John Podhoretz: naturally the advocates of smoking bans draw analogies to issues such as drunk driving or air pollution, but the analogies are faulty. Drunk driving is a matter of public concern because it happens on a public highway. Air pollution is a matter of public concern because what you do on your own property could well diminish my legitimate right to enjoy life — or live life — on my own property. You are correct that these arguments have some political utility, but that is what is so depressing: they represent another assault on the important distinction between public and private. They turn private businesses into public utilities.

The anti-smoking crowd has encroached on our freedom in a related way, too, by making the argument that lawmakers have cause to legislate against smoking because we all pay for it via Medicare and Medicaid. While the first line of attack socializes private property, this argument socializes risk. Most of us do things on occasion, or even frequently, that may increase health risks to ourselves, but if the prohibitionists are right, these actions are all potentially regulated on similar grounds. Hands off my meatball sub, ladies and gentlemen.