The cigarette has entered a new phase. More than a health hazard, it is now considered an accomplice to immorality. Of course, in Puritan Massachusetts, such nonsense cannot be tolerated. Placing itself on the side of the righteous majority, the staff ignores the preferences of the smoking minority.

Tobacco use is legal. Restaurant proprietors should be permitted to decide on an individual basis whether to abolish smoking in their establishments.

If the majority truly favor smokefree environments, then restaurants catering to it (like Au Bon Pain, Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, whose Cambridge outlets have already banned smoking) will succeed.