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Colorado bar owner says he found smoking ban loophole

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – A Colorado Springs bar owner says he found a loophole in the statewide smoking ban by putting a tobacco shop inside his establishment.

Murray Street Darts now includes CJ’s Tobacco Shop, and a judge has ruled that makes the tavern exempt from the ban.

Murray Street Darts owner Bruce Hicks says he complied with the smoking ban for about six months after it went into effect in 2006. But he says he lost so much business because that he decided to defy it.



He was repeatedly ticketed by police and fined, but he says he raised about $16,000 for legal fees with a donation jar and by charging patrons $1 to rent an ashtray.

He says having the tobacco shop means police no longer write him tickets.


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