BBC: "California declares smoke 'toxic' "

California has become the first US state to classify second-hand tobacco smoke as a toxic air pollutant.

The decision by the California Air Resources Board puts drifting smoke in the same category as diesel exhaust, and could lead to tougher regulation.

The agency said many scientific studies had linked passive smoking to a range of cancers and respiratory diseases.

You never get a sense in these stories that the writer thinks the level of exposure makes a difference. Is a person sitting in the non-smoking section of a restaurant endangered by the existence of the smoking section? If people are willing to vote for politicians who enact smoking bans, why can't they just avoid restaurants that have smoking arrangements they don't like?

California pioneered smoking bans in the workplace, and later in restaurants and bars.

John Froines, chairman of the Air Resources Board's Scientific Review Panel, said Thursday's ruling put "California way ahead".

Do you ever get the impression that the left looks forward to a future in which pot is legal, but tobacco is illegal?

Update: Somebody lit up a few feet away from me--call Poison Control!

Tags: smoking, California,smoking bans