Smoking Ban .... your opinion

[Mosschops30]

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[ButtonMoon]

Think they should def ban it where food is served as it is absolutely disgusting if you are a non smoker, and also there are often children in these environments too. Pubs/clubs i think are different and I'm not too sure. I don't particularly like breathing in others' smoke or stinking of an ashtray but can see the problem of businesses going down the pan......but then again if they did ban it everywhere then smokers would get used to it just like they did on planes and trains etc....and I remeber the fuss kicked up about that at the time....didn't stop smokers going on holidays did it?

[Mosschops30]

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[Hulababy]

I would like to see smoking banned in various places, such as:

• anywhere where food is served; if smoking is to be allowed it should be a seperate room (not partioned) with adequate venting
  
• anywhere that allows children in
  
• school/children's playgrounds even where outside)
  
• all public transport (think it is anyway though)
  
  I also think there should be better non smoking facilities. Partitions/seperate areas of the same room do NOT work. Smoke kjust gets everywhere and I should not have to breathe it in.
  
  We do have a totally no smoking pub/restauarnt in Sheffield - part of a chain I think. It is great

[piffle]

As i posted on the other thread
Smoking should be banned full stop unless there is way of smoking that does not harm those who choose not to smoke that is...

[expatinscotland]

if i go to a pub, i expect it to be smoky. i'd rather smell smoke than stale beer, urine, vomit, etc.

[maisystar]

tbh i think smoking should be banned in publis full stop.

apart from the smoke aspect which is unpleasant and unhealthy they are dangerous! ds has nearly been burnt by cigarettes sooo many times, they are exactly at the height of his face

i have been burnt on the arm by one when just walking along the street

and i have seen a toddler try to pick up a lit cigarette that someone had just chucked on the floor.

i have no probs at all with people smoking in their own homes, just can't stand it in public.

[maisystar]

public

[joash]

If they can't ban it full stop then ... I reckon it should be banned in all public places - even the street, If anyone wants to do it - let them do it in their own homes!

[pixiefish]

Aren't weatherspoons smoke free???

Think there should be a ban on smoking in public- that includes the street- agree with maisystar's point on that one. And before anyone asks- what about your next door neighbour smoking outside his house should he be banned as well- then yes he should be banned- it's a horrible, foul habit that pollutes the atmosphere and kills people

[Snugs]

But if it was totally banned on the streets, then I would get screamed at for smoking near my kids.

I try to be a responsible smoker - I don't blow smoke over people, I stub out my cigs and take them home with me, I lift them out of the way if I see someone getting too close to me, I don't throw them out of the car.

How about doing something about people who spit in the street - that is just as dangerous and far more disgusting IMO.

Oh and ban cars while your at it so no-one breathes in exhaust fumes.

[pixiefish]

agree snugs that people who spit in the street are foul as well. As are people who drop chewing gum and litter on the pavement

[charleepeters]

i thinks it should be banned in public areas town ect because i personally find it gross when i walk past someone whos blowing smoke right in my face! but maybe they should build smoking rooms in the streets like in office blocks and stuff? but i agree there should be smoking and non smoking pubs and resturaunts because even if you request a non smoking table, theres no barries from the smoking tables and its really off putting when eating.

[unicorn]

I actually loved going in the pubs in Ireland...went in clean, and came out clean... people were taking babies in some of them too!

I think the pubs in this country have awful ventilation systems, and it puts me off going out for a drink if I come back stinking like the proverbial ashtray.

So - roll on the clean air act I say!

[mmmmchocolate]

up for banning it in public places or at least having a small smoking area and the larger area being smoke free... Hate coming home smelling or other peoples smoke on my hair and clothes. Don't understand myself why people are happy to constantly smell like that!!

[MissGalway]

Mosschops - you make it sound like we have major crime just because of the smoking ban. We don't. What we have is nice places to eat and drink in with no smoke to annoy us. We can, if we want, wear the same clothes the next day because our clothes no longer smell of stale smoke. I don't know where you saw all these people standing out side of pub doors smoking becasue I don't see it and I live in Ireland. It was the first anniversay of the smoking ban yesterday here in Ireland and according to a poll 98% deem it a success and 44% of people who smoked one year ago are now non-smokers.

I myself have worked in the pub trade and for one am glad for other workers that we no longer have to endure other peoples second hand smoke in our faces.

It is a phenomenol (sp?) success here in Ireland and long may we continue to be at the forefront of these types of initiatives.

[joash]

I remember reading of a case in the USA, a few years ago in which parents were successfully prosecuted for child abuse because they smoked around their children who had asthma.

