Yes they are.
I intentionally replied to your statement in the plural because these groups are popping up, seemingly as grassroots efforts, all over the country. They are not. GASP is a hugely funded nationwide effort.
Another one that needs to be watched out for is BREATHE. This is supposedly a group of bar workers supporting smoking bans - it is not. It's a group started by a former stock broker who may currently be living in Arizona but we don't know. After 9/11 he fled fled NYC to reside in France with his partner and their children, but during the build up to the smoking ban in Delaware claimned in a letter to the editor that he was living in Delaware.
Joe Cherner is just one of the many names that should set off alarms to anyone in any place facing supposed grassroots support of smoking bans.