State Status
No Preemption
News Summary
Restaurant, bar owners sue to halt smoking ban
Publication Date: 2005-03-31
- Author: Scott Mayerowitz
- Publication:The Providence Journal
In a lawsuit filed yesterday, the business owners say that exceptions to the ban for "substantially identical establishments" to their own are arbitrary and have nothing to do with the promotion of public health.
Five businesses filed the suit, saying sales have dropped 10 percent to 35 percent since the ban took effect four weeks ago. Customers are fleeing, they say, to the private clubs, small bars and gambling parlors where smoking is still allowed.