Arizona Cigar, Cocktail Lounge Wins Appeal

Jennings Brown
Posted: October 20, 2008

Magnum's Cigar, Wine and Liquor Emporium is now excluded from the Arizona smoking ban after a yearlong battle with the Arizona Department of Health Services.

On September 30, the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed the Maricopa County Superior Court's ruling that Magnum's was not exempt from the smoking ban. The county court ruled on March 7 that the cigar lounge was a bar because it operated with a liquor license, and therefore did not receive the exemption that other tobacco retail stores are allowed.

The DHS implemented a new policy in October 2007 that provided a new interpretation of the 2006 Smoke-Free Arizona Act. The policy stated that "an establishment that uses the 'retail tobacco store' exception of the Act to permit indoor smoking cannot also be a 'bar' or a 'restaurant' under the Act."

This new interpretation came just months after Mahendra Kumar Patel and his son Amar had spent around $1 million on the new bar and the spirits to fill it. They built the bar to meet the guidelines of the smoking ban, providing proper ventilation and separation.

"I knew in my heart that the state was unjust and wrong," Amar Patel said. The store owner sued the DHS for implementing the policy that contradicted its previous confirmation that Magnum's could legally operate a bar inside a smoke shop. When the county court ruled in favor of the DHS, the Patels appealed. Five months later, the court of appeals overturned the lower court's decision.

Last month, allowing smoking in the store could have cost Magnum's up to $5,000 in fines each day, according to Patel. Now Magnum's patrons can smoke and drink cocktails while perusing one of the state's largest humidors.

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