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Smokin’ in any Jacket

We at AtlasBlogged have discussed smoking bans before (see here, here, here, here, here, and here - cripes, it’s almost like we are smokers or something. For the record, I enjoy a nice cigar on occasion but have never had a cigarette).

Well, put another log on the fire. France is going to ban public smoking.

France is to ban smoking in all public places from next February, the prime minister has announced.

Cafes, nightclubs and restaurants are to be given until January 2008 to adapt, said Dominique de Villepin.

Smoking has always been popular in France. Putting aside all jokes about cheese and military misfortune, the French used to believe in personal liberties like smoking unfiltered fags anywhere, any time. Bans are getting more and more popular – I get 13 pages of BBC audio and video archives when doing a search for “smoking ban” (don’t take my word for it, look for yourself… Welsh, Germans, Scotland, Italy, etc, etc…). The videos offer conflicting reports on whether pub business is “booming” or taking a hit. But there is no denying that the times and the European image are changing.

Since I am not directly affected, I have the luxury of noting the special irony that it is the “Man” on the Left who is keeping smokers down. Let the college kids downtown with the bumper stickers equating Bush to Hitler stick that in their pipe and not be allowed to smoke it.

Of course, I understand why some non-smokers would support these bans. They think that they have the right to enter any place of employment, entertainment, commerce, etc, and not breathe secondhand smoke. The problem is that more and more people labor under this delusion, and individual rights have no real legal meaning in a truly democratic society.

I haven’t heard much lately from the entrepreneur who was making plans to launch the world’s first airline for smokers. But he was taking things in a direction I like:

Alexander Schoppmann, a former stockbroker, is seeking the start-up cash for Smintair - Smoker's International Airways…

The plan is to fly two leased Boeing 747s on the Duesseldorf-Tokyo route…

"Allergics against tobacco smoke or militant anti-smokers are asked to not apply," Smintair says on its jobs page.

Wouldn’t it be grand if we could someday open a bar (Jib: a “pub”) called “Atlas Drank”? And, you know, decide for ourselves whether or not to allow smoking on our property? Man, that’d be great. Allergics against tobacco smoke or militant anti-smokers are asked to not apply. If you have any complaints, contact our management - John Galt.