Minnesota's "Freedom to Breathe Act" Smoking Ban

On May 16th, 2007 Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty signed the "Freedom To Breathe Act" which effectively banned smoking on a state wide level in all bars, restaurants, clubs and more. This passing bill made Minnesota the 20th state to pass similar legislation. The bill is set to go into effect on October 1st of 2007.

I'm not going to debate the countless arguments against smoking and the hazards attributed to it. That is because I completely agree. Yes, smoking causes cancer. Yes, smoking kills huge numbers of people. Yes, it is highly addictive. Yes, it stinks up your hair. Yes, it stinks up your clothes. Yes, second hand smoke is hazardous. YES YES YES YES YES!!!!! All these arguments are completely true and valid.

There are however, a few items in regard to state wide smoking bans that are routinely left out of the debate in deciding whether or not to adopt such legislation. Since this is a heated topic for me personally, I would like to take a moment to review those few items at this time.

When I talk to people and express my opposition to state wide smoking bans, many of them will say something to the effect of, "Well, but the people voted to pass it...and since we live in a democracy..."

This statement is fine, accept for the fact that we don't actually live in a Democracy. We live in something called, a Republic. This is because the founding fathers of this nation viewed Democracy as another form of tyranny. Maybe that goes to explain why you won't find the word Democracy anywhere in either the Constitution, or the Declaration Of Independence. Perhaps it also explains why we sing "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic". If you are still a little lost on this, take the following sentence, and try to fill in the blank:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the ________ for which it stands..."

What's the difference? To stay on topic, I will give the most abbreviated comparative analogy I can think of.