No-tobacco plan includes quadrupling ND cigarette tax

Bismarck, N.D. (AP) A North Dakota advisory board's plans for cutting tobacco use include more than quadrupling the state's tax on cigarettes from 44 cents to $2 a pack.

The board also will be seeking a statewide ban on smoking in businesses and places where people gather. Smoking in bars and outdoor stadiums would be outlawed.

North Dakota voters approved the board's formation last November. It is independent of the state Health Department, and it is financed by money from a state lawsuit settlement against tobacco companies.

Former Health Department tobacco prevention director Kathleen Mangskau is chairman of the board.

Mangskau says North Dakota is known as the "ashtray of the upper Midwest" because of its low cigarette tax. She says the tax is less than a third of the tobacco tax in Montana, Minnesota and South Dakota.

(SOUND: Sound files have been e-mailed to accompany this story) (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 07-07-09 1628CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list