The two northernmost counties in West Virginia now have smoking bans in place as the five members of the Brooke County Board of Health voted unanimously on Monday night to update existing clean air ordinances and will now ban smoking at all indoor places of business.

That means that smoking will now be banned at all bars, restaurants and video gaming establishments. In addition, smoking is now prohibited at outdoor fairs and festivals. The new regulations will go into effect on July 1, 2015.

Board administrator Karen McClain told WVMetroNews.com that a major motivator for the new regulations was the fact Brooke County ranked last in the state for environmental health. McClain added that there were 10 written comments in favor of the changes with just four against, and no one showed up to the meeting to speak on either side of the debate.

Hancock County, which sits directly north of Brooke County, passed a smoking ban in August that will also go into effect on July 1, 2015.

Brooke County is home to just under 24,000 people.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.