Bar, restaurant owners angry over smoking ban plan to exclude lawmakers

Bar and restaurant owners upset about Michigan's workplace smoking ban have a ban of their own in the works.

Protect Private Property Rights in Michigan said Tuesday that about 500 bars statewide plan to ban state lawmakers from their premises. It would start Sept. 1.

Excluding the lawmakers is a way for critics to draw attention to what they say are the harmful effects of the smoking ban.

Some bar owners say they have lost business because of the ban. Others say decisions about whether to allow smoking should be left to property owners. Read Smoking statistics 2011 from USA and england, a lot of information.


The Legislature-approved smoking ban took effect in May 2010.

"This subject needs to be opened up in Lansing again, it needs to be discussed again," said Steve Mace, executive director of the property rights group.

To highlight what they consider the hypocrisy of Michigan's smoking ban -- which exempts gambling floors of Detroit casinos -- business owners said the lawmaker ban also would have exemptions. It would not cover the Republican or Democratic leaders in the House or Senate.

Ari Adler, a spokesman for House Republican Speaker Jase Bolger, said the lawmaker ban is an interesting tactic but not likely to spark legal change.