In case the news hasn't made it across the country....
The new smoking ban in Denver includes theatres, regardless of whether they use tobacco or herbal. And 3 area theatres went to court complaining about "freedom of speech" rights and failed. (And they used a law firm that had previously successfully gotten an exclusion for theatres in Boulder, which is just north of Denver.)
Now personally, I hate smoking in public places. But there are some shows you simply can't do without cigarettes. And as the theatre companies tried to show the court, the kind where you blow the puff of talc out simply doesn't cut it...
Read about it
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5106658,00.htmlI gotta say my favorite "reader comment", however, is where someone asked if it would be legal to smoke marijuana instead. Because if it also hasn't made the national news, about a year ago they passed a law making it legal in the city of Denver to possess an ounce of marijuana if you're 21. However, earlier this month an attempt to make it a state law, too, did not pass (and of course not federal), so police basically still say it's illegal.
Anyway, I'm strongly against smoking personally, and yet, I do think there should be an exception for theatre. Just look at the few plays listed in the article as examples. I think you can also do it in moderation for the show, and give the illusion you're smoking much more...Perhaps if you put wild disclaimers on every publicity notice, too, not just outside the theatre door you could adequately warn those who would be offended.
Erin