Colo. House Panel Votes To Clarify Smoking Ban

Publication Date: 2007-02-06

• Author:Steven K. Paulson, AP
• Publication:CBS4 Denver

Acknowledging the indoor smoking ban they passed last year wasn't very clear, lawmakers on Monday tried to amend the new law and close loopholes so authorities could enforce it.

Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, said bars claimed exemptions from the smoking ban and authorities responding to complaints that customers were still puffing away had no way to determine which bars qualified as cigar bars because of the amount of tobacco they sold each year.

The House Health & Human Services Committee approved a bill changing the term "tobacco products" to "cigars or cigar tobacco" to make it clear cigarette sales were not included. The measure now goes to the House Appropriations Committee.

"It's about putting power behind what the Legislature did a year ago," Roberts said.