Human nature being as it is, one could assume it wouldn't take long for ardent cigarette smokers to figure a way around the state's new smoke-free public places law, the Freedom to Breathe Act.
The law, which took effect Oct. 1, essentially bans smoking in all workplaces and areas frequented by the public -- including bars. The law, however, does have a list of exemptions such as participants in a scientific study of smoking, at traditional American Indian ceremonies or customers sampling in a tobacco products shop. Also, however, the state law doesn't prohibit "smoking by actors and actresses as part of a theatrical performance ... Notice of smoking in a performance shall be given to theater patrons in advance and shall be included in performance programs."
So leave it to some ingenious bar owners around the state who starting printing playbills, encouraging customers to come into their establishments dressed in costume, and pronouncing them as "actors."
Some patrons really get into it, speaking in funny accents and improvising skits as though they were in the famous "Cheers" bar. Others, such as a Twin Cities hard-rock and heavy-metal bar, just declare a "Theater Night," and patrons just sit around drinking and smoking, listening to deafening tunes. It's an act, the bar owner says, in a play called "Before the Ban," with patrons imitating what they did prior to Oct. 1.
Well, we must give credit to the state Health Department, which didn't take long to see through the ruse and use a hook to end the bad acting and drop the curtain on what is obviously an end-around to the law.
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The attempt clearly goes way beyond what the law exempts, and does nothing but show clever one can be when they set out to break the law.
"These bars are attempting to circumvent the Freedom to Breathe Act. The law was enacted to protect Minnesotans from the serious health effects of secondhand smoke. We expect all establishments to comply with the law. It is time for the curtain to fall on these theatrics so that employees, and all Minnesotans, are protected from secondhand smoke," state Health Commissioner Sanne Magnan said in issuing the curtain call. The department has the authority to levy fines of up to $10,000 on establishments that fail to comply with the law, she notes, and give assurances the department won't be lax in pursing violators.
What makes the smoking ban effective is that it is uniform, not allowing patrons to smoke in one bar but not in another. That's what makes the law fair, let alone that it is a public safety issue in preventing lung disease or emphysema in people who may not smoke but are doused with secondhand smoke.
Now we'll wait to see what will be tried next ...
