For the North County Times

Smokers have become the latest victim of a zero tolerance policy and are the new unpopular minorities, with fewer places to escape from the tyranny of the majority. Recently, Belmont, California's ban of smoking in private apartment blocks and shared houses officially went into affect. Many will take pride that Encinitas joined Oakland, and Calabasas, along with most North County beach cities, in outlawing smoking at its beaches and parks last week.

On cue, elected officials have raced to be seen as the most aggressive in their hopes to preserve goodness. "It's not that you shouldn't smoke, it's that you shouldn't bother someone with your smoke," said Belmont Council Member Dave Warden. The councilman's theory about not bothering anybody reminded me of laws in the United Kingdom known as Anti-Social Behavior Orders (ASBOs), which are used to punish and correct behavior that is not illegal, but which someone somewhere finds annoying.

So if your neighbor is washing their dishes loudly, and you don't like it, simply go to a magistrates' court and get one of these orders that bans you acting in that way. If said neighbor breaks the ASBO, they go to jail.

Freedom of choice only gets the nod of approval when it comes to abortion, sexual orientation and not ever having to be subjected to anything that may even remotely remind one of Christmas.

It would be taboo (as it should be) to suggest one enjoyed their time at the beach considerably less around the "racket" created by children. Or suppose one enjoyed their beach time less, because they were put off by what they perceived as distasteful public displays of affection between two other, male beach enjoyers. Personally I would not have any problem with this, but it's not out of the question that someone may be "bothered" by such behavior. Let's not get started on your perfume or your dog, or that constant yapping on the cell phone. When do we stop trying to purge society of everything that meets with disapproval?

It's interesting to consider that the simple pleasure of smoking that we have stomped out all over California, is the same pleasure that pushed Iraqis to the point where they decided to fight back. As pointed out a couple of months ago by Fred Thompson, an al-Qaida ban on smoking in Anbar province was one reason the Iraqis in that region bolted to the U.S. side. Sort of flips the old saying, "one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist" on its head.

Before I am excoriated for my views, I would like to point out I am not a smoker, yet I believe that pleasure and the pursuit of happiness are extremely important to human beings and that such pleasures should be given up only as an absolute last resort.

I'm sure many people, including many smokers, would have difficulty understanding why I find pleasure in very spicy Indian food, or fine wine. I do not ask these people to share my taste or preferences, only that they tolerate them. But toleration is exactly what has been snuffed out in this crusade against smoking.

- Encinitas resident Sunana Batra is a freelance columnist for the North County Times. Contact her at sunanabatra@gmail.com.