The smoking ban in public places
 

I went down to our local pub this evening for a pint of Adnams (real ale) and to do the crossword - something of a habit unless I'm out elsewhere.

As with almost every evening for the past several weeks it was peeing with rain. I got there to find a couple of people I know standing under a distinctly inadequate sort of tent outside the back door having a last gasper, while being dripped on, before they finally went in for a drink. Oh,the pathetic sordidness!

As a reformed smoker myself I am pretty strongly against smoking in principle, because of the health risks. But I'm even more strongly against yet more Government legislation telling people how they may or may not run their own lives.

I suppose that at least the ban will help smokers to realise that it really is a dangerous and anti-social habit - though just how many will be convinced enough to actually quit is another matter ...

So, my advice to those of you who are still addicted is to take an umbrella with you wherever you go for the rest of our English summer. It looks as though you'll need it!

Tony.

Some places have a smoking shelter!

I personally love the ban.

It's not to help the smokers realise anything, it's to help none smokers (Like me) Not have to inhale dangerous second hand smoke, it's disgusting, we don't smoke yet we have to breathe it in anyways? I'm thankful for it to say the least.

I'm a smoker, except the ban has been in place since April here - the thing is i never smoked around others anyway. i think its pathetic for smokers to be so lazy that they cant walk into the street for a smoke - if they cant really lift they're lazy bums to the door then they're either very unhealthy or smoking far too much to be bothered to go outside every 10 minutes.
rant over :)
xxx

shrug.
i smoked in a public place today.
i should get arrested :D.

Meh. Whatever.

I was a 40-a-day man for 15 years. Ive been clean over 2 years now. I HATE smoking. Im afraid that something this drastic was in order to get people to start tot stop.

What annoys me is there was no solid infrastructure for smoking cessation in place years leading upto the ban. Its only in the last couple of months things are being more widely advertised.

Actually, it's being made more of a social habit because everyone who has to go outside to smoke talks to each other.

Im a smoker, and it was quite fun going outside to smoke apart from the rain. My mate pulled speaking to another smoker outside who we probably wouldnt have spoken to inside the bar, lol. It was all sheltered and had outdoor heaters

So yeh, smoking ban hasnt been too bad so far....

thats news to me.

I well don't care.
I'm 18.
And I like fresh air.


Linda, you're well not good with current affairs.

A lot of places who erected smoking shelters are only just discovering that they aren't legal either. The ban includes 'substantially enclosed' areas, which includes things like bus stops, that most places have based their smoking shelters on.

I agree with banning smoking in restaurants and pubs, but i think they've taken it too far when it comes to bus stops etc.

I had a thought earlier at work which made me snigger.

If you stand under a bus shelter and smoke, someone could approach you and present you with a £50 penalty and tell you to extinguish your cigarette. So, you throw your butt on the floor and take the ticket. You are then handed a further £80 penalty for littering.

Heh.

PS: I smoke, so this isn't meant as a nasty sniggering attack at any nicotine junkies out there :)

honestly smoking inside is ok to ban i guess..but smoking outside..u knwo what..if u dont liek it step away from the smoker..im a social smoker..other then that i dont smoke...so im nto adicted and this doesn't affect me..but gee im from america and isn't it a infringment on citizens rights?

we have had smoking bans in clubs for about a year now in Aus it is great. No more going clubbing and coming home smelling like an ash tray even tho you have never smoked in your life. I think it is on of the best legislations put in place.

im not mad at people who smoke.
just when they do it around people.

where i live, they have it banned in restaurants.
but ur welcome to smoke outside.

like being an astmatic, i hate it when ppl smoke around me.
i get that they dont know that about me.
but second hand smoking can be just as deadly as actually smoking the cig.
and that is a fact.
when i walk past someone who's smoking, if i see it coming, i have to hold my breathe. because when i dont see it coming, i inhale all of the smoke. and it gets hard to breathe and i cough. and it can trigger asthma attacks.
my point is, is that where i live, i think theyre point is to help keep our community a little more healthy.
and i really appreciate that..
even though they have made the gas thats best for the enviroment, the most expensice, there for ppl dont like to buy it, at leaste theyre trying.
and yes, im like an enviromental control freak or whatever you wanna call me. lol.

They did this a long time ago in the US, just step outside, and I guess an umbrella in Europe would be a good idea. I don't smoke cigs often, but I'll admit having some douche blowing nasty smoke near your food and **** is annoying.

...Yes. There's a smoking ban. We know. Yes it's bad for our health, whatever.
Don't see the need to go on about it so much.

