I think the effects of sitting in rush hour traffic (smog) are more harmful than a half hour meal in a restaurant with a smoking section. That being said, this law sounds like a decent balance between protecting public health and respecting free will. Arizona passed similar legislation that prohibits smoking in bars. Bars, especially mom and pop places, saw a huge drop in revenues as a result. A drop in revenues means a drop in jobs-- now,those service workers are safe from second-hand smoke...but unemployed. Everything is connected, passing a law to fix a problem without creating another set of problems is a delicate balancing act. Advocates too often push for 'their way' without taking into account the ripple effect of their demands.

While the long awaited passage of this bill was welcomed by many, it was far from being the best law that it could be. I don't know what is worse about the passage of this bill - 1) the fact that many service industry workers are not provided the same protection from the harms due to secondhand smoke exposure as other workers in the state, or 2) that Phildadelphia is the only city allowed to keep their stricter clean air law; while others, such as Allegheny Co. [Pittsburgh area], are not allowed to keep the one that County Council passed 14-1 and was in exsistence for ~16 hours before the local lawsuit [paid for by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.] challenged its existence, and was later struck down by PA Circuit Court! This truly wreaks of legislative favoritism, and continues to subject thousands of individuals to the harms of daily exposures to secondhand smoke - full of known carcinogens. This is potecting public health?