smoking in pubs

[encee]

i m a non smoker and hubby is a smoker and i feel that there should be pubs you can smoke in and pubs that you cant.i think the only way to see the difference in not allowing smoking is to boycott pubs and clubs and just see if landlords etc will notice the difference financially.i think a total ban is silly

[cruella]

Hi encee
As you know, this ban has been in Scotland for nearly a year now.
All you are met with when you passa public house or hotel are crowds pf people standing outside smoking. They are, by law, supposed to be roughly 8-10 metres away from the premises too. A lady was actually fined on the spot in the town centre where I live for putting a cigarette out in the street. She was fined �50 on the spot.
I am with you, a total ban does not work.

[Beanmistriss]

How does it not work? When I go home to Scotland I can go to the pub, come out not reeking like an ashtry, contact lenses not stuck to my eyeballs and don't have to wash my hair before I go to bed. Many places (where possible) have built shelters for smokers outside, some complete with heaters and tellys. If they have to huddle round the doorway that doesnt bother me. I'm not having to inhale their smoke in an enclosed environment. Its brilliant.

Smokers still have a choice. They can go outside or they can not smoke. And as we all should know (we all should know anyway) you always have a choice, it might not be the choice you most want, but thats life.

[Beanmistriss]

Also bl00dy right to fine her for putting her fag out in the street. Its filthy. Many smokers treat the streets like a huge ashtray, how is that ok? You get fined for dropping any other litter, why not tabbys?

[tara20]

I'm also a non-smoker, but my husband smokes ( more than is good for him!). Last year, on holiday in Scotland , even he found it pleasant to sit in a clean pub, no smell, no ash, and, since nobody else was smoking, he didn't miss
his cigarette. Certainly an incentive to give up the habit, which is what it proved to be.....a habit.

You used to be able to smoke in the cinema till it was banned......but people still go.

[encee]

its good to hear peoples opinions, gives us all a better understanding from all angles.hubby being a smoker went to footy match last week and there was no smoking there so he bought a packet of sweets.i asked him how he felt about that and the answer was i suppose i can get use to it so maybe its just the fact of getting use to it.but i know one thing i will not be sitting in a bar on my own when hubby has to go outside to have a ciggy so no more pubs for us when it comes in unless of course its nice and sunny then all of us can go outside untill of course it gets banned outside because people will say they can't enjoy the sunshine which is supposed to be bad for health also.

[cruella]

I was interested in the reply from beanmistriss.
I am neither for or against the smoking ban as I do not sit and drink in pubs or hotels. Reason being, I do not like the smell of stale alcohol in pubs or clubs.
I was telling it as it is in Scotland. I do not like walking past a public house or hotel where there are people gathered, smoking away in a cloud of smoke. Cigarette ends are all over the pavement and for visitors to this country, I personally think it gives a bad impression.
The reason I feel it does not work is that many hotels and public houses have closed or gone into liquidation since the ban was introduced, with a lot of jobs lost in the process. I agree that cigarette ends do litter the street but what I think is worse is when the school children are on their lunchbreak, go to the nearest take a way shop, then two minutes later they discard the cartons and the food. No one fines them.
I am more concerned about exhaust emissions from all the cars on the road than I am from people smoking.

[alijangra]

I too am from Scotland, the smoking ban is the best thing to have happened here for a long time. I live in Aberdeen and cannot think of a single pub that has closed down due to the ban, although Im happy to be corrected if someone knows otherwise. If smokers put as much effort into trying to cut down on the old cancer sticks as they do complaining about the smoking ban, they might actually improve their health/start to smell better/whiten their yellow teeth some time in the near future.

[DanFlo]

I'm a smoker, have been for a long time. Not bothered by the ban...tried to give up a number of times but failed...the secret is not to ENJOY it, but i do! Pubs will create smoking areas outside with patio heaters for customers who smoke, but the summer nights outside with the non smokers is going to cause conflict, it's the one place i don't feel like a leper...(nothing against lepers in this PC country, sorry). I don't and won't smoke in restaurants, i hate it when someone lights up while i'm eating, but still at the end of the day i'm having my choice and freedom to do what i want to do restricted by this government.

