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EDITORIAL: Corpus Christi should join the growing list of cities and states that now ban smoking in restaurants. 

New York City has enacted a strict smoking ban, prohibiting lighting up in almost all restaurants, bars and clubs. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed a law Monday banning smoking at work. A bill was signed into law in Maine Tuesday banning smoking in all bars and restaurants. California, Delaware, and Connecticut have passed similar laws. So on and so forth.

Which brings us to Corpus Christi. This city passed a weak-kneed ordinance in 1986 mandating that restaurants separate smoking areas from non-smoking areas. The evidence is that it doesn't work very well. Smoke drifts from smoking to non-smoking areas. It's a health issue for waiters who have to work in the smoking areas. And, as a report in the Caller-Times revealed Tuesday, the ordinance is barely enforced, with citations regularly handed out, but no fines assessed for violations.

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