Smoker's Rights?

OK, first of all I friggin hate cigarettes, secondly I live in Virginia which is the colony that tobacco built and my city of Richmond is the worldwide headquarters for Philip Morris the biggest tobacco company in the world. For the past three years a GOP legislator in the General Assembly has introduced a smoking ban in restaurants and public spaces, last year it failed by less than six votes and this year the Governor signed on, but it still failed. It will eventually pass, the public outcry in favor of the ban was vocal and to tell the truth surprised me a bit. Secondhand smoke causes cancer period, and the Governors support for the bill was to protect restaurant workers who are exposed to second hand smoke. This is something near and dear to me as I worked for years in restaurants and my wife's family owns restaurants so she is exposed to smokers. The "smokers rights" morons were all over this vote and were loudly decrying the ban. Screw that, you don't have a right to blow toxins in my face in a public place, smoke at home, in your car, or outside, is that so damned hard? Cities and states that have enforced bans have seen upswings in bar and restaurant revenues in almost every case. I say all this as a former smoker, I smoked my last at the age of 25, I'm 33 now, so its been awhile. If cities like NYC and Dublin can pass bans, I think we can get one here, I'm going to have to send more letters and emails next year.