A judge has ruled that private clubs in Ohio can't allow smoking despite language in the statewide smoking ban that seemed to allow it.
Judge David Cain of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court ruled that the state overstepped its authority in writing rules exempting private clubs, including V-F-W halls that had fought to be excluded from the ban.
Cain granted the request of a restaurant and bar owners' group to block the exemption from taking effect.
He says the Ohio Department of Health's attempt to resolve contradictory language in the SmokeFree Act which both allowed smoking in private clubs and restricted smoking in most workplaces was overbroad.
