Tobacco use

Tobacco Use Since March 31, 2005, there has been a major smoking ban within many cities around the Twin Cities Metro Area. The most important part of this bill includes banning smoking on all food and bar premises within Minneapolis. However, in St. Paul, if your establishment receives more than 50% of its revenue from the sale of alcohol, then you may appeal for a license to permit smoking within your establishment.
The air pollution and smoking in particular have always been major arguments within the Twin Cities. And although this ban will probably help to reduce the major effects of smoking, it has hampered economic development. Many bars and restaurants have closed since the ban, and tobacco sales have always been a major part of the mid-west. The mid-west has been known as a smokers haven, and I’ve noticed than even since the smoking ban, there still remain many tobacco shops all around that have good business. But the owners often complain, and a friend of mine who works at Applebee’s tells me that the number of regulars and patrons has reduced noticeably 4.
However, there are the positive effects. Personally I have noticed that I breathe more easily. I’ve been a second hand smoker nearly my entire life, and it is rather nice that I can go to many pool halls without coming home smelling of smoke. Official statistics of changes from the ban haven’t been gathered yet since the ban is so young, but many health officials predict that it should have a significant effect on the health of the community.
However, who can know until the studies are done? It will take some time to find out for sure, and by then the smokers may have accomplished to repeal the ban. Talk of many groups developing to list the ban is spreading around. And, it has always been a tradition to have tobacco and tobacco products here in the Twin Cities.

References
1 City Rank Minneapolis, (1997)
A document containing many statistics and percentages about health relations, and in this reference, was used to show how Minneapolis ranks in the top 50% overall for health issues.
2 City Rank Minneapolis, (1997)
A section on heart disease was referenced, and I pulled the statistic about how Detroit ranks number one for heart disease deaths and Minneapolis has one of the lowest rates
3 Wikipedia, University of Minnesota System, (viewed November 27, 2005)
This document provided statistics about the demographical make-up and general
history of the University of Minnesota, and how over 50, 000 students are currently
enrolled within it. Retrieved from the web at http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/University_of_Minnesota_system
4 Ashley Logan, personal interview and conversation
Using parts of a past interview, I talked about the tobacco ban and its effects on patrons
within the metro area. She commented on seeing less patrons around many places since they no longer allow smoking.
5 Boynton Health Services, U of M Tobacco Brochure (2004)
A brochure showing charts and graphs of tobacco use and its link to alcohol and drug use, also where I garnered the fact that regular U of M smokers are more than 6 times more likely to use Marijuana than non-smokers (Back page of brochure)
6 Capitol Roundup, Article of Prostitution in the Twin Cities
The location of where I came up with my 14 year old prostitute statistic and where I
received the numbers of underage prostitutes. Retrieved from http://www. hometownsource. com/capitol/1999/november/1104teens. html.