Let cigar smokers enjoy their stogies indoors

Tuesday, August 16 2011

OP/ED By Joe Arundel and Brian Berman
Special to The Seattle Times

SEATTLE Center's Fisher Pavilion and Fisher Green will be transformed into an upscale though nonsmoking cigar lounge and outdoor "smoking patio" Saturday. About 2,500 adults are expected to unite for a day of indulgence at the first-ever Seattle Cigar Expo. Sounds nice, right?

But underneath it all is brewing the debate on cigars and the rights of smokers of all kinds.

In 2005, Washington state voters passed one of the most extreme and totalitarian pieces of law ever enacted in the state when they passed Initiative 901, an overly extreme, one-size-fits-all ban of smoking in public buildings. About 71 percent of voters approved this initiative.

Editorial continues at seattletimes.com...