A tobacco state with a smoking ban? Isn’t that some sort of philosophical oxymoron?

Earlier this January, a new North Carolina law that went into effect said the state’s bars, restaurants, and certain “lodging establishments” had to go smoke-free. The new state smoking ban exempts country clubs, nonprofit private clubs, and cigar bars from the ban, the latter which must meet certain criteria to qualify for the exemption.

With the smoking ban, North Carolina, the nation’s top tobacco producer, adds itself to the growing list of states to prohibit puffing up in bars and restaurants. Virginia, another big tobacco producer, instituted its own ban on December 1, 2009.

“Hallelujah! Another freedom lost,’ was the ironic reaction of one person who questioned the ban in a letter to the editor of the Jacksonville Daily News, adding, “The last time I checked, smoking was still legal in North Carolina. How is it possible that the government can tell you what legal activities are allowed in a privately owned establishment?”

Representing the sentiment of the smoking ban-supporter side, another person said it this way in Hendersonville’s Times-News: “That is correct, dearly beloved, public smoking inside North Carolina restaurants and bars is no longer merely discourteous, brutish and selfish, it is now a punishable offense! Excellent and way past time.”

The N.C. smoking ban is clearly dividing the public, but who’s right? Should there be laws to protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke? Or do you think that smoking in general is becoming a little too vilified?