Why respect the owner's rights only for private smoking clubs? Why not permit the owner of ANY property to excercise the decision of what he will permit on the property HE paid for?
Obviously, certain things are more reasonable areas of restriction. Practices that pose a danger to unsuspecting patrons, or that endanger people not even on the property, could conceivably be controlled. But smoking isn't one of these things. Tobacco smoke can be easily, almost instantly detected by anyone entering a restaurant or bar. And, outside of that restaurant or bar, it doesn't really affect anyone. If people want to avoid the easily detected danger or cigarrette smoke, they can simply go elsewhere. There's no need for government involvement, perhaps beyond requiring warning signs.
Ultimately, though, I suspect these bans have little to do with harm and a lot to do with convenience. No one is really that afraid of cigarette smoke, they just want to be able to go into any restaurant they want and have it cater to their wishes. Sad, really.
"Why respect the owner's rights only for private smoking clubs? Why not permit the owner of ANY property to excercise the decision of what he will permit on the property HE paid for?"
you have that right. But when you voluntarily open your property to the public then you incur certain responsibilities.
I'd even support a situation where visitors to a business could sign a waiver saying they agree to have chemical residue exposure as a condition of entry. I'm not against smoking. I am against having smoke applied nonconsensually.
This is the only drug and drug residue that is routinely applied to people who don't want it.
You are totally on mark here. Take New Jersey. The anti's banned smoking in all restaurants and bars, BUT left smoking in the casino's. Pretty funny, isn't it?
They say "To protect the health of the workers." Well, what are the workers in a casino's? ROBOTS???
The damn New Jersey lawmakers want to protect all that greedy money flowing into the state FROM the casino. As long as the bans work for them, they are all good.