[joko]

smokers bleat on about having their freedom taken away - well what about my freedom NOT to breathe poisonous smoke whenever i wish spend any time in a public space?

what about my freedom NOT to have to take ventolin so i don't die of an asthma attack?
what about my freedom of NOT having to pay out to get the aforementioned ventolin about once a month?

what about my freedom NOT to have all my clothes and hair stink of stale smoke - which costs me money to wash.

What about my freedom to NOT have itchy eyes and a sore throat?

Your 'freedom' is costing me money and health, and have you ever given a second thought to my freedom?

No.

so excuse me if i don't give a toss about your loss of freedom!!

[encee]

peoples different opinions on this subject have beeb really interesting.its obvious that everyone thinks they are right so who is wrong?

[tigerlily11]

I don't smoke but to be honest I would rather sit in a room full of smokers than a room full of drunks any day.

[tara20]

That's a choice between a rock and a hard place. Given that choice I think I'd rather leave the room!

[encee]

i personally think that there will be an awful lot of empty locals.what happens when a workman comes into your own house to do some repairs and the houseowner lights ciggy up.can the workman refuse to do the work because he does not want to be in a smoking enviroment doing his work..just a thought.

[cruella]

Hi encee
If the ban is applied the same as Scotland, then you are right in thinking that tradesmen have the right not to work in a house where someone is smoking. They are entitled to leave if the person does not put the cigarette out.
I work for Local Government and do not have to stay in a house if someone is smoking if I feel strongly about it. Which I don't.
I agree with tigerlily 11 I would rather be around a smoker any day than a place full of people who have had too much to drink. Nothing against drink either. Just the way some people behave when they have had too much. Everything in moderation is my motto.

[encee]

i agree. also how the law stands hubby drives a lorry for a living nobody else drives it but a no smoking ban is going to be slapped on his lorry.maybe we should be asking for permission to exist.when you think of all thev laws which are being broken everyday and all the goverment are interested in is controlling peoples lives.and paying council officials to snoop with cameras.i dont understand.you cant have camera's in work places ie if you think somebody is stealing from till etc.human rights do not allow camera's. i'm not a smoker .gave up 6 years ago.but this law stinks more than the fags.

[cruella]

Hi encee,
My Husband has his own business. Works hard, has a little office, no-one else there but him, but he had to put up no smoking signs on the front door or else be fined on the spot. He is not allowed to smoke in his own premises. I empathise with lorry drivers too. Not allowed to smoke even though there is no-one in the cab with them and I would assume he keeps the windows down. I think you have it sussed. Stay home in the winter and both go out to nice hotels in the summer where you can both sit out in the hotel gardens and enjoy your drink and your evenings out. Most workplaces ask colleagues to report any colleague they see smoking to report them. WHO NEED CAMERAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[encee]

yes but as i said in an earier post.how long will it be before the smokers cannot smoke outside pubs in the summer because people dont like it there either.we can go on and on and get nowhere.what ws i read.oh yes.you can smoke in prisons.well that says it all.

[encee]

thought i might just add this one.
a no smoking establishment clearly marked and right outside the doors are a no smoking sign.people congregate right in front of this sign and so far nobody has done anything because its outside a hospital.where smoking is certainly not allowed which i do agree with and smoking is not allowed outside.so one rule for one and another elsewhere.confusing or what.

[cruella]

Well encee
just been talking about this with my Husband. WE had to laugh as he said you were right. Two years down the line, a total ban on smoking outside.
Ah well, you win some you lose some.

[joko]

like i said "have you ever given a second thought to my rights as a non smoker?"

your complete lack of acknowledgement or response to any of the points i made in favour of over the top things like "...maybe we should be asking for permission to exist...", say it all about your argument really - or rather lack of one.

and i might just add, you talk of asking for permission to exist...well i would like to breathe freely - i shouldn't need to ask permission for that...should i?