Bars and pubs are synonymous with beer and smoke. But Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has a plan that may change all of that. His initiative to ban smoking in all Boston workplaces is unnecessary and unwarranted.

The plan, announced yesterday, would eliminate smoking from all city “workplaces,” a blanket regulation that would include all bars and clubs. Boston smoking ordinances passed in 1998 already cover many restaurants and cafés, according to the Boston Public Health Commission.

Menino’s proposed regulations are wrong for several reasons. First, they are an unnecessary extension of government power. Restaurant owners and other city employers should be allowed to decide whether or not to allow smoking in their own establishments. Let them choose for themselves between the health of their employees and the comfort of their customers. The city should allow for that leeway.

Bars are places where people should be allowed to unwind in a relaxed environment. For many bar patrons, that means sipping from a bottle of beer and puffing a cigarette. Menino’s suggested regulations will change the nature of bars and similar establishments and restrict the behavior of many of their current customers. The changes are simply not worth it.

A major justification for the proposed changes is that it will protect the city’s employees from deadly secondhand smoke. But waiters and waitresses have the same choices consumers do — they can choose to work at smoke-free establishments if their health is their top priority, just as consumers can take their business elsewhere if smoke bothers them.

Menino’s clever wordplay is also bothersome in this case. He evades the real controversy of the regulations by saying they simply cover all workplaces, while their real aim appears to be eliminating smoking in bars and nightclubs specifically. The regulations should be more aptly titled to inform the city’s residents and consumers of their real purpose.

Ultimately, money should be allowed to talk. If banning smoking is good for business, it will be voluntarily banned. The city should allow economics to take their proper course.