Smoking in "Hair" is not breaking Spain's law

(CBS/AP) Actors puffing hand-rolled herbal cigarettes in the Spanish adaptation of "Hair" are not violating the recent law prohibiting smoking in any enclosed public place.

Pictures: Smoking bans in U.S.

The law, passed on Jan. 2, 2011, bans all tobacco-smoking in enclosed public spaces, but also extends to parks, hospital doorways, bars and restaurants.

A letter sent by the Health Department of Barcelona's city government to the Apolo Theater, where the play is staged, refuted a spectator's complaint, saying that the cigarettes contain ingredients like basil, not tobacco.

The play's artistic director Joan Lluis Goas said the original warning the theater received from the health department was "too much" and that artistic and cultural expression should be protected from "silliness and irrationality."