While at the Oasis bar in downtown Rapid City on Friday night, Jeff Hoffman did something he wouldn't have had to do just over a year ago: Go outside to smoke.
In the year since South Dakota voters overwhelmingly approved expanding a ban on
smoking cheap tobacco in public places to bars, restaurants and casinos, the nightlife experience for smokers and nonsmokers alike has been transformed.
Whether it has been changed for the better or worse depends on whom you ask.
"I'm a grown man. I should be able to make my own decisions," said Hoffman, who isn't a fan of the ban. "If they're still selling cigarettes, we should be able to smoke them in establishments that designate smoking."
