This is great news; I am tired of spending a night out on the town with friends and coworkers and coming back with my clothes, and car reeking of cigarette smoke.  I understand this limits the freedoms of the smokers, but it does protect my personal space, I don't arrive home feeling guilty for hanging out because now it will take days to get the smoke smell out of my car and my jacket.  Some of my friends and coworkers are smokers but they are quite responsible and only smoke in designated smoking areas, I am sympathetic to their potential increased burden and elated at my new potential freedom.

The State | 04/19/2008 | Smoking ban in Columbia bars possible

Councilman E.W. Cromartie, one of the four council members who voted to exempt bars from the city’s smoking ban, is having second thoughts about the issue.  “I think we may have to look at that again,” Cromartie said. “It has been some time since the last time we voted.”  Only one council member would have to change his or her vote for the issue to be reconsidered.  The change comes after hearing complaints from restaurant and bar owners.  Andy Yogherty, owner of the Publick House on Devine Street, pleaded with council members earlier this week to change their minds. He said excluding bars penalizes businesses, like his, that have both a restaurant and a bar.  If there is to be a smoking ban, he said, it should be enforced across the board. Yogherty apparently struck a chord with Cromartie.

What do you think?

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Update 9 years ago as of March 2021:

This did end up passing at least for restaurants and places in the city from what I could tell, but I still occasionally end up coming back home with clothes that smell like stale cigarettes, but I can't remember when or where the last time was.