smoking ban

[sunflower68]

Anyone got any feelings on this? I think it will be odd for a while. A bit sad for the oldsters whose only real social connection might be a pint and a fag in the pub.

Pubs are going to suffer. Surely they will now have to build smokers their own 'outhouses' complying, of course, to health and safety rules and regs.

It's a good thing for the population as a whole. How times have changed! It's not long ago I remember smoking being allowed on buses, trains and planes.

[Englishbird]

sorry, no I don't have children, and yes I would stop if I got pregnant.

Same argument, if a coach load of people walk in I still shouldn't have to put it out. I wouldn't necessarily light another one, out of courtesy, but they chose to come in. It's like walking into a nightclub and complaining about all the noise.

I've already had a rise in the number of customers who don't drink alcohol!! And this will probably go up with the smoke ban.

What is the argument behind banning smoking in private members clubs?

[AliFlump]

The arguement about traffic fumes and fireworks isnt the same. They are out in the open, the problem people have in pubs is that it is an enclosed space, you cannot get away from the smoke

[Loosehead]

"what is the argument behind banning smoking in private members clubs?"

Well EB I guess it's the same as Pubs etc, ie they employ staff and therefore the same applies. In most cases they are pretty much analogous to Pubs so I think the reasoning is similar.

[madein1978]

The traffic fumes argument is total mince, I'll agree there, but the fireworks one is a bit more serious, yes its in the open, and yes it happens twice a year, but nevertheless, that is still chemicals that are being burnt in the air, and fireworks contain some pretty nasty chemicals!

[laurence2]

Englishbird, Hear is something to annoy you, the bar in the house of commons will remain a smoking bar, its something to do with Royalty i think ?

[AliFlump]

Fireworks may have dangerous cheimcals in them but you arent breathing them in directly and regulary.

At least buses and cars have a purpose and fireworks put on a nice display, cigs have not one benefit.

[Goodsoulette]

Smokers stink, not just of fags but the chemicals in cigarettes cause bad down below personal odours in woman, and make their general body odour worse than a normal persons!! They generally have horrible skin, bad teeth and are fat because they cant do the exercise due to the state of their lungs. I gave up 5 yrs ago, I am fitter, healthier and feel very confident about myself now. I feel that because I gave up fags I can do anything i put my mind to.

I think if a pub doesnt serve food then they can choose to be smoking or nonsmokin. I do think that nonsmoking places will do better though.

[Englishbird]

What absolute cr@p

[Steve_Luts]

madein1978 - you just can't see the wood for the trees can you?

I don't "choose to hang around in smoky areas". I choose to hang around in pubs - where the atmosphere is made unacceptably smoky by an inconsiderate minority. The pub doesn't have to be smoky - people like you choose to make it so!

The whole 'non-smoking areas' thing is unworkable - largely because smokers as a group have found themselves unable to stick to this (although I accept many smokers do stick to not lighting up in non-smoking areas) - its the small number of bad apples that are ruining it for the smokers.

Example: In my busy local pub they have clearly separated areas, which work quite well when it is not busy. However, come Friday night, guess what - if its rammed and there is only one spare table in the non-smoking area, some inconsiderate fool will take it - then light up within a seconds of sitting down! Then of course they object when people complain as if we are taking away some kind of godgiven birthright!!! Grrrr!!!! This is something I see time and time again, in a wide range of pubs, not just the local I use as an example

I sympathise with smokers to a certain degree - I wouldn't want to have to go and stand outside on a cold wet evening either - however, I'm not willing to let some selfish person force me to ingest their secondhand smoke, I've done it for long enough, game over.

From my many trips to Dublin since it began over there, I've never met anyone with a bad word to say about it, and opinions seem to bear this out.

http://www.healthypages.net/newspage.asp?newsid=4960

[madein1978]

But I don't smoke!!!!!!!

[Steve_Luts]

sorry madein1978 - damn pesky computer wouldn't let me go back and check your post when I was mid-post - I note you are not a smoker and happy to stand corrected, you are merely defending a smoker's right to smoke.

...like I'm defending mine to go to the pub and not be smoked out!

;-)

[Drusilla]

I think smoking will eventually become the new masturbation; something to be done in the privacy of your own home and rarely admitted to.

[Englishbird]

yeah ... see .... I'm not allowed to do that in the pub either .... life's just no fun anymore. ;o)

[laurence2]

I don't no, theirs a few w*****s down my local,

[Supernick]

Right, that's the smokers out the way. Time to move onto the obese and the old. Who else is clogging up the system?

[LeMarchand]

From a purely selfish point of view, I'll probably need to find a new second job. The club that I work at is already suffering from the pubs having longer hours (why pay entry and extra for drinks when you can stay at the pub, albeit without music/a dancefloor?). If the punters can't even have a fag...

A few points:

Someone said that they were sick of the smell of smoke in restaurants. Maybe on the South Coast they're more enlightened, but I've only seen one person smoking in a restaurant in the last few years (whether because of policy or politeness). The restaurant was actually no smoking, but it was a "I'm jolly rich and want you all to see the size of cigar I can afford" type.

I'm an ex-smoker, and can see both sides of the argument. Again, this area has already got non-smoking pubs. However, people still go into those that allow smoking out of choice and then whinge about the smell etc.

Finally, yes smoking is bad for you. So is drinking. Both can be done at home. Would those cheering the end of smoking in the pub be so happy if it was drinking being banned?

P.S. I do agree that most public areas should be smoke-free, just not all pubs and clubs.

[Elfin]

I'm with you Englishbird. These people are all moaning about something they have clearly lived with ever since they started going to pubs - and it didn't stop them going, so it can't be all that bad now can it? If it was so awful, they would have looked for another form of entertainment long ago.

I still say if you can justify a smoking ban on public health and cost grounds, you cannot disregard a ban on drinking alcohol. Drinking alcohol is also a disgusting habit which has far reaching consequences. At least smoking doesn't make you act like a t0sser.

[Loosehead]

The fundemental difference Elfin though is that drinkers don't go arount pouring their drink down your neck whether you want it or not.

[LeMarchand]

Drinkers do get loud (a lot) and violent (far too often). The rest of us have to put up with that behaviour whether we like it or not. (BTW, has anyone ever heard of someone smoking too many fags and then going home and beating the wife/kids?).

Not to mention those people who find urine, vomit or worse on their steps/in their gardens/on their cars when someone who is drunk has emptied themselves. I'd warrant that they don't choose to find such leavings.

I think it would have been much more sensible to allow a small proportion of pubs in (say) a 10 mile radius to allow smoking. I wonder if the holier-than-thou non-smokers would be able to stay out of those establishments?

[sandbach99]

Experience in Ireland and New York shows an increase in trade following no smoking laws.
I have had a chest illness virtually all my life therefore to keep reasonably well have kept out of smoky atmospheres. Yes this has been my choice, but why shouldn't I be able to go where I want, why should I have to refuse nights out with friends because they are going to a pub.
No-one is stopping the smokers going out, no-one is making smokers refuse nights out just because they can't smoke where they want.
There are lots of people like me with illnesses which make them avoid smoke.
There are no no smoking pubs in my town so I have no choice but to stay away.
Come on smokers tell me why I should not have a right to go out to a pub if I want to