Topic: Smoking ban poll

[OliveOil]

I would like to add that a separate smoking area would be best... dont mind being outside so long as an area is provided and preferably covered, nothing worse than drinkers spilling out on streets as i have been seeing every night from work... next thing will be drinking in public places - then the front of pubs will clear and drinkers will go home to drink and smoke.

[cornykev]

Yes from me, no one can argue with the tax income from fags, but that in my opinion is the only argument a smoker can win. I hear loss of revenue in the pubs, but in ireland and Scotland it doesn't seem to be the case, going outside in the cold and rain, the people I know moan but are quite willing to spend half the night on a mobile outside in the cold and rain and how many smokers who moan go on a long haul flight taking on alcohol but go 12/15 hours without a smelly.  ;D ;D ;D

[Shelle]

Yes to a ban from  me.  Whilst I dont always think we have the right to say smokers cant smoke, I then remember that I, like other non smokers, never had a choice about whether we get third party smoke instead!  Even sitting in non smoking areas didnt always work sa the smoke simply rose and floated in to the non smoking areas defeating the whole point!

My holiday coincided with the ban and what a great week it was being able to go into any pub or restaurant we wanted!  No more looking inside to see if it was smoky!

Yes the smokers may have had their rights taken off them, but non smokers didnt have the right in the first place.

[Meg]

Definitely a big hurray for smokeless pubs. If they can do it in Scotland and Ireland they can do it here. I am an ex smoker too  :-[ And wished I had given up earlier.

[Amazin]

Smoking is brilliant! Why?

There's no room for secondary smoke if you fill your lungs with primary smoke!

So, instead of being browbeaten into being a passive smoker - take control!
Become an active smoker!

And finally, tobacco is wholly vegetarian! Now for the song:

Oh yoooooouuu light up my liiife...!

 ;D

[busy_lizzie]

I think it is brilliant that I can now go into public places and not have to put up with cigarette smoke. I have a problem with my lungs, where I have to posturally drain them twice a day, because I don't have the ability to clear the lower lobes of my lungs like normal people. I have to lie upside down and bang on them to clear them that way. When I get up in the mornings I
can't just start the day normally like ordinary people because I have to drain my lungs, and at night before I can go to bed I have to do the same.

I have spent years, both at work and socially where I have had to breathe in smoke from other people's cigarettes. Whether it is going to a pub, in a restaurant, standing in a queue, people can be very inconsiderate with their smoke.  To have had just half a room dedicated to non smokers which is open was a total waste of time as the smoke just drifted over.  Because of my lung problem I can't just get rid of the smoke like normal people, and it makes me very wheezy. So YES, I am delighted not to have to suffer from other peoples bad habits. It was so lovely to go to a pub last week and sit anywhere I wanted too, the place smelled so fresh and I felt liberated. busy_lizzie

[Baccy Man]

Yes from me, no one can argue with the tax income from fags, but that in my opinion is the only argument a smoker can win. I hear loss of revenue in the pubs, but in ireland and Scotland it doesn't seem to be the case, going outside in the cold and rain, the people I know moan but are quite willing to spend half the night on a mobile outside in the cold and rain and how many smokers who moan go on a long haul flight taking on alcohol but go 12/15 hours without a smelly.  ;D ;D ;D

So why have 1200+ bars(and counting) in Ireland permanently closed claiming it is as a result of the ban coming into effect?
Why is it that national newspapers ( Scottish editions ) have censored any references to the defiance of the Smoking Ban in England? Is it because the Scottish Government are terrified of a backlash as well?

The passive smoking argument has been one as well as I have pointed out several times there is no evidence secondary smoke is significantly harmful.

The smoky atmosphere can be resolved by good ventilation. In my local before the ban there was no smoke around despite numerous customers who smoked cigars & pipes in addition to all the cigarette smokers because the landlady had spent a few grand on high quality extractor fans which cleared the air.

