"Tobacco Monologues" panned by Health Dept., "show" to close immediately

Minnesota Public Radio is reporting that the state health department is shutting down the popular “theater exemption” loophole used by bars around the state to get around the new statewide workplace smoking ban recently. I wrote a column on the subject last week. My piece only received two responses, one negative from a bar owner and one positive from the local American Lung Association representative. A friend also wrote an articulate rebuttal to my column on libertarian grounds in the comments section of that column. But that was all, so far.

Today, Health Commissioner Sanne Magnan declared that theatre nights in bars are not exempt from the smoking ban.

“This exemption was never intended to fill up a whole room full of people smoking in a public place. So we concluded that he bars are really attempting to circumvent the freedom to breathe act,” Commissioner Magnan said.

Magnan said today’s announcement is a warning to bars holding theatre nights that the party’s over. If they continue circumventing the law, they’ll be leaving themselves open to fines of up to $10,000. Magnan’s decision immediately drew catcalls from the industry.

Jim Farrell, Executive Director of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, said the health department’s announcement is compounding the confusion about a law that’s riddled with loopholes.

“Instead of admitting that there is a possibility that what they are doing is creating confusion, it’s like they can never back down on anything,” Farrell said. He said Magnan’s decision about the theater loophole leaves it unclear what is legal under the law and what is not. He said it would better for the state to close the theatrical loophole altogether and have actual theatres use fake cigarettes for productions.

“That’s when you come forward and say look, we made these exceptions, we found out there are problems with them, we are going to change them, when it comes to the smoking in the theatre we think it’s asinine because we know that second hand smoke is dangerous,” Farrell said.

That’s right. Because the fact that actors aren’t using fake cigarettes is what this is really about.

Bars have taken a hit. I’m not disputing that. It’s time to plan for the future. These smoking bans are becoming standard, along with the clean water and cooking regulations we have come to expect. Smoke all you want — on your private property, in your car or at a private location without employees. That line of consent for employees exposed to secondhand smoke is the new guide for smoking in public. And I don’t believe that drinking or fast food will come next. Prohibition failed and those are vices that can only impact those who choose to drink or eat.

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