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I enjoy cigars. Until recently one of the best local cigar shops was in a town north of here. The owner originally opened just a little tobacco shop, but when business boomed because his shop was first rate and prices were good he expanded. Eventually he wanted to sell wine by the glass to compliment your smoke and this too boomed so he expanded again. Eventually he had moved to a bigger location and was running as a full restaurant, selling meals and wines that compliment a good cigar. Anyone care to guess what happened next? The state stepped in and told him to stop selling cigars or close up shop. Here in Washington we have our own Draconian anti-smoking laws and one stipulation is that no smoking may occur where food is served. So, even though his establishment's very existence owed to his being a tobaccinist and wouldn't exist otherwise he had to close up his humidor and now we have lost one of the best cigar shops in the county.
To me this situation was absurd. He should have had every right to operate as he saw fit. He was successful, paid taxes (particularly heavy as he was selling tobacco products) and employed a full staff. But, the self-righteous indignation of the anti-smoking crowd made his decision for him. So much for liberty and one's own pursuit of happiness.
I will add the caveat that I absolutely abhor the smell of cigarettes. It's foul, nauseating and worse triggers my hay fever. So, I avoid it. I either don't go where I know there is smoking or I deal with it if I do. When I smoke a cigar I make sure that I'm nowhere near anyone who might be bothered by my smoke. I have forgone my pleasure many times in fact out of respect for someone nearby who didn't wish to inhale cigar smoke. I don't support smoking bans at all, but I do hold smokers responsible for a good portion of their public scorn. Ducking out every thirty minutes for "smoke breaks" or lighting up in a crowd and forcing your crap into everyone else's lungs is a good way to bring public scorn upon yourself, and deservedly so. If smokers conducted themselves with a little more decorum then perhaps smoking bans might not be so prevalent in the first place.
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