Will Sonny Perdue sign the Smoking Ban in North Carolina?”
Lawmakers in North Carolina, the nation’s top tobacco grower, have voted to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. Gov. Beverly Purdue, a Democrat and the state’s first female governor, said she will sign the bill into law. She called it “an important and historic day for North Carolina,” The News & Observer in Raleigh reports. “I have vigorously supported efforts to reduce and eliminate smoking, and this bill will help more North Carolina citizens avoid the dangers of secondhand smoke,” she said. The N&O called it a law that might have been unthinkable just a few years ago in a state built on the tobacco industry. Opponents said it infringes on personal rights. “This is about the freedom and rights to do on your property what you see fit,” said state Rep. David Lewis, a Republican. The state will become the 33rd, plus the District of Columbia, with laws banning smoke from workplaces, restaurants, bars or some combination, the AP says. In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour signed
