Springs bars defy smoking ban

Several Colorado Springs bars are openly defying the state’s ban on smoking in public places.

Bruce Hicks, owner of Murray Street Darts, spoke to about two dozen bar owners this afternoon, encouraging them to join a “civil disobedience protest.”

Hicks said the smoking ban has cost him 25 percent of his business. Allowing smoking in the bar as of three weeks ago, he said, has “brought me back my 25 percent.”

Hicks said eight businesses were part of the protest by last week. Owners of three — the Adam’s Apple Lounge on Austin Bluffs Parkway, DJ’s Bar and Grill on East Fillmore, and Hicks’ bar on Murray Boulevard — confirmed their involvement.

Today, Colorado Springs police were investigating two businesses suspected of openly violating the state’s smoking ban, according to Lt. Rafael Cintron, the department’s spokesman.

Cintron would not say which businesses are being investigated, but said the department will take “enforcement action” against any business found to be in violation of the smoking ban.

“As we become aware of those places, we are going to investigate,” Cintron said.

Violating the law could result in a $200 fine for the first offense.