The Dakota County Public Health Department has a history of working with teens, families, schools, law enforcement, businesses, and community organizations to protect everyone from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

Starting in January 2010 with a Tobacco-Free Communities Grant from the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Tobacco Prevention and Control, the Dakota County Public Health Department partnered with the Association for Nonsmokers-MN to increase the availability of smoke-free hotels in Dakota County through the Smoke-Free Lodging program.

More than 70% of the U.S. population is now protected from secondhand smoke in the work place or in public. Hotel rooms remain one of the last remaining indoor environments where employees and the public continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

The Smoke-Free Lodging program is a ground breaking initiative designed to assist hotel owners and managers with the transfer and promotion to a smoke-free establishment.