>You're problem is you view it as people "actively bothering
>you". You have to realize that in a public society you need to
>give people a certain amount of space and respect that, when
>you're in the public domain, you don't control the rules.

The fact that other people do other irritating things is irrelevant. My argument is only that public smoking is real jerk move because it constitutes a willful disregard for others. According to your logic, I should take the displeasure that results from others smoking and use that fact to justify acting like a jerk myself.

None of this has anything to do with making smoking illegal. That decision should be based only on public health data.