LANSING, Mich., July 9 (UPI) -- A group of Michigan bar owners called on its members to stop selling state lottery tickets this weekend to protest a smoking ban they say hurts business.
The threat from the group, Protect Private Property Rights in Michigan -- Amend the Michigan Smoking Ban, drew a warning from state officials that participating bars could lose their license to sell lottery tickets.
The group says its first lottery sales boycott over the smoking ban, June 19, lasted only a few hours and 515 bar owners participated. This weekend's protest is to be all day Saturday and Sunday, the group said.
Bar owners demand the state legislature modify the May 1 smoking ban to exclude private property including bars.
"We're not promoting cigarette use. Ban smoking on a street corner, not in an adult-only establishment," said group spokesman Steve Mace. "The state says, 'Use this product, let us tax this product, but we're going to tell you where you can use it.' Leave that decision to proprietors, based on their patrons' desires."
Lottery spokeswoman Andi Brancato said bars participating in either boycott could face suspension or revocation of their licenses to sell lottery tickets.
"We certainly understand that they have concerns and they have a right to those concerns," she said. "But the lottery didn't make the law."
Brancato said about 220 retailers -- 2 percent of state lottery vendors -- turned off lottery machines June 19, leading to a revenue loss of $125,700.
