When Commonwealth Court last month struck down the smoking ban passed by Allegheny County, it was a setback to the cause of public health. It was also a clarion call to pass a statewide law and end all arguments. To his credit, state Sen. Wayne Fontana, a Democrat from Brookline, has answered that call.

In his statement of support for the Clean Indoor Air Act, Mr. Fontana said something that is increasingly obvious to everyone except the ostriches in Harrisburg who can't see which way the tide of public opinion is running. "I think that it is no longer a question of if Pennsylvania will impose a statewide smoking ban, but a matter of when."

That time is now. Most residents of the state don't smoke (Sen. Fontana quoted statistics showing that only 23.7 percent do). A poll by Quinnipiac University found that the state's voters favored a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and public buildings, 60 percent to 37 percent.

Moreover, that poll was released in February, before the anti-smoking tide led many restaurants locally to voluntarily ban smoking and before Ohio passed its statewide ban. (Pennsylvania is now almost alone among its neighbors in not cracking down on smoking in public places. Only West Virginia does not have a statewide ban, but many of its counties have passed their own prohibitions.)

To read Senate Bill 246, which is supported by Sen. Fontana and sponsored by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, a Republican from Montgomery County, is to understand why smoking can't be tolerated as a "right" in public settings. "The use of tobacco products is dangerous not only to the person smoking, but to nonsmokers who must breathe the contaminated air," it says. It spells out the harm to others -- including the approximately 53,000 nonsmokers in the United States who die annually from lung and heart disease due to exposure to passive smoke.

Mr. Fontana has stepped up. Who else in the Legislature is up for protecting public health?