Sorry Fiona but you are making this into an issue that is not there: you keep on saying 'to keep the non-smokers happy....' when in fact this has nothing to do with who smokes and who doesn't. The ban is a health issue and has nothing to do with 'rights' except for the right of ALL people to not suffer the tremendous impact of smoking, both directly and passively (which we all now know for a fact is every bit as deadly) and the fact is there is NO technology that can remove even close to all the noxious elements of expelled cigarette smoke.... certainly none that is affordable and practical for all but the largest of public companies.
In England we will not have that stupid law that says you can't smoke within an hour of a public worker coming to your home: the home is exempt even when nurses and health workers are visiting. That might be an issue for change in Scotland, I don't know what the legal restrictions are there.
The fact is smoking kills. It costs the health service that we all pay for billions of pounds each year not to mention the lives ruined. The talk of 'smokers rights' is a non-starter. Who says we have the 'right' to do something? A right can never be a true right if it impinges on the rights of others so a smoker cannot have the right to affect the health of a non-smoker. Smoking rooms are ineffective, that is a fact. Strewth, my neighbour in the flat below me smokes, there is a thick layer of concrete between us but we frequently get a strong smell of smoking coming into our flat! Smoke is not only dangerous when it is visible, just because you can't see the smoke does not mean you are then free of the risks imposed by breathing in the fumes. These particulates permeate all sorts of areas, even if there is an air-filter on the premises.
You say pubs have closed down but I would have to query that. The fact a pub is no longer in business is no indicator that it is the smoking ban that has caused it. You said there is a sizeable town where not a single pub is left in business. Sorry but that is no way true: where have all the drinkers gone? Are you seriously suggesting that all the many thousands of drinkers (they don't ALL smoke!) have all abandoned the pubs in favour of a relaxing drink at home?
There are loads of places that have brought in smoking bans and the consistent results in every case have been the exact reverse of what you have said: pub attendance and people eating out in restaurants has increased by an average of 30% because a lot of people are now going out who didn't before due to the smokey atmopheres. Ireland brought in the ban in 2004; the results have been overwhelmingly positive. New York brought in the ban in 2005: again the results have been superb. There are other European countries as well as further afield who have all done this and not one country has reported a net fall in business but in all cases a rise has been clearly evident.
I do of course entirely agree that governments have done some of these things for ulterior motives: hell, they're politicians, they never do anything else! But the fact is, smoking is on a serious decline, smokers were once a considerable majority but are now in the minority nationally. Research is predicting that a further half a million people intend to give up smoking altogether because of the ban. That can only be a good thing.
There is a changing mindset that will hopefully persuade more and more people that smoking is not worth it, financially, healthwise, family wise, and so on. If the ban hastens that mindset then I am all for it, not because I want to impinge on someone's 'rights' but because we ALL have the right to breathe!
Having said all that, let me also say I completely support calls on the government to make serious money available for resources to help people stop smoking. If that means giving free Nicorette, patches, etc. then so be it. The investment would be worth it.
Just a thought:
smoking twenty cigarettes a day costs a Canon 30D, an EX 580 flashgun, a 17-40mm L series lens and enough left over to go on a photographic holiday abroad! 
Cheers,
Rob