You’ll be hard pressed to find a place to smoke indoors in the northern part of West Virginia today, as smoking bans are now in place in both Brooke and Hancock counties.

It’s been nearly a year since Hancock County, the state’s smallest and northernmost, passed its ban. The county board of health voted 5-0 in August 2014 to ban smoking in all public indoor areas, including tobacco stores, parks, bars, private clubs and all hotels and motels, as well as some outdoor areas.

Brooke County passed its ban in November 2014 and also makes smoking illegal in all indoor businesses, including all bars, restaurants and video gaming establishments. The ban is also being applied to outdoor fairs and festivals.

Collectively, the two counties are home to approximately 54,000 residents.

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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.