Smoking bans infringe upon your liberty. Don't get me wrong, I dislike cigarette smoking and believe it to be a disgusting habit. It's unhealthy, dirty, smelley, and people leave partially smoked cigaratte butts all over the place, particularly along the traffic islands near stop lights. I hate it.
However, as long as smoking is legal, people who choose to should be permitted to smoke. There is no reputable scientific study that indicates second hand smoke is a hazzard, not one. So why do so many say it is so? Not liking smoking isn't enough reason to ban it, and tobacco companies still make a lot of money and contribute to political campaigns in large amounts.
So what to do? License it the same as we license drinking establishments. If you want to serve alcohol in your bar/restaurant, you need a liquor license. So why not a smoking license? Then allow business owners to decide if they want to buy a lciense or not, and advertise accordingly.
The number of people who smoke is decreasing all the time according to surveys. So the niche created by smoking licenses would be small. Most business would still choose not to allow smoking, but some would opt for it. Customers will choose where they wish to go.
Out door smoking bans are simply ridiculous. Given that motor vehicles, factories and many other sources emit gases and fumes much worse than tobacco smoke, why bother with this? Simple.
A small group of people in this land want to eliminate tobacco smoking completely. They began with bans on certain airline flights, and have progresses to all public buildings in entire states and cities.
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