[nightowl]

as a smoker im actually all for a ban on it in as many places as possible. ive tried to give up so many times and its always been when ive been out to a pub/restaurant and seen everyone else smoking that ive given in to temptation . (people who have never smoked perhaps wont understand this). i know i cant blame anyone else for my actions but i know many many people who have been fine until they went out. its a good idea i think for everyone and would be a great help to those who WANT to give up too. i think many non smokers would be surprised at the amount of smokers who do want to give up. its a very bad habit but very hard to kick.

what surprises me is our local shopping centre. they banned smoking in the mall several years ago but it is allowed in the restaurants..open restaurants slap bang in the middle on the centre, now to me that is just pointless. where is the logic?

[SleepyJess]

It's my honest unshakable belief that smoking should just be banned.. full stop. Of course it won't be.. because of the effect on the economy.. but it hoestly serves no purpose but to make people ill and cause distress! Even spitting in the street.. gross yes, but nowhere near as foul as smoking because unless you step in it, it really doesn't affect you. Seeing someone spit is horrible, sure, but it's not actually going to do you any harm.

Smoking just doesn't have any plus points.. I have had smokers bang on and all until they're blue in the face(!) about it being 'ok' in certain circs, etc etc on other sites.. but it really isn't ok is it? Even in the open it drifts.. and sometimes right unto the airways of my child with cystic fibrosis who has enough of a tough battle at keeping his lungs in a decent condition without having to contend with avoidable poisons which are blown (often unintentionally) in his direction by smokers. And why should anyone else have to breathe it either? Isn't it a basic human right that we get to breath air as fresh as it can be?

Pollution of any kind is bad.. but at least traffic pollution is a by-product of something servicable that someone is benefiting from! (That's not to say that we should go on messing up the planet with every-increasing C02 emissions..epsecially when they are actually alternatives..but's that a whole other subject.) Cigarette smoke pollution really is unecessary. There's no getting around it.

Yep ban it outright. I would LOVE that.

SJ x

[FairyMum]

Agree with SleepyJess evethough I used to smoke before I had children and occasionally smoke at parties still. My main reason for wanting a smoking-ban is that I don't want my children to smoke!

[SeaShells]

I would like to see a ban in enclosed places, esp where children or food is concerned but think the idea of a ban in open areas is just ridiculous! I'm a smoker and live in the town centre, so if there was a ban on smoking in my town and I could only smoke in my own home, would I not just lean out the window to have one and blow it right out into the town? You cannot possibly ban what people omit into the air, in a confined area yes, but into the air outside no! What next, no farting outside, no spraying deodrant, etc?

I'm not a massive raving fag lover, I hate the smell of them and hate my children breathing in smoke, I actually think they are pretty disgusting, but LIKE smoking at the moment. I have a right to choose to do so, and I smoke outside as often as possible as I understand that others have not chosen to smoke so I don't have the right to inflict it on them. The amount of crap you breathe in from todays air, a little fag smoke is probably the least of your worries!

[StuartC]

What next after smoking has been banned?
Ban alcohol (of course)
Ban chocolate (it doesn't do any good, is addictive and makes some people fat)
Ban conversation (some people are quite nasty and cause upset to others)
Ban holidays (waste of natural fuel resources; and keeps people away from productive work)

I'm amazed at the lengths some people would go in order to impose their beliefs on others. I don't smoke but I've no problem with other people smoking. I just don't want to be near them while they're doing it.

[SoupDragon]

You don't get passive fatness from being around someone who eats chocolate though. Or a passive hangover from being around alcohol (ok drunk people can be nasty but so can sober people)...

It should definitely be banned in public places such as restaurants, pubs and children's play areas. I'm a little less concerned about other outdoor places.

I have never smoked and have never wanted to smoke so why would I want to inhale smoke that's been round someone else filthy tarry lungs?

[StuartC]

I agree with you, SoupDragon.

But... a hospital in Manchester was on the news recently. They were having the smoking shelters removed and were banning patients from going outside the building for a smoke "No smoking on land belonging to the hospital". The TV programme which was reporting the story conducted a phone-poll and 77% were in favour of the ban.

I think that it looks horrible to see people in dressing gowns outside hospitals smoking but if the shelters have been removed...

What's wrong with people smoking in the open air?

[JoolsToo]

well if you've ever sat in a beer garden next to a table full of smokers - it can be as bad as being indoors! I bet standing at a bus stop with smokers could be grim too!

Having seen smokers desperately reach for their cigarettes the minute they are at the baggage reclaim at the airport - a place where smoking is prohibited! - I reckon a complete ban would be hard to enforce.

[SoupDragon]

I agree JT, it is still ghastly in the open air but I see it as a give and take situation. I'd be more than happy with a ban in smoking inside public places. Although I'd like restricted smoking areas in beer gardens and similar.

Patients smoking outside hospitals looks horrible. Much better to hide them away somewhere in a shelter I can see the hospital's POV though. Smoking does cause lots of illness so I can understand their stance on not allowing it on their premises.