Last month, Health Minister Patrice Minors revealed plans to restrict smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants. Legislation could be tabled by the end of the year.

An increasing number of jurisdictions, including New York, Ireland and Scotland, are doing the same. Philip Barnett, head of the Chamber of Commerce Restaurant Division, has said that most bar and restaurant owners would support a ban. The UBP is enthusiastic. Public sentiment seems to favour it too. I think it's misguided.

I am not a smoker. I've only ever smoked one cigarette and I found it a thoroughly unpleasant experience. (I will, however, admit to being partial to the odd cigar every now and then.) While some may question the scientific evidence linking second-hand smoke to lung cancer, heart attacks and coronary heart disease, I'm quite prepared to believe that it will hasten my journey to the grave. I'd much rather eat in a smoke-free restaurant and I'd be far happier if I could go to a bar without my clothes smelling like an ashtray at the end of the evening. If a ban is introduced here, I certainly won't lose any sleep over it. It just seems unnecessary.

I'm not a big believer in Governments legislating to protect people from their own stupidity. If you want to go outside during a hurricane, eat KFC every day of the week, or smoke a hundred cigarettes a day, you should be free to do so. You'll have to deal with the consequences, not me.

However I do believe in Governments legislating to protect me from your stupidity, if I can't avoid it on my own. I'm happy that it's illegal to drive while under the influence of alcohol, for example: I find it tough to recognise a drunk driver until I meet one in a head-on collision on the wrong side of the road.

Second-hand smoke is something that I'm perfectly capable of avoiding on my own, however. That's why the zeal of some of the anti-smoking campaigners makes me uneasy.

Some seem to believe that it's their God-given right to be able to go into any bar or restaurant without encountering a whiff of smoke. The way I look at it, it's just another factor in my decision to go there, like the quality of the food or the speed of the service.

Some, such as Philip Barnett, have suggested that a ban is necessary to protect the health of those who work in smoky bars and restaurants. "They don't have a choice, they have to work in those conditions," said Mr. Barnett. Nonsense.

The staff could put pressure on management to change its smoking policy, get a job at one of the non-smoking establishments, or simply resign. No-one is compelled to work anywhere, whether they believe it's hazardous to their health or not.

The best evidence that a Government ban is unnecessary is that Bermuda's restaurants have already started to implement their own.

According to Charles Jeffers, public relations officer for local pressure group Bermuda Advocates for Non Smoking, a year ago there were only 20 smoke-free restaurants and diners in Bermuda.

Now there are around 45. That's enough for smokers and non-smokers to be able to chose a restaurant on smoking policy alone, if they so desire.

I eat out a lot. Yet even in those restaurants where smoking is allowed, and where there is no separate smoking section, it's rare that I actually find myself breathing in someone else's smoke. As such, an Island-wide ban seems like a disproportionate response.

On most occasions when I've found myself sat next to a smoker, I could have asked to be moved to another table. Yet I have never done so. If I can't even be bothered to move away from the smoke, I don't think I've any right to ask the Government to move the smoke away from me.

Neither have I ever suggested to any of these restaurants that they include a non-smoking section, or ban smoking from their premises. This tells me that I probably don't find their smoking policies to be as big a deal as I think I do.

Which leads me to think that I'd probably prefer the Government to spend its time legislating about things that I do think are important.

I don't like second-hand smoke. But I don't need the Government to protect me from it. I just need to move tables more often, tell the restaurants that I frequent that I'd prefer it if their establishment was smoke-free, and avoid those places that I find unbearably smoky. It's as simple as that.

@EDITRULE:

Phillip Wells

www.limeyinbermuda.com