I confess to being too glib throwing the word tyranny around. I didn’t think people would read me as being entirely serious. Anyway our friend Kevin Holtsberry writes:

I realize that your rhetoric was somewhat tongue in cheek, but I think you are a bit unfair in your “libertoid comments” on smoking. Here are a few points I think are worth noting.
1) Almost all of these bans are enacted through legislation or other democratic forums (I am not sure about NYC). Is this not the case of federalism; communities deciding how they want to live? Is it really tyranny for voters to decide they don’t want smoking in public places? As I understand it, all of the smoking bans in Ohio have passed with comfortable margins with various municipalities setting the particular policy slightly differently (for bars, restaurants, etc.). The legislature did push back when local health boards tried to implement smoking bans but only by requiring elected officials to make policy.
2) Smoking is an activity that effects other people. The medical impact of second hand smoke may not be settled but, depending on the amount, it can often prevent me from being able to eat (I have sensitive lungs). Smokers may have rights but they don’t have unlimited rights to inconvenience others.
3) I am not sure the market can really settle this. I am not sure the various sides have enough mass to push business one way or the other. Is the non-smoking issue really a serious enough price signal to set policy? How many people would have to stop eating at places that allow smoking before it was clear that they needed to ban smoking? What kind of leverage is really there?
Relatedly, many cities tried to get businesses to install air filtration systems and the like to make non-smoking sections effective. The business community, for the most part, refused to do so siting cost, etc. (I went to a Ponderosa where the non-smoking section was just an arbitrary line. I was sitting in the non-smoking section practically touching a smoker). It was only when these type of policies failed that the pressure was upped to ban smoking.
I certainly have a libertarian mind set on a lot of regulation but I think this is a community issue that is properly solved in the political arena.