Posted 10/21/2006 10:46:00 AM by Douglas

More on Houston's smoking ban. It's a bitch trying to figure out who is exempt and who isn't.

The city's new smoking ordinance promises clearer air by adding locations where people can't light up, but is a little hazy about where they can.

The ordinance, approved by the City Council on Wednesday, bans smoking in most workplaces, including bars, starting next September. It includes an array of exemptions: outdoor patios, cigar shops, tobacco bars, hotel and motel rooms, and private rooms in nursing homes.

Why is there an exemption? Either second-hand smoke is the scourge of humanity and must be stopped, or it's at best, an annoyance. If it's a threat to my health in a bar, it's a threat to my health on a patio. So what about "cigar bars?"

The new ordinance specifies what qualifies as a cigar shop: an establishment that brings in at least 60 percent of its revenue from tobacco product sales.

It also defines a tobacco bar, where sales of smoking products for use at the establishment must exceed 20 percent of revenue. To qualify, tobacco bars must use an air-ventilation system, buy a permit from the city and offer health insurance for employees. They also must have been in operation by Sept. 1 of this year, which prevents bar owners from changing the nature of their business to qualify after the ban goes into effect.

For a while it wasn't abundantly clear that this ordinance wasn't all about money, so I'm glad the city council has shown their true intentions. So second-hand smoke isn't dangerous if you buy a permit from the city to allow it? It's all starting to make sense now. But this goes way too far:

The only exemption included in White's proposal that was rejected by the council was for private functions held by nonprofit organizations at their own facilities.

Their own facilities? How the hell can the city tell anyone what to do in their own, private, facilities? Dennis Leary was right: They'll be kicking down our doors to confiscate our Marlboros in no time.