Statewide Smoking Ban in Louisiana

So, people all over Louisiana have been worrying about this new smoking ban in Louisiana for a while. The Louisiana Smokefree Air Act actually took effect as of yesterday, January 1st. I already know of a dozen people who are pissed off, and another five dozen people who just don't care.

This new law is actually sponsored by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, and it prohibits smoking in most businesses around Louisiana. The only places that people can smoke now are in bars (which actually bring in the majority of state wide profit through alcohol sales), casinos, horse racing tracks, off-track betting facilities, bingo halls, hotel rooms, tobacco stores, Mardi Gras ball facilities, assisted living and nursing home facilities where people have requested to be in smoking rooms, on outdoor patios at restaurants, and in Louisiana's jails until 2009.

YAY... WE CAN SMOKE IN LOUISIANA JAILS AND NURSING HOME FACILITIES! But I'm still confused... what about those restuarants that have bars, or those bars that also serve food and call themselves a Grill or whatever. I dunno... I guess I'm still not getting it. But, does it really matter?

Though I know a lot of non-smokers who hate having to be in public spaces that are filled with smoke, this law still seemes inane. In restuarants, for example, if people wish to be seated in a smoking section, they should be allowed to. It shouldn't be the state's right to regulate how a place of business should approach legal substances like cigarettes. It's legal; deal with it. There's a reason why restuarants have smoking sections AND non-smoking sections. And even then, majority of the complaints from non-smokers are about the smoking in bars, casinos, and all those places that smoking is still allowed anyway. It seems the law didn't do much but piss off a few select people. So, bah... as in humbug!