Ladies and gents, this is the real reason advocates of liberty should have taken celebratory note of last night?s amendment to the smoking ban: 

The restaurant association will fight the House’s smoking ban bill.

The association had previously agreed to remain neutral, provided the ban applied equally to bars and
restaurants. The bill that cleared the House Wednesday night excluded most bars from the smoking ban.

“It’s pretty clear. We now strongly oppose the bill,” said Paul Stone, president and CEO of the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association.
“It creates a significant amount of unfairness. There are plenty of
family friendly places that also have active bars later at night.”

The association’s lack of opposition was key because it helped
refute a key argument against the ban ? that restaurants would lose
business if diners could not smoke. 

The association helped kill a similar bill last year.

Insert your favorite sausage-manufacturing analogy here.