Smoke-free bars? Really?

Here's a bad idea: A smoking ban in Myrtle Beach bars.

As WBTW-News 13's Mason Snyder reported tonight, "Next month Smoke Free Horry plans to present Myrtle Beach City Council with research its done that shows the negative health impact second hand smoke has."

If smoking is legal, businesses ought to be able to choose whether they will allow smoking -- especially bars and restaurants.

Here we go again with the never-ending confusion between "freedom-to" and "freedom-from."

We ought to just allow as much "freedom-to" as possible, and let the people who want "freedom-from" go somewhere else.

That includes me. I'm a non-smoker.

If a business owner wants to establish a bar and allow smoking, does that mean everyone has a divine right to go into that bar on his or her own terms?

Should we worry about the sensibilities of animal-rights advocates by banning steak from steakhouses? Does an animal-rights advocate have a divine right to enter Liberty Steakhouse & Brewery and remain un-offended?

Sure, cigarettes are unhealthy. So are cheeseburgers and everything else on the McDonald's menu.

Just keep Horry County a truly Independent Republic.