think the thread is really about the presumed rights of the state to define and regulate peoples private lives and how much interference are we prepared to accept.

I disagree. _Private_ lives aren't the point. If anyone attempted to outlaw smoking by a person, alone outdoors, with nobody else anywhere near; or alone in his own residence, I'd oppose it. The thread is about what people do to other people - especially children - by means of their second- or third-hand smoke. That's all it was supposed to be about.

P.