Lack of signatures snuffs out cigar bar initiative

July 16, 6:56 AMWashington Law ExaminerMichael Reitz

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Cigar aficionados will be unable to vote this fall on a measure to allow smoking in cigar stores. An initiative effort to exempt cigar shops from the state's indoor smoking ban failed to gather the signatures necessary to place the measure on the November ballot.

Initiative 901, passed in 2005, prohibited smoking in all public places and places of employment. Opponents of the measure criticized the rigid mandates imposed on business owners. 

Enter Joe Arundel, sponsor of Initiative 1016 and owner of Rain City Cigar in Seattle. I-1016 would have carved out an exception in the law to allow smoking in cigar bars, cigar stores and private clubs. The I-1016 campaign relied primarily on cigar shop proprietors and bar owners for signature gathering, but by the July 3 cutoff the campaign had only 213,000 signatures—about 12,000 short of the required amount. As Arundel told The Olympian, “it’s close but no cigar.” Arundel plans to ask the legislature to pass the desired cigar exception in January.

Pending signature verification, three other initiatives could qualify for the ballot this November: I-985 (addressing congestion relief), I-1000 (allowing assisted suicide), and I-1029 (setting standards for long-term caregiver training).