Spain: Actors smoking 'joints' not illegal

Actors playing joint-puffing hippies in a Spanish adaptation of the American musical Hair are not violating a new law banning tobacco-smoking in enclosed public places, an official said yesterday.

A spectator had complained that the actors may have been smoking tobacco, and a formal complaint was filed with the play's producers, Barcelona city health department official Manuel Piñeiro said.

But the production company ultimately showed the cigarettes were just herbs such as basil and not tobacco.