Do you think a bar or restaurant owner should be able to set their own smoking policies?

I urge people to contemplate the consequences of giving a business owner the "right" to set their own policies when it comes to public & employee safety. If that were the case there would be no restrictions on occupancy numbers for fire safety, there would be no food handling restrictions for food safety, there would be no minimum wage to prevent worker exploitation, and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, many business owners, if given the option, would choose to cut corners in these areas at the risk of public and employee safety. I don't see the issue of smoking in these establishments as unique from many other safety concerns. Every waiter/waitress, bartender, busperson, etc. should have the right to go to work and not worry about how it's going to negatively impact their health. An employee can't can't always leave, especially in the current economical situation, to find a job in a safer (smoke-free) environment.

A flexibility would only generate more effort to sneak things by. Across the board ban would not create any gray issues that people might use to try and sneak things by officials. Everyone is entitled to good health...especially children who might become innocent victims. I used to be a very heavy smoker. I suffered a bad stroke at a very early age. Smoking may been one of the causes of my stroke. It is a dirty filthy habit that only gets worse with more smoking.

Smoking restrictions are sweeping the nation, and with good reason. It is not an issue of an individual's liberty but one of everyone's health. The medical evidence is irrefutable. It is a shame that so little of the tobacco settlement is spent on smoking cessation efforts and healthcare costs caused by smoking, the fundamental justification for the suit in the first place. Cigarette smoke wafting through a restaurant ruins my meal. I didn't know that until I had a heart attack and had to stop smoking...only then did I truly understand how stupid I was to smoke! We humans are funny that way. We as a society owe it to ourselves and our fellow man to protect ourselves from known and certain harm. That is what this smoking ban is about and I support it absolutely.

My husband died November 26 from lung cancer. I've seen first hand what smoking does to a body. Anyone stupid enough to smoke, that is your problem. Don't make it mine. If you have to smoke, just do it in YOUR own home or car. There are many, many others (including me!!!!) that are extremely offended by the smoke and what it does to the human body. Also, let's don't forget the stink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!