Lenawee voters to weigh countywide smoking ban

1/12/2006

ADRIAN Repeating an identical committee vote from Tuesday, the Lenawee County Board of Commissioners yesterday voted 6-3 to place an advisory question on the November ballot asking local residents whether they should consider a countywide smoking ban.

The county board of health had asked commissioners to approve a smoking ban in all public buildings except restaurants, bars, and specialty tobacco stores, which are automatically exempted from such local ordinances by state law.

But commissioners, who were split on the matter, sought to place the politically sensitive issue before voters instead.

Voters won t be asked to approve the regulations directly because state law prohibits such questions, county officials said.

The board of health, which unanimously approved the smoking ban in December, has been working for nearly two years to get a ban approved.