[Just another Joe]

but we do not allow restaurant owners to determine restaurant use.

But we have, up till the current antismoking explosion, allowed them to decide what was allowed in their business if it did not affect the public health and it was legal.
Until that point they WERE allowed to decide.
If unequivical proof can be given that ETS affects the public health I will agree that the govt should be allowed to decide for the business owner.

[Leonard210]

There are studies that point to second-hand smoke, or passive smoke, as cause for concern. One study related it to artery problems JAMA (1998;279:119-124) also see The Lancet 2001;358:2103-2109. Smokers get one study and they run the streets waving it over their head. I'd do a more extensive search for passive smoke studies, but smokers will never allow their rights to be violated.