Bismarck restaurant-bars were given advance warning that a city ordinance, stricter than the state's smoking law, was in the works, according to the Bismarck-Burleigh Tobacco Prevention Network's Pat McGeary.

Only a handful of people turned out for the network's meeting early Thursday morning. McGeary said the group, which meets only twice a year, is different from the Bismarck Tobacco Free Coalition, which was active in securing the recent city ordinance that prohibits smoking in restaurant-bars.

State law allows smoking in restaurant-bars when an enclosure is provided for smokers to separate them from a smoke-free eating area.

The network falls under the auspices of Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health. The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program was created by and funded through the tobacco industry settlement with the state. In 2001, the North Dakota Legislature passed an act for a community health grant program in an effort to disburse the settlement money to the state's communities.

State law mandates communities receiving funds have a planning committee, which the network represents, to determine how the tobacco dollars are to be used. The committee has representatives from various community organizations, agencies and institutions, including the schools, law enforcement and civic groups.

The Tobacco Free Coalition is a mostly volunteer activist group that is sponsored and aided by the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. The program develops smoke-free policies, offers tobacco cessation services, provides public education and helps fund police department compliance checks.

Bismarck School District Assistant Superintendent Rick Buresh questioned McGeary about the new ordinance and how it differed from the state law.

McGeary explained how it was decided that a more stringent city ordinance was needed, and a public forum was held with the various affected businesses well represented. Many businesses asked for a fair playing field, and many employees asked how they could be protected in the workplace, according to McGeary.

"We talked to businesses in June about not building walls because we were working on a city ordinance. We sent out postcards and hand-delivered invitations to the forum, hoping to make sure they didn't do any carpentry," McGeary said. "In August, only one had and we felt good we had gotten the word out. But by the time the ordinance was first read in September, there were three more that put money into enclosures. We feel they had ample warning."

The new city ordinance provides a clarity that the state law doesn't, according to McGeary, making it easier to enforce and allowing it to be handled in municipal rather than district courts.

"The city ordinance provided an additional 1,500 to 2,000 restaurant-bar workers with smoke-free air," McGeary said.

The network has sponsored education programs for Bismarck's elementary, middle and high schools. The programs have been provided in 25 schools to nearly 3,000 students. Sixteen schools have adopted tobacco-free policies.

The newest initiatives will be in local colleges, McGeary said.

"We're starting out with the University of Mary, where students will be conducting an environmental assessment scan," McGeary said. "We'll be reaching out to college students who fall in that 18-to-29 age group, which has the highest rate of smoking."