But you were so gracious when I asked if I could smoke in your presence. Back when it was legal in Illinois.

In my state I don't think you can smoke around other people in public, except in SOE (state owned enterprises) ie Casino's. The restaurants and bars can suffer, but the state needs the business. You can't run anybody out of town tarred and feathered. You obey or put on an orange jump-suit and get run into jail.

That's the way it used to be; a question of manners. I don't mind people smoking (especially friends); I just don't like eating in smoke-filled rooms.

"Is there a modern equivalent of tar and feathers?"

Napalm.

The smoking ban is bad for business, but what of the cigarette tax increase? If injecting money into consumer spending stimulates the economy and creates jobs, does subtracting money out of consumer spending destroy jobs? What have the cigarette tax increases done to consumer spending?

Say 60m Americans smoke and the extra taxes cost them $10/week. That's $600m/week times 52 weeks for $31 billion dollars/year. That's money taken from consumers that might have bought other things. How many jobs have been lost as a result?

"Is there a modern equivalent of tar and feathers?"

Why try to improve the classics?

I quite cigarettes, I now smoke little cigars. I don't smoke them in public because they're much smellier.
But I'm against non-smoking bars. That's all about the power and general busy-bodying.

As an aside, I worked in the North End in 1997. Every night was usually two people, maybe 3 or 4 on Friday, and we always split tips. All the waiters were pretty good, there were no slackers.
Saturday was ridiculous so there were usually 5 people and you kept your own tips.
Non-smoking was the suck-ass section. You got shitty tips by tourists getting the pasta with red sauce and water, maybe the house wine if they were splurging. Everybody else made around $200, you made less than $100.
Not that all the people in the regular section smoked, it was that they were far less uptight and were much more fun to wait on too.

Veeshir - I was a manager for Denny's years ago and it was the same way there: non-smokers were lousy tippers and demanding. I had to be very careful to schedule the misery equally among all the servers.

T M Colon - the high cigarette taxes in some localities has made me a criminal. Over the past several years, I've transported and sold numerous cartons in neighboring states with higher taxes. I don't make a profit... so I guess I'm a dumb criminal too.

"Is there a modern equivalent of tar and feathers?"

No, and that's the problem.

We've also forgotten the all important third step : Tar them, feather them, then Run Them Out of Town on a Rail.

You seem to forget that all those servers, bartenders and musicians who were laid off and even those now earning less have been saved, saved, I say, from the second-hand smoke. Plus as a bonus they probably aren't over eating these days either.

Instead of tough love, it is toughsh__ love.

sorry - cannibis beats tobacco here

What makes this worse is that the statistics for "second-hand smoke" suck worse than for most "health studies". They went looking for a correlation and screwed around until they found one.

Most of the studies rely way too heavily on memories.

I have to admit I'm torn on this issue... On the one hand, I believe the government shouldn't be able to tell business owners what they can and can't do with their business re: smoking. On the other hand, the smoking bans definitely have improved my quality of life--without them, I wouldn't be able to go to a bar or club, eat at a restaurant, or fly on an airplane without my hair and clothes smelling like someone else's optional recreational activity. I know, I know... if it matters to me that much, I don't have to go out to eat or travel to another country.

John I think there is a major distinction between totally optional places like bars and restaurants (where no one has to go, and which vary according to the tastes of their owners and clientele), and public conveyances like airplanes, which are places we cannot avoid if we must travel long distances. In places where people have no choice but to be (especially when they involve travel), it is more reasonable to restrict smoking, and for that matter, even things like body odor!

However, I think banning smoking in privately owned establishments and clubs is an outrage.

I wanted to add one more thing. If bar and restaurant business is down through the summer where smokers can pop outside for a drag no problem, what will happen when winter comes around? Michigan winters can be mighty chilly.

What also pisses me off in all of this is that the smoking nazis lied their asses off through all this. Politicians lie, who knew?

As anti-smoking legislation began making its way politically a few years back, the smoking nazis assured everyone that all they were interested in doing was creating smoke-free evironments in offices, terminals, shopping centers, etc. Bars, nightclubs, lounges, etc. would be left alone.

Did they leave them alone? No. Damn lying smoke nazis.

T M Colon: Not to worry, winter smokers in Michigan can count on Obamacare to treat their pneumonia.