It looks like the smoking ban bandwagon just got a lot bigger.

Following the nationwide trend, the Illinois State Senate passed the Smoke Free Illinois Act last week, which could make all enclosed public places including bars and restaurants 100 percent smoke free. Urbana has had similar regulations since August 2006 and Champaign since January 2007.

Whether or not we agree with the notion of a smoking ban, we believe that this issue should be determined on a local level by municipal governments. For us, the Smoke Free Act is just another example of the state dictating a Chicago-oriented policy to those living in smaller communities downstate. It may also be much more divisive or beyond enforcement, being up to business owners to keep patrons from smoking and municipal governments to police public places.

One concern with allowing local governments to vote on a smoking ban is that many will simply not enact one.

That would mean smokers would take their business from cities where smoking is banned to places where it is not. Locally, this has largely come true as smokers have relocated to Savoy and Mahomet since the local bans were enacted.

While this is a problem, it does highlight the fact that in creating a blanket smoking ban, the State Senate is not addressing business-owners who are willing to cater to smokers, nor addressing the smokers themselves. The state legislature will instead be superseding municipal governments by stripping away their rights and those of business owners.

For some, a smoking ban harkens back to the Prohibition era, when between 1920 and 1933, the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol was outlawed, though possession and consumption were never made illegal. That it was appealed after it proved to be unpopular and unenforceable calls into question whether a state smoking ban would be effective.

By enacting a ban, the state is infringing on the rights of the individual. While second-hand smoke is a big concern, customers do have a right to choose where they go. If they do not like public places that allow patrons to smoke they can go somewhere else.

All these criticisms might be in vain as more states ratify similar smoking restrictions, but the question remains: What are states going to do to protect business owners who cater to smokers, and what about the smokers themselves?

We just hope their rights do not get overlooked as Illinois takes its seat on the smoking ban bandwagon.