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I regret the years I spent embracing the various smoking bans.

I despise the smell of cigarettes. I hate seeing one couple smoking in an otherwise empty smoking section of a restaurant while there is a 40-minute wait for a table in the non-smoking side. I can smell cigarettes from many cars away while my windows are UP, and quickly hit the "recirculate" button on my a/c to avoid the smell.

If these bans do pass, they should be no higher than a municipal level - since that essentially represents the local community. In general, I now wish that we'd just leave it alone to let the free market decide and allow private business owners the right to run their establishments as they see fit. Just like I choose not to patronize stores with 30.06 signs, people could choose to avoid establishments that allow smoking. I don't mind the regulations that require separate rooms and ventilation systems, but let the business see if they are better off with or without the smokers.

My motivation is as selfish as it is ideological.

I've never smoked cigarettes, but I did used to enjoy 2-4 cigars a year. Last year I purchased a nice briar pipe and have enjoyed less than a smoke a month, but would like to be able to continue to find businesses that cater to pipe smokers and allow me to light up. Oddly enough, while many people still find cigars to be pungent, I've received dozens of compliments on the smell of my pipe tobacco. It's not healthy, but done in moderation (and without addiction), is like enjoying a hamburger, beer, or piece of pizza. . . or anything else that en masse will kill us.

It seems that most of the outrage is directed at cigarette smokers (although most cigar / pipe guys will tell you that they are not allowed in most places that allow cigarettes). I've become more and more bothered by the push to control others behaviors. . . like the campaign of hatred toward SUV and truck owners we've seen in the last decade - when for a true reduction of vehicle emissions, they should have been focused on increasing our utilization of the rail in lieu of interstate trucking. Many times, these are social movements more than they are public health or environmental concerns which aim to control and coerce the behavior of others.