Many restaurants and coffee shops are not waiting for the official smoking ban to start and have already began a no-smoking policy. Here’s the encouraging news:

despite some restaurants’ concerns that the impending law could hurt business, several establishments with non-smoking policies have reported an upsurge in lunch and dinner guests.

But this is not an argument for laissez-faire. Those establishments are only doing well because they’re alone in serving the significant market of non-smokers. But once the law starts being implemented, a strict blanket ban is necessary because the cheaters (those who will allow smoking) will be rewarded at the expense of the law abiders.

Meanwhile, tobacco companies are themselves trying to cheat..