Smoking in Public – What do you Think?

I've talked before about people who fail to pick up after their dogs, sometimes having even seen people leave their puppy plops right in front of signs. This weekend my attention was called to a similar thing, public smoking.

We could debate about smoking all day long - personal choice? Public health risk? Etc, etc, etc, and that's not what this is intended to be, but I'm curious as to what you think about the practice of smoking in public.

My mother works for a large healthcare provider in New Jersey whose facilities are all smoke free, including the property immediately outside of the buildings. Twice in the last week she's said that she's seen people smoking right next to signs that say, in effect, "This is a smoke-free facility". But, it doesn't spell out exactly where it's ok to smoke. So is that the same as leaving your doggie droppings right next to a sign saying "You must pick up after your dog", or is the sign there simply to alert smokers that there are no smoke-friendly facilities inside?

Also, what about smoking on busy streets? I spent a lot of time in NYC this past weekend and I can't tell you how many times I had smoke blown in my face from walking behind smokers.

So what are your thoughts on smoking in public? Are you a smoker? If so, how much attention do you pay to where you smoke outdoors? Or do you figure if it's outdoors it's fair game? If you're not a smoker, how do you think smokers should behave in public? Feel free to leave a comment and join in on the conversation!