While the D.C. Council debated the smoking ban for restaurants and bars over the course of last year, civil libertarians intoned against using the power of the state against lifestyle choices, be they smoking, drinking or fatty foods. Last week some of their worst fears briefly came true.

On Friday the Examiner reported that the Metropolitan Police Department had to order its officers not to enforce the smoking ban — which went into effect in the city’s restaurants on April 3 — in response to complaints that they were harassing restaurants that were not complying with the law. Some restaurant owners in Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle complained that officers began visiting their establishments to enforce the provisions of the law, going as far as to confiscate matchbooks and ashtrays, calling them “smoking paraphernalia.”

The order, issued last Monday, reminded police officers that the enforcement of the ban was to be left to the District Department of Health. Assistant Chief of Police Brian Jordan noted that the problem was limited to a few police officers, who were reminded of their responsibilities.