Banning smoking in public places encourage illegal dens
Ah, the unintended consequences - if unpredictable - the ban. On Sunday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that in the wake of a crackdown on strip clubs and smoking in bars, a new mysterious presence has been reported in the streets of the city: the smoking room. These dependencies without permission offer what legal clubs and bars can not: a place for social drinkers to smoke while drinking and see exotic dancers after midnight. Vice agents say they also provide a haven for prostitution.
The dens are a response to laws that came into effect last year banning smoking in public places and naked dancing after midnight.
A vice squad detective in Cleveland, Tom Shoulders, compared the dens with the gin houses of the era of Prohibition. "If you impose too many restrictions on people, they will find another place to look for their entertainment," he said.
According to what the informants tell the police, customers of the dens, mostly white guys from the suburbs, bringing their own liquor, cigarettes and cigars, while doormen in clubs charge tickets to $ 25 for a "buffet".
"They have succeeded in creating this underground, sordid business that handles cash only and can not be taxed or regulated or not protected by the police," said Skip Lazzaro, a lawyer who represents legal nightclubs in court - even though not know whether he should be referring to the owners and customers or the legislature.
Although the combination of exotic dancers at all hours and smoking is a new turn underground, the underground den is not. Indeed, the underground dens , or clubs that covertly allow smoking despite laws prohibiting it, seem to arise everywhere where smoking bans to appear. You can find New York to San Francisco and many places in between ... if only they know who to ask.
