Smoking ban in enclosed public areas

The 'ban' in Scotland isn't proposed to come in until March 2006.... I'm looking forward to seeing Glasgow when it comes in

Great! ban it in it's entirety, make it illegal, stop the hypocrisy of taxing it.

Alchohol and the effects of alchohol cost a great deal too....

Last year £200 million was put into the Scottish health service and £1.2 billion was received from smoking related taxes in Scotland.

It would be great if people got this hyped up about the amazing amount of pollution we breath every day from factories, cars, trucks etc. The effect on us is only just coming out, the effect on the planet is well known and being successfully ignored by those who have the most to lose.

 

It was ruled that you cannot consent to ABH in English Law.

Law teacher - Consent

I believe the majority of non smokers (customers/staff) would prefer to be in pubs where people don't smoke.

 

I think that it is great this law has come into place ( I mean in 2006)

Just like wearing seatbelts was viewed in the past, it will take a while to get used to but in 10 years time no one will question it.

 

Non-smoking pubs won't work. By giving pub owners the option of allowing smoking or not, you're basically asking them "Do you want to turn away business, or not?" Non-smoking pubs can't compete with ones that allow smoking. There was recently a case in Manitoba where public smoking was banned, but a native reserve in the area didn't have to pass the law. They are currently constructing a big casino and pub where smokers will all be welcome to go light up. Local businesses in the area are already starting to dry up, because smokers will just choose to walk across the street and go to the pub they're allowed to smoke in.

I don't think that the government is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong. For one, smoking-related illnesses contribute a considerable amount to hospital visits, and with all the complaints of ailing healthcare around the world, governments would do well to discourage smoking, as it would most definitely lower some of the strain on their medical systems. For another thing, when someone chooses to smoke, they are not only hurting themselves, but others. I think that positive behaviour is to be encouraged over negative behaviour. When comparing whether or not a smoker has the right to smoke wherever he wants with whether or not a non-smoker has the right to be able to frequent any restaurant he wants and not be worried about being harmed by other people's actions, I think that the latter is definitely the morally higher position.

 

Radical?

ok, this may sound radical, but why not ban tobacco altogether? What does it do for mankind, other than make tobacco companies rich and give Governments loads in Tax? the bill to the NHS is around 200m a year, 50,000 die each year of smoking related diseases in the UK.

HELLO?

 

Sorry, those figures are incorrect. The actual cost to the NHS is a staggering 1.7 billion and the deaths are more than 120,000 deaths per year

 

They tried puting smoking areas here , but after a couple of months everybody undertood it cannot work. 80% of the people are smokers , and there is noone to tell you to put out so..

Bannin smoking in enclosed public places? Lol that would cause a revolution

 

They are starting to ban smoking in public area's over here as well. Personally I think it is a good idea. I am a smoker but I have always been considerate of other peoples right to breath clean air. For instance, if I am at a party and talking to a group of non smokers I will excuse myself and walk away before I light up.

 

Good point badger. I am a smoker too and am considerate to others at parties, out on a date etc. I do object to the prospect of non-smoking pubs and restaurants in the UK, however, as air conditioning technology is such that non-smoking areas can be easily achieved and, therefore, will keep everybody happy.

 

The air conditioning also costs a fortune, is noisy, and doesn't clear the air completely if there's a lot of smokers around.

 

its not really an air conditioner its an air retraction device that removes all the smoky air from the room.

 

I'm curious, are we talking about something that just takes out the smokey air, or just a big fan that'll cause draughts?

 

No Irish posters so far??? wow!

Anyway, we brought the ban in over here in March (?) and so far, if you believe the blurb, it has been a resounding success.

I'm a non smoker *but* I'm not anti-smoking, strange considering both my parents were heavy smokers, now it's only Mom but I do door work and there is nothing worse than waking up in the morning after working and stinking of stale smoke. Thankfully that is a thing of the past.

Having said that, I think the Irish Govt. are wrong in their implemantation of a ban. Rather than a total ban I think there should be designated enclosed smoking areas in pubs. They don't need to be big, they don't need to be plush, once the second hand smoke is not forced onto non-smokers. If the bar owner doesn't want the expense of setting up such an area well then tough, they have to have a non-smoking pub!!!

The bar trade over here have said that profits are definitely down but this is more down to the exorbitant prices they charge than anything else!!!

 

Conversely, all the smokers I know (but one) smoke for the pleasure, and aren't addicted. Including myself.

 

Then smoke ten in a row, one directly after the other, if you love them so much. If you admit that this wouldn't give you pleasure, then essentially your talking about the pleasure of relieving yourself of a self inflicted discomfort.
If someone is not addicted, and yet smokes anyway, then my friend, that person IMO is an idiot and should stop smoking straight away.
I see that you're still young, alot of people your age probably feel the same way as you do - it doesn't last. Eventually smokers realise that they have become addicted, and that they don't want to be.
Take it from some-one who smoked for 11 years, giving up is like putting down a heavy weight - you wonder why you were carrying it all this time.

P.S. Yes the fact that I am a former smoker does allow me to take the moral highground about this .

 

Could be like the equipment I already posted about (it was in a restaurant) -- sucked the smoke straight up to the ceiling, to the point that the smell was undetectable by me, even though I was sitting right next to the guy who was smoking. I don't know if the system was noisy; I certainly couldn't hear it above the talking of the customers. I imagine it was expensive, but well worth the money, I think.

 

what about pipe smokers and cigar smokers who smoke on occasions rather han frequently? im partial to the odd cigar at christmas, and the idea of a pipe has always intrigued me!

 

this ban isnt just about pubs it covers prisons,residential care homes for the elderly ,mental health residential homes etc,presumably smoking areas in airports will not be legal either. It really is a far reaching piece of legislation and although its almost perverse to say it (in relation to smoking) it adversley affects the quality of life for many people in such facilities for whom smoking is a way of life ...not all of them can "just pop outside" if they are confined to a chair in a dayroom and need to be physically lifted to be moved from the chair.
I dont think most reasonable people object to a ban on smoking in certain places restaurants,cafes, offices,buses,trains,galleries shops etc but this blanket ban that will include homes for the elderly etc I believe to be a step too far (Its Armistice week..... anyone care to tell the WWII veteran he cant smoke in his residential care home anymore?)

 

There are going to be controled exemptions for certain residential facilities as mentioned , residential homes, prisons etc.

 

It's about time.

I always found the 'lost business' argument ridiculous. Before the total ban in Ontario, restaurants were allowed up to 25% of floor space to be designated as smoking areas. It was not unusual to have to wait for a non-smoking tables, while patrons wanting a smoking table went right in. Obviously, there were a bunch a tables in the smoking section sitting empty. The restaurant business is booming. No establishment has closed because of the ban. If anything, it's opened a broader market as families go out more because they know thay won't be exposing their kids to harmfull smoke.

It's also a worker's right issue. Everybody has the right to work in a safe environment.