A property owner does not have the right to allow rape or murder on his property. Thus, he does not have the right to allow one to poison the air that others breath. Smoking is assault.  Smoking is disorderly conduct.  Smoking is a public nuisance. A crime!  Keep your nasty habits at home where you can poison your family.  

   Smoking is legal..If they want to stop it..make it illegal..If its so bad for you why is our Government profiting from its sale?

   Just make it illegal..since people have tp practically hide anyway..just make it illegal..then It could be sold illegally like pot..and instead of making money the state could spend money prosecuting it..meanwhile..Guys like me could make money selling it Tax free!! Wow!!! And all you tobacco haters could find someone else to attack..lets see ..who shall it be..fat people?...alcohol(which is the States favorite drug to sell)..or my favorite..lets tax all the Churches..yea thats thwe ticket..after all when tobacco use is stamped out..all this tax money will have to be replaced..dont worry..YOUR NEXT!!!...

 Being someone that has severe nasal allergies, I can honestly say that restriction in restaurants is a must. Yes, I know that there are those that think the government is taking away their rights, but in my experience most smokers are insensitive to non-smokers. For example, in my workplace there is a policy that you are not allowed to smoke within 25 feet of the entrances. Well, the few people that smoke in my office do not respect that rule at all. Yes, they are reminded when someone complains, but eventually they are right back at the entrance. I've even seen one standing inside and puffing out the door. So why should government get involved? Because restaurants aren't going to take the responsibility for providing a clean atmosphere. You can go to a restauarant and ask for non-smoking, but alot of these places seat you right next to the bar where the smokers are. No offense to "die" hard smokers, but when it really makes someone sick, such as myself, something should be done. More and more studies are pointing out the dangers of second hand smoke even at low levels.

Separately ventilated smoking rooms: useless.  If the government is going to ban smoking in restaurants, do it completely.

It will also cut down on the wait at restaurants because smokers won't be sitting around smoking after dinner.

 Smokers are not second class they just need to realize that us non smokers have rights too. I am sick and tired of  leaving a resturant and having to clean my clothes as soon as i get home. It is nasty period......

I’ll add a bit since I saw one person comment on the insensitivity of smokers toward non-smokers.  Growing up in a house full of smokers, I was constantly exposed to heavy doses of second-hand smoke in our home, in the car, and restaurants we went to.  My parents always sat us in the smoking sections and would puff away before, during, and after a meal.  The car rides were often the worst.  If it was cold or raining, the windows mostly stayed up and we were bombarded by smoke haze.  Our house stunk of an ashtray and everything had a nice yellow-brown tan to it, even the formerly white walls.  Fresh laundry would only remain fresh for about 10 minutes, after which the foul stench would permeate every thread and leave its distinctive odor.  I don’t remember a day in which I went to school without smelling like I had smoked half a pack by the time I arrived.  I wound up doing my best to reduce my exposure, but it was a futile effort.  I bought 2 air purifiers for my bedroom, duct-taped off the vents to my room to prevent the central heat/air system from blowing smoke into my room.  I weather-stripped my bedroom door and would stuff a towel against the floor to block drafts from coming from underneath it.  All of those efforts still didn’t do enough to keep my exposure levels down.  I would ask my parents to smoke outside, they’d sit in their recliners and light up.  I’d ask to sit in the non-smoking section of a restaurant, they’d ignore it.  I’d ask my parents not to smoke in the car, but to do it before or after the drive or if we stopped somewhere, they’d press the car lighter to prepare for another one.  Now, 10 years removed from that situation, I still have permanent asthma and breathing problems.  I’m always at risk for bronchitis, pneumonia, and other respiratory problems and get them more frequently than most people.  It’s a sick, addictive, nasty habit that has had permanent effects on the quality of my life because my parents were too selfish to give up the habit for the sake of my and my sister’s health.  Now she’s a heavy smoker too and is racked with that smoker’s cough that all too often resonated through the house when I was growing up.  I am full-well aware that most likely, my parents will die from lung cancer the same way that some other relatives have in the past few years…all smoking related.  The sooner smoking is stricken from being an acceptable behavior, the better…however it comes about.

I think that this compromise is likely to become law.  I have visited other localities (New York City, Vermont, and Colorado) where smoking is not allowed in any restaurant.  Smokers have to go outside.  In those other places there does not seem to be a decrease in their business or revenue.  Restaurant owners who are concerned about the expense of providing separate smoking rooms and ventilation should take a page out of the experience of other businesses elsewhere.  The simple solution for the restaurant owners is to ban smoking in their business establishments.  Doing so, will mean that they do not have to go to the expense of providing separate rooms and ventilation.

For your information, I am currently trying to stop smoking.  I am very sympathetic to those who enjoy smoking, but I do believe that the majority of the people who frequent restaurants prefer to dine in places that are smoke free. 

The basic tenet of our freedom is that we are allowed to do anything that does not cause harm to others.  It is documented fact that second hand smoke is harmful.  So, restricting the right to smoke does not take away smokers' freedom, rather it protects the freedom of non-smokers to breathe free.

 It's true what you said and I'm all for that. Restaurant owners go through alot of crap to run their place and I'm sure they pay plenty of tax that the city really needs. Plus all the rules and regulations that's always effecting their business. Non-smokers need to find a restaurant that have no smoking. The rights of the restaurant has been taken away for non smokers. His or her business "WILL" lose money. Its damn they do and damn they don't. Too much crying over this crap. A ventilation is good enough. I have'nt check to see how many people got cancer or suffocated at a smoking restaurant. When all this is said and done I personally believe that all restaurant will lose alot of money and some will close.

