Smoking Ban Challenged

Often I hear teachers and parents tell kids to "work it out amongst themselves."

Wouldn't it be nice if the citizens of Colorado were extended the same courtesy by their legislators?

Instead, these babysitters continue the yeomen's work of denying our choices in the name of health and safety.

Smoking is Job No. 1 for the babysitters. And, yes, the majority of Americans are repulsed by smoking, smokers or anything to do with the devil's weed. Certainly, no one is suggesting we allow patrons to puff unfiltered Camels at Applebee's while our salubrious kiddies chomp down on chicken fingers.

Yet, now that the state wants to deny all smokers in Colorado the right to assemble peacefully to smoke in any establishment, we can safely say we're on our way to prohibition. And we all know how well that works out.

Ron Granidri is disturbed by these sorts of intrusions. When Granidri, manager of an Adams County nightclub, was cited for allowing smoking in his establishment and fined $200 - he called it a "shakedown" - he found a lawyer.

"Ron thought there were a couple of problems with the smoking ban, that it was vulnerable to a challenge, so he hired me to take it to court and see what we could do," explains his attorney, Mike Martin. "My client believes in this freedom and believes that the state was attempting to use him as a way to police private property."The Denver Post