I've not been out yet since the ban came into force but it will be good to not breathe in smoke anymore.

everywhere i go in my town i see this power hungry security guards actually hauling people outside because theyre having a cig in a semi sheltered bus stop(so its actually hard to determine if its a closed space) its pathetic. my friend has decided to stop and hes become one of these holier than thou ex smokers who think they have a right to tell you that youre doing something disgusting and wrong when they spent years of their life doing it. bah this ban gets on my nerves.

and a bought an umbrella,its really pretty :) all this rain is some higher being laughing because we all have to stand out in the rain lol. xx

But like you said, you can't expect them to know that you're asthmatic, and if someone is outside and they're smoking near you, all you have to do is move away or explain to them that you're asthmatic and ask them to not smoke around you.

I can understand the reasoning behind it yes, doesnt mean I'm happy about it. Smoking in restaurants though is disgusting, I mean smoking while eating, eww.

But the pub thing kinda annoyed me but oh well, I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Though if they try to ban smoking in the streets I'll go mental, really. if you are a non smoker and you walk past someone smoking in the street you only have to put up with it for a second, so really I dont know what the problem is there. if someone is smoking near you while waiting you're waiting for the bus, ask them nicely not to smoke near you, its not hard.

I want a cigarette now :P

Some people are taking it a bit too far.
Sainsburys down the road wont let employees or customers smoke in the car park.
My friend got cautioned by the security guard for smoking in her car, which was in the car park, which is owned by Sainsburys.

It's madness!

I think this shows just how well this has been thought through;

If you smoke in an enclosed public place you can be fined.

If you refuse to pay the fine you can be taken to court.

If you STILL refuse to pay you can be sent to prison..... where you're allowed to smoke!

So, as punishment for smoking in a enclosed space you get sent to an enclosed space where you're allowed to smoke........ GENIUS!!

if you choose to smoke, you choose to stand outside in the rain - simple as, totally unfair the old way when non-smokers had to go outside for a breath of non-smokey air not out of choice, because someone was clogging up the air with smoke. my thoughs - tough to the smokers!
plus the ban means i can go out to a packed place or concert and not get cig burns all over me!

The only thing that bugs me, is that you get fined for smoking indoors, so you go outside, where they havent generally put more cigarette bins out. but if you throw your fag end on the street, you get fined anyway.

so.. you go outside and smoke.. and WHERE do you put your fag end???

99.9% of the time you do get away with chucking it on the floor, because who's watching really?

They don't have smoking moniters do they.

where i live, if you are snapped by the cctv dropping litter including fag ends, it gets printed in the paper, and if a person knows you and wants to make 50quid quick, they tell the police they know who it is, and the litter dropper gets fined.

nat: i work at sainsburys. &i've had to smoke in the carpark for the past week or so. i think youre allowed at mine.

charlie: i know thats gay. but like pkl said, as long as you don't drop a fag like in a policepersons face, then you'll be alright.
i nearly always stub my cigs out on the road.
wait. i'm silly. i JUST read your last reply. thats pretty shitty.


how i feel:
agree for ban in restuarants.
not in pubs/clubs, because i just think that s'hit is ridiculous.

I smoke sometimes and agree with the ban to be honest. Its not fair on everyone else. Althugh i do think the owners of the bar should really make the decision... and there should be like a smoking room with a door.

In middlesbrough town centre there aren't any bins with ashtrays on them, so where do they expect us to put them?

We have that talking CCTV though, so maybe the talking camera will say "Please pick up your fag end"

Some of my friends are pretty screwed then :P

i smoked at the train station yesterday. noone said anything. but it was pretty late [like 10:45] so i guess noone would.
shrug.

I don't/didn't smoke when I go out anyway so.
But changing the age from 16 to 18?
What about all the 16 and 17 year olds and are now illegal to smoke?!
The stop smoking programmes at pharmacies and things are for people 18+! o:

apparently the not smoking till your 18 thing is only being brought in for none current smokers.

so like if your 16 or 17 now and can PROVE you started smoking before the law came in you can still buy cigarettes.

i have no idea how they are going to ask for proof you smoked before though.

makes me laugh.,

Whilst it is a free country and I agree more government legislation in general telling us how to live is bad.... I love the smoking ban. What about all the people who are ill, have asthma? thats not their fault, what about the fact that people who dont want to smoke have to endure a night out surrounded by the stuff against their wishes, and what about the people who work in areas where people smoke?

If people want to smoke they can, in an open area, simple and fair.

