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• Kansas City smoking ban has puffers in a huff 

Smokers -- a pretty rebellious lot by nature -- weren't taking Kansas City's new smoking ban in stride over the weekend.

The voter-approved smoke-free law took effect at midnight Friday, officially banning smoking in restaurants, taverns and tobacco stores -- and that had many who embrace the habit riled up.

"I kind of feel like a minority now. Having to go outside to smoke in a public bar is just silly," groused James Hyde, who even wore a T-shirt protesting the ban with a big 'No' on front as he puffed away outside Kennedy's Bar in Waldo.

Smokers like Hyde have withstood increasingly aggressive complaints over smoking's effects on their health and those around them. But at their neighborhood tavern they weren't beat up for their habit. Indeed, often they were in the majority.

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