text: shouldn't it be let up to the buisness owners to allow smoking or not? here in ohio we are voting to band smoking or to allow it in bars,bowling alleys,bingo halls ect.  but right now *as of 11pm* the issue to band it is passing.  yes smoking is bad but it shouldn't be up to the government to take it away. whats next....saying how many beers you can have? how much a certain food you can have? lottery you can buy? the smoking ban went into effect here in colorado july 1.  you can no longer smoke in a bar, restaurant, or any business.  friends of mine who are waitresses have seen a huge cut in their income--seems non-smokers don't tip nearly as well as smokers did.  here in the small town i live in, three bars and two restaurants have gone out of business; the owners have said it is because of the smoking ban.  as a former smoker, it doesn't matter to me personally.  but, i don't like it any time we lose another little bit of freedom.  before, it was up to the public to decide--if you don't like smoke, don't go to establishments that don't clean the air with equipment.  the cash register should be the way things like this are decided, not the government.