No, polluting hasn't always been illegal. Up until the mid 1900's there were almost no restrictions on what can be buried, dumped into the ocean, or spewed into the air. It's only when people started to discover the negative toll on the environment that the gov't started to outlaw and regulate these things. Exactly, just like I don't smoke, I don't want someone forcing me to against my will. And I thought you weren't blaming anyone for your addiction. No one has been selling addictive cigarettes to you. You've been buying them on your own free will. You knew all the bad things before you even started but chose to ignore them. And who could blame them? Have you seen how much $$$ cig companies are losing in lawsuits these days? But fear not, your gov't will be there so long as they can keep collecting taxes. In this case (NYC smoking ban) this has nothing to do with getting people to quit smoking. Specifically, this is about protecting the health of employees in smoking establishments. Regardless of the benefits non-smoking patrons receive from the ban.