Private businesses had decades to declare themselves smoke free. Instead they decided to make "smoking sections" that didn't stop everyone from breathing smoke. I don't think there was such a thing as a smoke free establishment (except hospitals??) before the laws came in.
When i was in high school I included smoking bans in a speech I gave about government controlling our lives. I was very against these bans. But in my travels to places that do not have the bans, I realize how things used to be. It is severely gross to be in that haze the entire time one is indoors at airports and restaurants, to smell the ancient stink permeating the curtains and furniture.
I realize that businesses will not do it themselves, and that non-smokers won't make a big enough deal out of it to push businesses into it. I don't say "will" meaning I'm guessing - like I said, places that don't have the law don't end up with non-smoking establishments. Making a law is the only way to stop this nastiness from happening, because people and businesses are too stupid to do it themselves. The laws, IMHO, are an improvement on the entire situation, including forces smokers to be more polite about their habit.
I'm mostly a libertarian, but this is one arena that I have changed my mind on. We're too dumb to take care of ourselves, sometimes.