I moved from Roanoke 5 years ago to Alpharetta, GA. Since then, I have seen the no smoking law passed down here in Georgia. Roanoke needs to review other cities and how they handle these issues. It's not as drastic as everyone makes is out to be. Take a local bar and grill I go to down here. It went from smoking to non-smoking when the law was passed. I see the same people in it as I did before. In fact, it's even busier because even smokers get tired of breathing second hand smoke when it gets to bad. FAmilies come in and eat more now. Smokers just walk outside and smoke. No big deal. Some places created an outside area, with tables just for smoking. Which people enjoy. For other bars and restaurants, that wanted to keep smokers inside, they just have the bar area sealed off from the rest of the restaurant. You just walk through a glass door and there ya are! In your smokey bar! It's not that big of a deal. Sure, if your a smoker, it may be an inconvieninence to walk outside to smoke in the bars that don't allow it inside, but hey, your lighting a cigarette. It's your choice to smoke it, but you can't honestly blame people for not wanting to breath clean air inside a business. So if you smoke, step outside or in the bar area of the restaurant, if you don't smoke, stay in the food side and out of the bar area! Very simple, and very easy to adapt too. BTL

It's about time.  A majority of states have bans on smoking in restaurants and/or all workplaces, and several others have local options where many or most major localities have chosen to ban smoking in workplaces.

This IS a health issue.  Second hand smoke is hazardous to your heath.  Period.  The ban on smoking in restaurant is long overdue, and in fact, we should have a ban on smoking in all workplaces with no exceptions, because no employee should be subjected to this hazard, willingly or otherwise.  State health departments make all sorts of demands on restaurants about cleanliness and hygiene practices - all in the name of public health.  There is not one iota of difference between a smoking ban and those regulations.  They exist to protect the public.

This IS ALSO a business issue, but the restaurant owners' association, as usual, has the wrong end of the stick.  In localities where these bans have occured, restaurants have fought tooth and nail to protect their right to allow smoking.  After losing their battle, they have been pleasantly surprised to find that the huge majority of customers who don't smoke return to their restaurants and their business improves (count me as one of the returning customers).

Restaurant owners will be winners, patrons of restaurants will be winners (and there will be more of them), employees of restaurants will be winners, smokers will be winners because they will smoke less (or may even quit).

I moved to California for a few years and went into shock that smoking was not  allowed in restaurants. But, guess what? I got used to it! Moreover, when I moved back to Roanoke it was hard to eat with the smell of cigarettes lingering in the air. My behavior did change.

Interestingly enough, business at these eateries never suffered. No closures noted like the fear mongers would have you believe. Actually, the business could improve since the tables would turn over faster since there would be much less lingering to have that smoke.

Face it guys, its gonna happen. You won't die...remain calm. There's bigger fish to fry...like...the practice of allowing minors (and I mean young children) in bar areas, perched up on bar stools along side Mom or Dad. This should never be though I see it everywhere I go.

I agree with the poster that says if smoking is so bad, why don't they just make it illegal like they do with drugs.

as long as smoking is legal, Resturants reserve the rights to run their business however they like. ....However, I also think if a resturant reserve the rights to ban smoking as well although they may need help with some kind of security guard or someone like that in case one refuse to ignore the policy.

Also, we live in the tobbacco state (and near other tobbacco states) . I don't think people in CA or New England smoke that much anyhow.

I'm a lifelong SECOND handsmoker. My father was a chain smoker. Top it of all, Smoking (and any kind fumes) trigger my asthma. It wasn't easy (My dad didn't really know how much affect he had on me. I didn't even know smoking was triggering it until I left home.. and then noticed that everytime I burned my food, I have to reach for an inhaler)

If people are really concerned about being exposed to second hand smoking because the of resturant they choose, just ban cigerettes. Because many children and spouses have to live with it too in the private of their own homes. Other than that, most people who go to those kind of resturant don't even care about being exposed to second hand smoking. Like me. like I said, I grew up in a home like that, it didn't make a different to me, and I didn't really cared if I had to reach for an inhaler either, I'm used to it.

 Did you know that in an establishment that allows smoking, the pollution of that indoor air is higher than a red day (air quality red days are the worst pollution level where people are warned to stay inside). Tennessee measured the air quality in smoking and smoke free restaurants and reported it in their local news before they passed a smoking ban. Whose rights are violated and whose liberties will be violated is the core of discontent in this serious public health issue vs goverment regulatory standards. Unfortunately for smokers, the issue is the problem of controlling secondhand smoke, which is impossible to do in a pubic environment. All of the good intentions to control the flow of air filled with secondhand smoke is like trying to contain pee in a swimming pool. (example, but it is quite fitting) The ventilation rooms suggested in the new bill simply do not eliminate exposure.

  Surgeon General issued a statement in 2006. The US Surgeon General Richard Carmona released a report entitled The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. The debate is over. The science is clear – Tobacco smoke pollution is a serious health hazard. This release contained these major conclusions:

-The scientific evidence indicates that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

- Eliminating smoking in indoor spaces fully protects people from exposure to secondhand smoke. Separating sections, air cleaning systems, and ventilating buildings cannot eliminate the risk of exposure to secondhand smoke.

- Many millions of Americans are still exposed to secondhand smoke in their workplaces.

- Secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in people who do not smoke.

- Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. A child exposed to their parent’s smoke will have respiratory symptoms and slow lung growth.

- Exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

I'm not sure how much more evidence can be presented for folks to understand how seious this problem is.

I couldn't be more happier than I am to hear that this has been passed.

I have a lung disease and I have to be very careful as to where i eat.

Several places like cracker barrel, texas steakouse, and texas roadhouse

are some of the worst to try to eat at.  I think the phrase: "separately ventilated smoking section"

is going to be the issue.... who is going to assure that this is handled properly?

I am ALL FOR IT!!  Thanks Gov Kaine!