Washington, D. C. has become the latest city to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. With all the breathless awe that the news is being reported with, you would think that smoking was the most important issue facing the nation.

If smoking is that bad, ban it. Make the growing and harvesting of tobacco illegal. Make the manufacture of tobacco products illegal. Make the shipping of tobacco products illegal. Make the sale of tobacco products illegal. Make the possession of tobacco products illegal. Just ban it!

Think about it, if we ban tobacco, we can stop paying subsidies to tobacco farmers for the failing prices the decrease in demand brings. Of course, the government will not have any tobacco excise taxes coming in. States won't have any tobacco excise taxes coming in. And tobacco companies won't be able to pay their portion of the tobacco settlement because they won't be taking in any revenue. Magazines will have to increase their cover prices and ad rates to compensate for the lack of tobacco advertising. NASCAR would lose some of it's biggest sponsors. And thousands of people will be laid off in the manufacturing, advertising and sales departments of tobacco companies. But at least no babies would be exposed to second hand smoke.

I say, ban tobacco today! Why pussyfoot around?