On Jan. 1, 1998, California initiated laws banning smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places.

The laws were made to protect the health and safety of workers in these public places and the customers who frequent them.

Ames City Council is considering a similar measure to ban smoking in restaurants in an effort to curb teen smoking, and promote the health of those who work and give their patronage to the restaurants.

In actuality, this is just another attempt by local government agencies to get in our business.

They can help curb teen smoking in restaurants with a law already in effect: No one under 18 is allowed to buy or use tobacco, so why the overkill?

Let’s consider the logic at work here, shall we?

Teen-agers are getting away with smoking in restaurants. Banning smoking in restaurants would therefore curb teen-age smoking. Why restrict the rights of adults to use a legal product just to stop one segment of the population from breaking the law? This would be akin to banning everyone from driving just because a couple of teen-agers like to speed.

We have restaurants in Ames such as Perkins and Village Inn that card youths who ask to sit in smoking sections. This kind of measure should be more than enough if carried out across the board. What kind of host seats 13-year-olds in smoking sections in the first place? If Ames wants to stop teens from smoking, they should make merchants card anyone who wants to smoke on their premises.

Teen smoking is bad, we all agree on that, but Ames is trying to kill flies with nukes instead of a fly swatter.

Customers choose to go to restaurants for a variety of reasons, and smoking is one of them. Smoking in a smoking section might hurt the health of a customer 20 feet away in a nonsmoking section, but they can go elsewhere. Let the restaurants decide which is best for their business and their customers.

It might hurt the health of some poor server, but they should always be allowed to work in the nonsmoking section anyway. If employers find themselves unable to hire because of smoking, they can nix it themselves. In short, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

Choosing to strike a match and blow smoke circles while having a beer in your favorite restaurant may not be specified in the Constitution, but it is still a personal choice. The greatest foundation of the United States is freedom of choice.

The Ames City Council should respect this and stop trying to impede the rights of its citizens.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Kate Kompas, Greg Jerrett, Heidi Jolivette, Justin Kendall and Tara Payne.