After years of trying, anti-smoking forces in the District finally succeeded in gaining a veto-proof majority on the D.C. Council to endorse a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants last month. And while D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has consistently expressed reservations over the ban, his opinion may not mean much when the council reconvenes this Thursday to endorse the smoking ban legislation a second time. But does this mean activists on either side of the debate have quieted down? Hardly.

In last week’s issue of the City Paper — the last before the council’s final vote on the measure — both pro- and anti-ban organizations made their voices heard through full-page paid ads. Pro-ban activists led by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids resorted to offering the testimony of two District residents in favor of the ban, a time-tested ad strategy to put a human face to what has thus far been a relatively technical debate. Opponents of the ban, though, took the doomsday approach, threatening in large font, “Bars Close. Jobs are lost. Tax Revenues Disappear. Hospitality & Nightlife are harmed. Freedom of choice is eliminated.”

The difference in tone expressed in the opposing ads speaks volumes as to the direction in which the debate has gone as of recent. Ban opponents seethe desperation, calling their foes “militant” and claiming that pro-ban organizations “seek to impose prohibition through public coercion and forced social engineering,” while the anti-smoking ad calmly features a mother pleading, “I don’t want anyone smoking around me or my kid.” This same dynamic has played itself out in many of the comments left on posts related to the ban — those for it demand that the be able to enjoy a night out free from the constant threat of cigarette smoke, while those against it warn of a slippery slope towards total government nanny authority.

Which do you believe? Are you, smoker or not, awaiting the inevitable imposition of the ban, expecting life to proceed at much the same pace? Or are you frantically stocking arms and supplies for the day this experiment in “social engineering” goes horribly wrong?