Lawsuit Against Smoking Ban

An American Legion post in Bremerton filed a lawsuit yesterday in Thurston County Superior Court against the state of Washington and the Kitsap County Health District asking that a judge toss out the state's smoking ban as it has been applied to private clubs. The Legion post was slapped with a violation by Kitsap County, and the county refused to find a workable agreement with the veterans' group, so the Legion sued.

"They like to call themselves veterans still fighting for freedom," says Shawn Newman, the group's attorney. He explains that, in his view, the smoking ban is discriminatory because it allows for smoking in 25 percent of hotel and motel rooms (both workplaces, of course) but does not carve out exemptions for any other private places, such as clubs like the Bremerton Legion post. Newman says the law runs afoul of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as even-stronger provisions in Washington state's Constitution that protect individual liberties.

A hearing on whether a temporary restraining order should be issued in favor of the post is slated for Aug. 4 in Olympia. To my knowledge, this is the first lawsuit filed to challenge provisions of the state's smoking ban.

If the American Legion suit sticks, it could well enable bars throughout the state to declare themselves private clubs to become exempt from the smoking ban. Which sounds just fine to this smoker (and drinker). All other states with smoking bans have exemptions to allow smoking in private clubs (under certain circumstances), tobacco stores, and cigar bars, for example. Washington has no such exemptions.