As for the age being increased, I seriously doubt it will make a blind bit of difference, as said the stop smoking programme is now only for 18 plus, how nieve can the powers that be get? I have seen 12 year olds smoking, everyone should be entitled to help. Totally silly :S

At first when the smoking ban came into power in Scotland you couldn't walk down the street without someone blowing smoke in your face it seemed, but about a month or so it hardly EVER happens, it happens even less than before the ban was put in place.
I don't think the ban is to tell people what they can and can't do, it's to stop people smoking because it's a horrible, pointless habit and as far as I've seen, it has. Trying to improve their quality of life and such.
Almost every pub and club has a shelter or a bench outside now for those that do still smoke.

Ah well, I hate being told what to do but the smoking ban is good and it works.

the smoking ban just meant that most of my friends were outside of our prom for the majority of the night.meaning that outside was better than inside anyway!

I went to the pub last night first time since the ban came in and before I went I was for the smoking ban (I'm a smoker) but I didn't find my drink at all enjoyable without a fag in my hand, so I just downed it and left. In the restraunt it was better going outside for a fag and I agree with that.

At first before they decided on a total ban they were going to have smoking and non smoking pubs and I think they should have done it like that really.

The thing about the bus shelters (for smoking shelters) your allowed them if they are 50% open.

I don't like it when people's rights are infringed upon by authority too much either, however I find that non-smokers' rights are being compromised by allowing the smokers to smoke around them.

I think the bus stop thing's a bit harsh, as is the smoking shelter thing, but overall I agree with it.

It's much nicer going in pubs, etc at the moment though =]

x

Basically it's about weighing up the rights of non-smokers especially who WORK in a pub etc to not have to breathe in a bunch of poisons, against the rights of people to smoke. I think it's a good compromise. After 15 minutes working in a smoky environment there are significant measurable levels of toxins etc in the person's blood. Nobody else's health should be sacrificed for somebody elses pleasure.

If you are that desperate for a cigarette that it just can't wait, you can go outside *shrugs* I agree the bus stop thing might be slightly extreme but on the other hand I hate it when somebody at the bus stop is smoking. I had to stop smoking because I'm athsmatic and second hand smoke can set of an athsma attack.

Besides everyone knows that because of sod's law, the second you light a cigarette at a bus stop the bus comes and you have to put it out. *nods*

^^^
My mum used to light a cigarette to make the bus come!
=P

^^
I do that. Lol.

The beer garden was packed last night.
Was ace.

HAHAHA omg GENIUS!! I think I might just do that!! haha

> I think that the stopping smoking in bus shelters is totally stuid and pathetic though!! there are gaps at the top and bottom between the panels and the roof/floors, and also dont have proper doors! Gosh it makes me mad!!

/rant over :D

But should I have to stand there breathing in your disgusting habit?

I'm actually glad we finally have this ban, now that the only time I may have to breath smoke in would be if I'm around my friend's house and one of my friends is stood outside and I want to talk to him. (like I did last time I went around there)

youre OUTSIDE.
you take like, three steps & youre away from the smoke. jeez.

I don't like the ban!
I was walking to college Monday and saw there was a "no smoking in this bus stop" sign on the bus stop by my college. Come Thursday walking home from college I noticed it had been ripped off and thrown on the floor.
Shows what people think of the ban, and that they won't change there habits for the government.

They haven't broght the ban over here ( I sadly live on the Isle of Man..just for the summer).

I'm glad that you can't like, smoke at gig venues now. However, it still means some wankers will still throw plastic glasses about and stuff.

Yeah I agree on no smoking at gigs.

I've been burnt a few times due to dicks with ciggies lit in pits.

There isnt a way that they can prove how long you have been smoking, as currently there is no legislation which makes it illegal at a certain age for you to start smoking. The legislation only covers the age which you are legally entitled to buy them. So you could say that you started at the age of 6, and it would not be against the law.

I also think (though I am not 100% sure) that unlike alcohol, it is not illegal to buy them on behalf of someone under the age of 16, though the shop can be prosecuted for selling them to an under 16.

As for the smoking ban, it's only the English which have been moaning about it. The Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish and Ireland have got on with it. As for me, I am a non smoker, but it is annoying now that each time I go to the Gamestation in town (it's several doors up from Wetherspoons) I have to cross the road, or face a corridor of smoke (this Wetherspoons doesnt have a garden or any outside space). Also, some of the people are semi drunk, and can be rude (I was there buying some Gamecube games yesterday and 2 men where shouting nasty comments about me.), which was not a problem before the ban.

Personally I am glad now, because before there was 2 choices before: either sit with the screaming brats, or where the brats have been, which meant that there was tons of food all over the floor, or where the smokers were, which meant that I had to breathe in smoke. Neither was very pleasant, so most of the time I found another pub. Now there is a brat free space in the pub, and I can taste the food/drink properly too.

There's one band I've seen twice and the lead singers requests that no-one smokes in the pub his band are due to play in that night because it does something to his vocals/voice.