Anti-tobacco groups will be working to raise the state's tobacco tax and create more smoke-free environments in keeping with a new committee's statewide tobacco plan.

Voters approved spending certain tobacco settlement money on anti-tobacco activities in passing Measure 3 last November. The measure created the Tobacco Prevention and Control Advisory Committee to develop a plan.

The committee held a series of public meetings across the state on a draft tobacco plan. Based on response, the committee recently finalized the plan, which will be published in early July.

Included in the plan is an objective to increase the state's cigarette excise tax from 44 cents to $2 a pack by June 2013.

North Dakota's tax is far below neighboring states, said committee chairwoman Kathleen Mangskau of Bismarck. Neighboring states have taxes of $1.50 to $1.75 a pack, she said.

"That, together with smoke-free environments, is one of the best ways to prevent youth from starting and to help adults to quit," Mangskau said.

Also by June 2013, the plan aims to have succeeded in persuading legislators to amend North Dakota's smoke-free law to provide 100 percent smoke-free public places and places of employment. Currently, only Fargo and West Fargo have laws that cover all public places, including bars.

By June 2012, the plan proposes to increase to five the number of communities that have local ordinances for 100 percent smoke-free public places and places of employment.

"That's often the way that states have moved forward to a comprehensive state law," Mangskau said of the communities-first strategy.

Minot's anti-tobacco committee, STAMP, is not currently pursuing a change in Minot's smoke-free ordinance to include bars, parks and other public places not covered, said Renae Byre, supervisor of the tobacco prevention program at First District Health Unit and a STAMP member.

"The state is encouraging Minot to do that to be one of those leaders," she said. "We have talked about it at STAMP and no decision has been made at this time."

Byre said a decision to push for a more comprehensive smoke-free ordinance in Minot will need to come from the grassroots.

"We have had a number of calls from people interested in working on that. Really, it's got to be the community that wants to do that, and then we will move forward," she said.

The STAMP coalition will be surveying in August to get the local public's views on a variety of tobacco and drug-related issues, including broadening smoke-free requirements. The coalition plans to develop an online survey with incentives for residents to fill it out.

The statewide committee drafting the tobacco plan received more than 100 written comments and heard from more than 150 people at seven community forums.

From that feedback, the committee amended the draft plan to strengthen the involvement of teens in developing tobacco prevention and control strategies, Mangskau said. The committee also amended the plan to incorporate an objective to ensure military personnel have access to cessation products and services.

"Overall, what we heard from the public is that they are supportive of the direction of the state plan. They also were very supportive of the goals of preventing youth from ever starting to use tobacco," Mangskau said. "They felt the plan should address all forms of tobacco use, not just smoking."

The committee already is working with partner groups to begin implementation of the plan.

The committee allocated more than $6 million this biennium to support programs in education, cessation and policies that follow best practices. That money will be going out this summer. Public health units will receive $940,000 to implement clinical guidelines for treating tobacco dependency.