[Slim Pickens]

[ QUOTE ]
I can go along with it being legitimate to ban smoking in really public places like a bus or a train or even a stadium built with public funds, but I'm too much of a libertarian to think that if someone owns a bar they shouldn't be able to let the idiots all smoke.

Still, I appreciate living in my relatively smoke free world.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ha ha. I'm so torn on this. I actually feel like we have a decent solution now. Smoking is banned in bars and restaurants unless it is "owner operated," so there are still a few of those places that can allow smoking. They just can't hire anyone without a direct financial stake in the place to work there. Most of the argument behind the bar/restaurant smoking ban was to protect the employees, not the patrons. No one HAS to have a job, but it seems fair to require employers to provide safe working conditions even if the employees are there by choice.