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• Feb 22, 2008 7:20 am US/Central
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  Bars Hold 'Theater Nights' To Bypass Smoking Ban

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Bars Hold 'Theater Nights' To Bypass Smoking Ban

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― A creative way to get around the statewide smoking ban is spreading like wildfire around the state.
  
The Star Tribune reports that dozens of bars are expected to stage so-called "theater nights" this weekend, in which all the patrons are dubbed actors. That qualifies them for a loophole in the state smoking ban, which permits performers to smoke during a theatrical production.
  
Mark Benjamin, a lawyer who first had the idea, estimates 50 to 100 bars around the state could hold theater nights this weekend.
  
Officials with the state Health Department said earlier this week they were waiting for an opinion from the state attorney general's office on the legality of the theater nights. State legislators who championed the ban said last week they loophole will likely be plugged.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)