North Dakota health department?
This measure assures that health care professionals will design and manage North Dakota’s tobacco prevention and control plan. Under this measure doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and public health professionals will be in charge. Politicians, in both the governor’s office and the legislature, are more susceptible to the strong tobacco lobby in North Dakota and consequently the best choices for public health are not always their top priority. Since the signing of the tobacco settlement agreement in 1998, the major tobacco companies have doubled their marketing expenditures. Quite simply, the state’s tobacco control plan can not be subject to the lobbing of the tobacco interests if the state is to run an effective tobacco prevent and control program.
