Two weeks into the D.C. smoking ban, and we’ve got news, both good and bad, to report.

Smoking Bans are Fleeting: This month’s issue of The Atlantic brings us news that will be music to the ears of the District’s disgruntled smokers. According to the magazine, smoking bans have a long and rich history — and are usually overturned. Whether Pope Urban VIII’s proclamation of a worldwide smoking ban in 1624 or Adolf Hitler’s German experiment in 1942, few smoking bans have survived the passage of time. But don’t get too excited just yet, smokers. The Vatican’s ban lasted until 1779, while a prohibition imposed by Russia’s Czar Michael in 1634 lasted 32 years. (It bears mentioning that Michael’s ban was overturned after a two-year stint during which smokers faced the death penalty.) You may get to smoke again one day in District bars, but you may also be a little old to be frequenting those bars by then. You win some, you lose some, right?

Seattle Smoking Foes Take On Buildings: Yes, the District smoking ban in bars is pretty much absolute (exemptions do exist for bars that lose a significant percentage of their business as a result of the ban), but it’s not nearly as bad as what Seattle smokers may have coming their way. According to the Seattle Times, smoking foes are looking to push landlords in residential buildings to ban smoking in their units. But even if that pressure never comes to pass, Seattle’s smokers still face a much more hostile environment than their District counterparts — an initiative endorsed last year prohibits smoking within 25 feet of the entrance of any public place or work setting.