I would like to add that a separate smoking area would be best... dont mind being outside so long as an area is provided and preferably covered, nothing worse than drinkers spilling out on streets as i have been seeing every night from work...

Hundreds of pubs don't have any outdoor space which leaves no option except standing on the street some can't even put a suitable ashtray outside without permission from the council let alone provide shelter are theses pubs supposed to close.

[northener]

Stop at home and watch the racing on ya own telly, invite ya mates round get a few cans in.Then there would bekid no big s in so no problem. Don't like the ban stop at home. Swings and round-a-bouts ain't it.     What so you and your mates can watch the shopping channels. Your barred.

[Hyacinth]

.....but if this poll is about giving the option  to pubs to have smoking/non smoking establishments (praps even a mix, with separate bars?)....I'm not understanding the objections from the non-smokers here. Surely they, too, will have an option of which pub to frequent?

[Froglegs]

Don't seem to have much time for telly Northener, just lately my local as got a great atmosphere.......no smoke in it. ;D so now after a hard day at the allotment out in all that (it does seem to make ya thirsty ::))fresh air i go for a pint or two and a bit more fresh air. :) Who needs the goggle box when theres all that fresh air to enjoy out there. ;D

[Froglegs]

.....but if this poll is about giving the option  to pubs to have smoking/non smoking establishments (praps even a mix, with separate bars?)....I'm not understanding the objections from the non-smokers here. Surely they, too, will have an option of which pub to frequent?

We have now. 8) in fact ya could say we are spoiled for choice. ;)

[rosebud]

SMOKING BAN HAS MY THUMBS UP.   ANYWHERE.

[Baccy Man]

The comments from a lot of people in favour of the ban suggest that smokers should be treated as a persecuted minority. This hardly seems fair when provisions have always been made for non smokers previously. Non smoking cafes & restaurants, non smoking clubs, seperate smoking & non smoking sections in some pubs. Surely it would of been fairer to just expand on what was previously being done improving ventilation better seperation of smoking & non smoking sections (prefereably seperate rooms with no need for non smokers to walk through the smoking sections). Why is a ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces needed.
What about people who work from home who can't smoke in their own home as it counts as business premises. Or people who can't smoke in their cars for the same reason.
I use public transport & can no longer smoke at most bus stops or train stations since the ban has come into effect even if I am the only person standing there so nobody will come into contact with the smoke I produce.

[northener]

Smug in the snug could you could say Froglegs,lovely.

[busy_lizzie]

Provision has not always been made for non smokers. It is only gradually over the years that provision have been made for non smokers.

For years I shared an office  with two smokers, with their desks next to mine. It wasn't very pleasant, coming home after having had to breathe all that in day after day. The same goes with pubs and restaurants. Non smokers have suffered for years and you can't get over the fact that smoking is not good for anyone, those doing it and those having to breathe the smoke in.

 I know it is a terrible addiction and it is not like I am unsympathetic to those who are hooked. My OH is a smoker, who has tried for years unsuccessfully, to give up. He smokes in the garden and never near me fortunately. He is honest enough to know it is bad for him and wishes he could give up. busy_lizzie

 

[Jeannine]

Am in the minority here.


I think they should be banned........period!!
!
Negatives below:

Dangerous to your health
Dangerous to others around
Responsible for small birth weight
Costs tax payers millions in healthcare
Causes fires which cause deaths and financial grief
Addictive
Low income families spend grocery money on them
We are passing all of the above onto our kids

Positives below:
Government gets money


IF THEY WERE LAUNCHED TODAY THEY WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED FOR SALE



Oh I am going to get it now.

PLEASE don't take this personally anyone.

I know people have the right to choose, but  not for other people, not for their children, not if someone else has to pay the health bill, not if kids have to go without food.

And if the choice is the answer, why not include pot and cocaine as available too.

I don't understand it.

XX Jeannine

[SnooziSuzi]

The comments from a lot of people in favour of the ban suggest that smokers should be treated as a persecuted minority. This hardly seems fair when provisions have always been made for non smokers previously.

