about due process; NY faces potential impacts from federal vote on emissions standards; ND Tribes can elevate tourism game with new grants; WA youth support money for Medicaid, not war.
