One of the more hotly contested bills during the 2015 legislative session earlier this year was the so-called “brunch bill.” That bill changes the law to allow bars and restaurants to begin serving alcohol on Sundays an hour earlier, at 11:00am instead of noon. Or did it? Here’s the relatively simple change to the law…
Should Anti-Tobacco Tax Dollars Be Used To Fight Vaping?
North Dakota’s anti-tobacco tax dollars are being used to fight vaping, and one state lawmaker wants to stop it.
Minnesota Considering Raising Smoking Age To 21
Big, paternalistic government is always taking another step toward infantilizing Americans. At 18 you’re old enough to fight in wars, enter into legal contracts, be tried as an adult for crimes, and vote for leaders for public office but in Minnesota now some people want to postpone the ability to purchase and use tobacco until…
Legislature Avoids Treating Vaping Like Smoking, For Now
The state Senate yesterday unanimously approved HB1186, which was one of two bills emerging from the House aimed at putting some restrictions on sales of vaping products (the other, HB1078, failed). There are a lot of things to dislike about HB1186. While it bans sales to minors, which isn’t all that controversial, it puts in…
Health Gestapo Takes Aim At Fargo Culinary Students
At Fargo Davies High School in Fargo the students have a top-notch culinary class which runs, on a limited scale, a restaurant for students and the public. They were just profiled in the Fargo Forum, as a matter of fact. But recently these students learned that they were going to have to curtail their cooking excellence.…
Mandatory Voting Is A Stupid Idea
President Obama thinks a law mandating that all eligible Americans vote is a “transformative” idea. Obama floated the idea of mandatory voting in the U.S. while speaking to a civic group in Cleveland on Wednesday. Asked about the influence of money in U.S. elections, Obama digressed into the topic of voting rights and said the…
Civil Disobedience: Kids Sled On Capitol Hill In Defiance Of Police
A victory for the people in the War on Fun: After Congress left town and snow showers arrived Thursday, children and adults descended, toting their sleds to make use of the literal hill at the Capitol. The Capitol police tried to turn them away. It was the latest episode in the District of Columbia’s ongoing…
Grand Forks Bans Beer Pong
UPDATE: It looks like the WDAZ article quoted below was inaccurate. Grand Forks has merely moved these ordinance changes forward. They’ve yet to become law, per the Grand Forks Herald. Here in America we have a problem with alcohol abuse among college-aged people. The City of Grand Forks, home to the University of North Dakota, is no different…
Lesson For North Dakota: Tobacco Smuggling Spikes In Minnesota After Tax Hike
Last week I wrote a post about proposed tobacco tax hikes being considered by lawmakers in Bismarck. I cited research by the Mackinac Center which indicated that higher taxes result in higher rates in smuggling, and that raising the tobacco taxes here in North Dakota would almost certainly create a dilemma for those tasked with enforcing…
Will Raising North Dakota's Tobacco Tax Decrease Use, Or Increase Smuggling?
“North Dakota needs to do everything it can to prevent more people from smoking and to encourage smokers to quit,” opines the Bismarck Tribune in an editorial today which is generally supportive of legislation to increase the state’s tobacco taxes. One might quibble with the idea that government ought to be using the tax code to manipulate people…