Smoking ban takes center stage in bars across the state

It's not exactly the venue you'd envision for a Saturday night performance. But Bugg's Bar in South St. Paul has become the latest stage for a statement.

"We're doing it because we've lost so much business, and we're trying to get people back out, trying to get them back in the community, trying to get them back in the bars," said Crystal Bentson, Manager of Bugg's Bar.

Patrons at Bugg's Bar paid two dollars for a sticker entitling them to a role in the bar's production Saturday night. It also gave them an opportunity to light up, if they desired.

You can call it the second act in an ongoing drama. Turns out, dozens of bars across the state are now treating the smoking ban like a brief intermission.

Kenn Rockler of the Tavern League of Minnesota said he's heard from more than a hundred bar owners looking for the latest way to deal with a ban they say is bad for business. They think they've found it, in a once little known exemption in the state smoking ban that allows smoking in theatrical productions.

"Maybe the people who did the exemption weren't aware what would happen with it," Rockler said. "But again, those people are the same people that said businesses wouldn't suffer.

Rockler estimates more than four thousand people have lost their jobs since the ban went into effect on October 1, 2007.

Lawmakers say they're already poised to close the loophole. State Senator Kathy Sheran sponsored the law last year, she said the current activity undermines the intention to "protect people from smoke in all of these places."

Sheran recalls voting for the exemption, but she said it's obvious bar owners are writing a whole new script.

"It's creative, it's clever, it shows us a loophole in the law that people will want to find their way through," she said. "But it will require us to find resources to go back."

Lawmakers, the Minnesota Health Department and State Attorney General are all exploring ways to control the loophole.

Meantime, the theater-exemption exists only in the state smoking ban. At this point, five counties and seven cities have local smoking bans that have more authority than the state version. That means bar owners in those areas will likely not be able to bring back smoking by hosting a play.

By Karla Hult, KARE 11 News

Check out our KARE family of Web sites:
	takeKARE		Metromix
	Moms Like Me		Minnesota Bound
	Showcase Minnesota