Butts Out: Iowa joins 22 states with a workplace smoking ban..

April 16, 2008 - Butts Out: Iowa joins 22 states with a workplace smoking ban.. Governor of Iowa Chet Culver signed a near-total ban on public smoking Tuesday (4/15/2008), a law that takes effect July 1, 2008. “The bottom line is that this bill will save lives, plain and simple,” he said at a jam-packed signing ceremony. The ban will be most noticeable in bars and restaurants, but it covers nearly every workplace. The main exceptions are for the gaming floors of the 17 state-licensed casinos and for the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. News briefs concerned with Iowa: : Iowa - cigarette sales fall by 36% after $1 bump in cigarette tax.. and Iowa's cigarette tax is now $1.36 per pack... Related news briefs:Thailand, France, England and Minnesota. Other: Banning tobacco smoking in public places is a public health issue and not a property rights or business rights issue.., High incidence of passive smoking... States, Commonwealths, and Municipalities with 100% Smokefree Laws in Workplaces, Restaurants, or Bars currently in effect as of April 1, 2008.