If you’re a Maryland smoker, life has become — pardon the pun — a real drag for you this month. In case you had any doubt, you’re a pariah, unwelcome in eating or drinking establishments, unless you leave your cigarettes behind or go outside when you need a fix. Law now requires our state’s restaurants and bars to keep their air smoke-free.

Visitors to Woodholme Festival Shopping Center in Pikesville this weekend bore witness to what may soon become a common sight. There, sitting in a chair right in the walkway, was a woman smoking a cigarette. Was her companion somewhere inside while she sat out in the cold, inhaling toxins?

This could become the next big thing. Not only will we see people huddling outside employers’ doors, puffing away while on their breaks; now, addicted smokers will block walkways in Little Italy, Fells Point and Canton, taking a few drags while waiting for hors d’oeuvres or another round of drinks.

From there, it’s a slippery slope. People will start screaming about risking emphysema as they wait for their cars at the restaurant valet stand. Before you know it, Governor O’Malley will have to call a special General Assembly session to consider another law, one that prohibits lighting up within 100 feet of a restaurant or bar. Make that a mile. Before long, every city in the state will be completely smoke-free! On Interstate 95, a sign will proclaim “Welcome to Maryland. Leave your stinky butts in someone else’s state.”

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Do you care how smokers feel about this new regulation? Maybe you feel a little sorry for them. But secretly you can’t wait to see someone light up illegally so you can sneer, “You can’t smoke here. It’s against the law!”

And no one will be more indignant or self-righteous than those who used to smoke themselves. They’re the worst. I know. I’m one of them. So here’s some advice: If the high cost of cigarettes and, oh yes, that pesky little risk of lung cancer aren’t enough to get you to quit the habit, surely it’s not worth continuing now. After all, you can’t even enjoy a few puffs with your martini.

Deborah Stone spent 15 years as a reporter and anchor at WJZ-TV and is currently a freelance writer.