Minnesota - Freedom to Breath Act

Statewide smoking ban: On October 1, 2007, the Freedom to Breathe Act went into effect, expanding the existing Clean Indoor Air Act of 1975 so as to ban smoking statewide in all enclosed workplaces in Minnesota, including public transportation, bars, and restaurants.

The Act exempts designated rooms in nursing homes, designated areas in psychiatric facilities, places where scientific studies related to smoking occur, private homes and residences not in use as a place of employment, designated hotel/motel smoking rooms, retail tobacco shops, heavy commercial vehicles, farm vehicles and construction equipment, buildings on family farms, the Minnesota disabled veterans' rest camp, smoking by Native Americans as part of a traditional spiritual or cultural ceremony, stage performances involving smoking, and outdoor areas. Local governments may regulate smoking more stringently than the state.