BISMARCK (AP) -- Cigarettes sold in North Dakota may have to meet a new standard to make them burn more slowly so they're less likely to start fires.
The North Dakota House voted 80-12 to approve legislation to ban the sale of regular cigarettes starting in August 2010.
Any cigarettes sold in the state after that would have to meet a so-called reduced ignition standard. Fargo Rep. Jasper Schneider says a number of states already have adopted the standard.
Schneider says the slower-burning effect is obtained by wrapping extra paper around parts of the cigarette. He says it creates a so-called "speed bump" that makes the cigarette go out.
The bill now goes to the North Dakota Senate.
