VIRGINIA JUST can’t quit trying. Last week, the state Senate held a hearing on a bill that would ban smoking in all Virginia bars and restaurants. After its 59-40 House defeat in the last session, the legislation was revised to allow outdoor smoking areas.

This new push for a smoking ban has its supporters: the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the Consortium for Infant and Child Health, to drop a few names.

On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer: clean air for all.

But what’s really going on here? The people who are driving the push for the ban in restaurants and bars are medical professionals. See the list cited above.

Sen.-elect Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, sponsor of the bill, is a pediatric neurologist. The Consortium for Infant and Child Health was founded by a medical school professor. Their goal is ultimately improving children’s health, a worthy and noble desire.

I dare say medical professionals see too many parents subjecting their children to second-hand smoke, at home as well as in restaurants, an unconscionable practice indeed. During the ’60s and ’70s, I was raised in a house headed by two big-time smokers; I know the environment well and loathe it.

But I loathe government interference more.

Since a ban on smoking in the home would be unthinkable (it is unthinkable, isn’t it?), activists seek the next best alternative: banning smoking in public. If you can’t win the war at home, win the battle in the streets.

It is a brilliant strategy, one that might win in even the die-hard tobacco commonwealth of Virginia. Yet, for the want of a conscience in someparents, our legislators are willing to chip away at the personal freedom of choice in the marketplace. That is, the right of any citizen to run a business that caters to the legal preferences of its customers.

How much government interference do we want in our everyday lives? Is a private business locale the place for government intervention on this scale?

Sure, if we’re talking about public places such as libraries or eateries situated in public buildings like the café at the Jamestown Settlement, I agree that a ban on smoking is in our legislators’ purview.

I like knowing that I can visit any public venue confident that I will not be forced to breathe contaminated air. I like knowing that my government is responsible about public health concerns in a public arena. A private business, however, is not “public” even if it is open to the public. The United States is still a free country. I have never been forced to enter any restaurant or bar against my will. I freely choose where to dine or imbibe.

If possible, I always choose smoke-free, and more and more restaurants cater to this preference, unencumbered by state mandates. Restaurant workers have the same freedom of choice: they are not required to work in any establishment of any kind, smoking or not.

The free market has responded to customer needs and wishes — again, unencumbered by state mandates.

Here is classic American capitalism at work, gloriously competition-based, and ultimately yielding to pressures of the market and not the state.

This leaves smoke-filled bars and restaurants (usually the ones with bars) open to those who wish to walk in on their own accord.

And it leaves our lawmakers free to address other, less intrusive issues.

Virginian-Pilot, Jan. 27, 2008