Adults have a right to abuse themselves -- within reason -- but when their abuse confronts the health of others, government should step in and protect the majority. For those reasons, Hilton Head Island and Columbia municipal councils are considering indoor workplace smoking bans similar to the one approved recently on Sullivan's Island.

While there hasn't been an outpouring of sentiment in favor of a similar ban in Beaufort, many favor one, and all municipal councils in the county should consider a similar plan.

Bans in California, New York and Texas have proved to be positive experiences for customers, businesses and others who deal with a health-conscious community. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, business remained steady at restaurants and bars after implementation of the ban. In El Paso, which has the most stringent law in Texas, a state Department of Health and the CDC analysis of restaurant revenue in the 12 years preceding and one year following the ban showed no "statistically significant changes in restaurant and bar revenues."

But besides a monetary consideration to businesses, other issues also should be taken into consideration. South Carolinians die of smoking-related illnesses at a high rate -- an estimated 11 people a day, 365 days a year, 4,100 people, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

People in this community are up in arms about the number of U.S. service members who have been killed in Iraq in the three years since the war began, but people remain quiet about this epidemic raging in the Palmetto State.

As has been reported here before, about 25 percent of South Carolinians smoke, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Tobacco Cessation. It's not just older people who smoke, either. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the S.C. rate for youthful smoking is 10 percent higher than the national average. The group estimates that about 25 percent of state high school students smoke and that about 98,100 young smokers under 18 will eventually die prematurely from smoking-related illness.

Councilwoman Donnie Beer recently hit the bull's-eye with her remarks that secondhand smoke smells bad, lingers in clothes and has proved to be unhealthy. She said she would probably support a smoking ban, and we encourage her to speak with her fellow council members about such a ban. Reports show that bans haven't had a negative effect on businesses. The positives outweight the negatives.