Smoking: the Gateway Civil Right

I was doing an interview with National Public Radio on Friday and out of my mouth came an unexpected thought: "Smoking [Tobacco] is the Gateway Civil Right". It sounds odd at first, but I went on about eroding our rights and what is coming after tobacco.... Fortunately, there are some places where government is taking a more level headed approach to anti-smoking legislation. In Philadelphia, the mayor, not wanting to limit all legal human freedoms, has allowed exemptions for some smaller bars and establishments serving limited amounts of food, to continue to allow smoking. Perhaps this is the beginning of a more level headed approach to legislation meant to "protect" the general public.