To wish cafes would have a designated smoking area...

[ilooklikemrsploppy]

..which is completely separate from non smoking areas so I would be able to sit outside and enjoy the 'fresh' air without smoking the equivalent of 20 fucking fags!

Ok look.... I will re-phrase just for you...
It is illegal to smoke inside so because of this smokers have to go outside.
Better?

I don't really have an issue with the smoking ban in general although I think landlords that owned their own pubs should have had a say on what legal activities they allowed on their premises.

Yep, this I agree with.

Smoking is an individual's decision and has no benefit to society as a whole

Well actually it does benefit the government coffers.

Smokers cost the NHS say 20 billion a year but hey, they bring in 3 times that in tax.

Smokers pay for ALL of their treatment over their lifetime. They also die earlier..

That's 2 huge pluses

Watch out for naked flames eh Op? Could be explosive.

I actually hate walking through town and getting a face full of someone else's smoke, hate people smoking in cars or enclosed areas too. Yes I smoke and try to be considerate when I do, but non smokers need to back off a bit

The smoking bans were designed protect workers in cafes, pubs and clubs, public buildings where they had no choice other than to be exposed to 2nd hand smoke. Enclosed company spaces, cars etc.

Mostly to reduce the potential for litigation.

I feel sorry for smokers who have had to sit outside all winter, freezing while drinking their coffee because they (quite rightly) can't sit indoors. Then all of a sudden the sun comes out and they get moaned at because no one wants them to smoke outside ether.

I don't feel sorry for them, before the smoking ban the reverse situation was true.

Without us smokers taxes would go up quite considerably

Oh and I'm not whining, or uptight or constipated etc etc (fucking yawn) just because I disagree with a revolting habit that pollutes and litters.

My opinion doesn't hurt a soul.

A smoker's habit however....

Please understand that in this generation, it's highly likely that smoking tobacco will be banned in public. Our children probably will live in a smoke free world at some point.

With the viable and safer alternatives to Tobacco, there really isn't a long term future from a logical and sensible standpoint.

just because I disagree with a revolting habit that pollutes and litters

Do you adopt the same attitude towards traffic then Hissy?

(grin)

Kids may live in smoke free world but I wonder what else they'll get up to instead.

Smoking pollutes really? on what scale are we talking here?

Actually chewing gum is a bastard where littering is concerned. Shall we ban that?

Yes ban chewing gum.

Frankly I think people need to back off a bit... As someone said upthread, smokers voluntarily pour extra tax into the government coffers, and are statistically more likely to die prematurely.
What's not to like?

We don't bleed the country dry by using the NHS for free nor do we linger and cost even more money.

This is fact.

I actually can't stand people that spray too much perfume on themselves, it gets down my throat and makes me feel sick.

and I personally salute you for choosing to pay more tax to support the NHS than you need to

Thank you lines, I'm generous like that

I didn't find it a 'big plus' when my dad died earlier than he should have done, of smoking-related illness.

My father died of lung cancer at 73. My non smoking mother was ill for years and had a very lingering death at the age of 84. Which is right?

Well I'm an ex smoker, but surely most smokers have the consideration not to smoke around people who are eating anyway. Being a smoker doesn't compel you to smoke at every given opportunity so you can still enjoy a coffee or meal in a restaurant then smoke later after you've left.

There is of course consideration. I am a considerate person so of course I wouldn't blow smoke in peoples faces, nor in their dinner. This "smoking demonisation" thing has become rather ridiculous now and maybe you need to find something else to worry about

They don't even seem embarrassed. Next time I will spray a can of deodorant near them and see if they like it. Yuck.

Embarrassed about what? It's having a smoke, it's not like they've shit themselves!!