A wise man said:" Havng a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool".

Here in Arizona the voters passe a comprehensive ban of smoking in public places, and defeated the proposition sponsored by the tobacco companies which would allow smoking in restaurants and bars, kill funding for the enforcement of other smoking laws, and neutered all other no-smoking ordnances.

I don't share the view that these tough anti-smoking laws are unconstitutional - all these laws deal with smoking in public places, which the governments can and do regulate. Compare it to sex - people are free to do it in privacy of their home, but people are generally prohibited from engaging in sex in public and have indecency acts to prevent it, despite much more positive impact on the paricipants' health than smoking.

I feel sorry for the misfortunes of the tobacco growers. I also symathize with the perils of the cocaine (coca) growers in Latin America (and other places), whose livelihoods are threatened by the aggressive anti-drug efforts of the evil policemen and godless DEA, and the plight of the bootleggers who are harmed by the repeal of the Prohibition

Regards,
Alex