If you’d like to vote in an election in which you have some (albeit slim) chance of influencing the final result, then get to a polling station on the Queen St Mall in the next few weeks and vote for whether you’d like a full ban on smoking in the mall, a partial ban or no ban:
The public mood appears to be running against smokers, so a full ban is a possibility. I voted for a full ban, but later had second thoughts, realising a full ban would be a bit draconian. Also, the economist in me started thinking that if we can create designated smoking areas (as per the partial ban) then we can make the smokers better off (compared with a full ban, that is) without making non-smokers worse off. This is the definition of a Pareto improvement, in economist speak, and should be supported. The designated areas would have to fully isolate the smokers, however, and allow a large enough buffer so that no smoke could waft out and make non-smokers worse off.
Queensland Economy Watch 