Business owners aren't free to do whatever they want. We're all living in one or another civilized society, not some Libertarian fantasy world. There are numerous health, safety, environmental, handicap access and other regulations that all business owners must obey. Some of these restrictions make good sense and others go too far. (personally I would be more than willing to accept a higher degree of regulation in exchange for a lower degree of taxation) Banning smoking in public establishments does makes sense from a public safety viewpoint.

We really need to step back for a moment and reconsider exactly what smoking is, and why we somehow seem to think that it's perfectly normal behaviour. A human being takes a plant which has been treated with dangerous chemical additives, lights it on fire and sucks the cancer-causing fumes into their lungs. No matter how long this has been a human practice, that is insanely irrational, self-destructive behaviour!! How many more mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and friends do we need to see die of cancer before we all come to our senses?

Actually, I give us Americans great credit for waking up and realizing this truth to a far greater extent than Europeans. Only about 25% of US adults still smoke and that's much, much lower than in the "enlightened" continent of Europe (no offense, Francois, but you can keep your Gaulois).