World | USA
An exemption exploited for smokers
Bars stage fake theatre plays due to loophole in smoking ban.
- By Tom Leonard, The Telegraph GroupLimited, London 2008
- Published: 00:03 March 9, 2008
New York: Bars in Minnesota have discovered a loophole to resist the wave of public smoking bans sweeping the world.
About 30 drinking establishments in the mid-western state have exploited an exemption for performers in theatrical productions in a recently imposed ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots.
The Minnesota ban allows actors to light up in character during theatrical performances as long as patrons are notified in advance.
In response, bars are staging faux theatre productions with cigarettes as props. Some establishments have printed playbills, encouraged customers to come in costume and declared them all to be actors.
A few customers have been contributing to the thespian atmosphere, speaking in funny accents and doing a little improvisation. Brian Bauman, the owner of The Rock bar in St Paul, said his smoking patrons were "playing themselves" before the ban was imposed, adding: "We call the production 'Before the Ban!''' A bar in northern Minnesota has called its smoking nights "The Tobacco Monologues". Minnesota's health department has promised to crack down on such theatre nights with fines of up to £5,000.
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