Where has the non smoking bar worker been protected?  They still have to serve in a smoky environment, even if smoking at the bar was banned a few years ago.  I suppose you could always only employ bar staff who do smoke, but then that's discrimination against non smokers.
where was the protection for someone who worked in an office that smoking was allowed (taxi ranks etc)?  

Non smoking cafes & restaurants, non smoking clubs, seperate smoking & non smoking sections in some pubs. Surely it would of been fairer to just expand on what was previously being done improving ventilation better seperation of smoking & non smoking sections (prefereably seperate rooms with no need for non smokers to walk through the smoking sections).

If restaurant owners, pub landlords etc wanted to do this they would have done, but they didn't.

What about people who work from home who can't smoke in their own home as it counts as business premises. Or people who can't smoke in their cars for the same reason.

Anyone would be naive to think that any law would stop these people from doing this, but they would just have to accept the consequences of a fine and any other condemnations that arose from it.

I use public transport & can no longer smoke at most bus stops or train stations since the ban has come into effect even if I am the only person standing there so nobody will come into contact with the smoke I produce.

Yes, but where do you draw the line?  if there were only 2 people standing in the queue then your actions would affect the other person and to go back to something that EJ said, it must cost millions every year for cleanup of cigarette ends and packets which have just been discarded on the floor or to clean up after smokers at the end of the night in the pub.  Cigarette bins have been around for ages but the majority of smokers would chuck the used butt on the floor.

Is it wrong that I can't drive at whatever speed I want to just because I own a car?  No!  As a driver I have accepted responsibilities that I will do whatever it takes to protect other drivers and pedestrians from my irresponsible actions because it would affect other people.

Is it wrong that I can't discipline my kids the way I was disciplined?  No!  my parents went far too far when disciplining me but that's a matter for an entirely different thread which I won't be starting.

Is it wrong that we can't use DDT on crops these days to make sure we get a good harvest without birds and bugs having their share?  No! 

Yes the smokers may have had their rights taken off them, but non smokers didnt have the right in the first place.

Shelle has summed it all up perfectly.  well done Shelle

[keef]

If your a non-smoker, and you object to smoking that much then why would you get a job in a smoking pub?

I dont know where you've been, but quite a few bars and resteraunts have been non-smoking for sometime.

If a police car spots a driver of a company van having a f*g, will they stop them? and fine them on the spot?

Most public places have been non-smoking for sometime, hotels, supermarkets, hospitals etc.. however if think bars and pubs should be treated differently, as they have been for years with regards to drinking laws.

[CotswoldLass]

I would back a ban.

I gave up smoking recently and have not missed it for a minute. Im better off, feel fitter, love the absence of the smell of tobacco on my clothes, and I'm free of that awful bind that cigarettes put you in...have I got enough? stop and buy some, where can I have one at the airport ? etc, etc....

Even when I did smoke I didn't do it in the houses of non-smoking friends or near children.

In the fifties smoking was considered sophisticated and 'in'. Now we know better. Its superannuated bad habit that does no one any good. Get rid of it and good riddance!!!!

[keef]

Am in the minority here.


I think they should be banned........period!!
!
Negatives below:

Dangerous to your health
Dangerous to others around
Responsible for small birth weight
Costs tax payers millions in healthcare
Causes fires which cause deaths and financial grief
Addictive
Low income families spend grocery money on them
We are passing all of the above onto our kids

Positives below:
Government gets money



IF THEY WERE LAUNCHED TODAY THEY WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED FOR SALE



Oh I am going to get it now.

PLEASE don't take this personally anyone.

I know people have the right to choose, but  not for other people, not for their children, not if someone else has to pay the health bill, not if kids have to go without food.

And if the choice is the answer, why not include pot and cocaine as available too.

I don't understand it.

XX Jeannine

Of course theres no other reason to smoke other than to give the government money. I hate doing it i just love giving Gordon some more of my wedge -  ::)