Bob Brown, owner of the downtown bar Cheers to You, said the ultimate decision should rest with business owners, not lawmakers.

"It completely impedes my freedom of choice, which, the last time I checked, was what this country was founded on," he said. "It certainly wasn't founded on a health issue."

A non-smoker himself, Brown nonetheless supports the rights of private property owners to regulate behavior, including allowing customers to light up if they so choose.

"I own this bar, I paid for this bar," Brown said. "If you don't want to work here, don't work here. If you don't want to come here, don't come here."

This past January, a Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates showed 57 percent of respondents said the decision to allow smoking in bars and private clubs should rest with the individual business owners. Forty percent of those surveyed favored a statewide ban.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com