Ban SmokING or smokERS?

That is the question facing so-called free countries on both sides of the Atlantic.
A lack of personal freedoms has been taken too far and banning smokers rather than banning smoking is sinister new way of infringing on personal rights. There are American firms, for instance, that terminates employees for smoking on their own time.

The author of this commentary, however, is part of the problem. While he finds it outrageous to sack smokers who smoke only on their own time he has no problem banning smoking in private property such as restaurants and pubs. He therefore endorses the junk science that led to smoking bans and implicitly endorses the junk science that advocates terminating smokers.