Inventory of restaurants around Va. that still allow smoking aims to roll up and smoke the ban.
Jump to full article: Style Weekly, 2009-12-22
Author: Alex Gray
Intro: It’s called simply “the List.” Composed of a user-generated inventory of restaurants around the state that still allow smoking, along with comments from users, it aims to roll up and smoke the legislation that effectively ended smoking in Virginia restaurants.
The brainchild of Moe Marchetti, the List — found at SmokeFreelyVa.com — is more than a defiant swipe at the state ban. It’s a battle cry of freedom against the tyranny of the “Communistwealth of Virginia,” as Marchetti sees it.
“It’s not appropriate in Virginia for the governor to get involved in private business to this extent,” Marchetti says. “We had something that wasn’t broken and the government decided to fix it.”
Marchetti’s list includes restaurants that have separate indoor-smoking sections, but also includes a conspiratorial list of so-called smoke-at-your-own-risk restaurants — places that allow patrons to smoke illegally and pay the fine if they’re caught. Marchetti doesn’t include restaurants on the List that offer only outdoor smoking sections because there’s no convenience in freezing while you smoke.
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