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December 20, 2006 12:30 PM, EST

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ruckers smoking alone in their cabs will be exempt from Ohio’s new anti-smoking law, the Columbus Dispatch newspaper reported.

The state’s Department of Health exempted commercial trucks from the ban, the paper reported Tuesday.

he Health Department backed down from including solo truck drivers in the ban after facing a barrage of criticism from drivers and the trucking industry.

Officials had said earlier that because trucks are workplaces, they would be covered by the ban. Now, however, only truck drivers who have at least one passenger would be prohibited from smoking, the paper said.

Larry Davis, president of the Ohio Trucking Association, said the trucking industry was glad to hear of the ruling. OTA had vowed to lobby against the law’s previous inclusion of truckers in the ban.

(Click here for previous coverage.)