Monday, July 07 2008
An article in The Spokesman-Review (seattlepi.nwsource.com) reports that three years after the state of Washington passed the nation's toughest smoking ban, "a handful of bar owners, clubs and others" are looking for legitimate ways to get around the law.
Among their recent efforts:
-An American Legion post in Bremerton has a case before the state Supreme Court, arguing that the ban was never intended to apply to private clubs.
-Frankie's [bar] owner Frank Schnarrs has been in court for two years, arguing that his upstairs bar is actually a members-only club, and that the servers are volunteers.
-Cigar fans gathered tens of thousands of signatures this year in an unsuccessful effort to restore smoking in cigar stores and smoke shops.
"This is not about smoking," Schnarrs said. "This is about freedom of choice."
Bar owners seek ways around state smoking ban
