Well, it’s really not long to go now!

I must admit to having mixed feeling about the upcoming ban. I personally couldn't careless about restaurants or even stepping outside for my cigarette break at work, but pubs? Well it'll take some getting used to, but I ask myself this question. Is it going to bother me so much that it stops me going anymore? Absolutely not. I don't plan to quit (in fact, I'm getting more pro-smoking due to all nazi health police). After some adjusting, all us decent smoking folk will think nothing of stepping outside for our well-earned fix of satisfaction. )

I never smoked cigarettes and never will.

Earlier this year I asked a guy I was training if he smoked and he replied "why would I do something that clearly states on the package that if you smoke these it can kill you." That was the smartest thing this idiot had to say in the 10 days he was being trained.

It's OK because the anti-smoking lobby get there way, then all of thopse silly neighborhood groups will get pissed because you can't walk on the sidewalk downtown because theyre full of smokers.

You can still smoke indoors in the county of MD that I live in. I don't like to smoke indoors - unless the ventilation is good. As for the constitutionality of any ban (personal rights/privacy/property) that is a very unstable legal position indeed.

I smoked indoors at MSG, nothing bad happened, its a rock n roll show!

OLDKR

The Sicilian Wrote:
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> I never smoked cigarettes and never will.
>
> Earlier this year I asked a guy I was training if
> he smoked and he replied "why would I do something
> that clearly states on the package that if you
> smoke these it can kill you." That was the
> smartest thing this idiot had to say in the 10
> days he was being trained.

What were you training him to do? Bark and fetch?

oldkr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's OK because the anti-smoking lobby get there
> way, then all of thopse silly neighborhood groups
> will get pissed because you can't walk on the
> sidewalk downtown because theyre full of smokers.
>
> You can still smoke indoors in the county of MD
> that I live in. I don't like to smoke indoors -
> unless the ventilation is good. As for the
> constitutionality of any ban (personal
> rights/privacy/property) that is a very unstable
> legal position indeed.
>
> I smoked indoors at MSG, nothing bad happened, its
> a rock n roll show!
>
> OLDKR


Well, get this - there's going to be an automatic on the spot fine of £80 if you drop a butt on the street anywhere in England.

Big Al Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, it’s really not long to go now!
>
> I must admit to having mixed feeling about the
> upcoming ban. I personally couldn't careless about
> restaurants or even stepping outside for my
> cigarette break at work, but pubs? Well it'll take
> some getting used to, but I ask myself this
> question. Is it going to bother me so much that it
> stops me going anymore? Absolutely not. I don't
> plan to quit (in fact, I'm getting more
> pro-smoking due to all nazi health police). After
> some adjusting, all us decent smoking folk will
> think nothing of stepping outside for our
> well-earned fix of satisfaction. )

Watch where you drop your butt though. It might cost you £80. No kidding. Right there with dog s.hit.

Spud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The only dispensation indoors I'm aware of in the
> new UK smoking legislation is for actors smoking
> onstage ...where it can be shown to be artistic
> content of the performance.

Sorry, but not the case in Scotland (still part of the UK for the time being, at least). There was a lot of media attention at last year's Edinburgh festival when Mel Smith threatened to light a cigar whilst playing Winston Churchill onstage; no way was he allowed to.

The smoking ban in Scotland is not the happy story government spin doctors would have you believe and pubs nd restaurants have been badly hit. Many have had to close.

I actually don't mind not smoking at work (and don't smoke at all during the day). I find it really difficult to enjoy alcohol without a cigarette, though, and am forced to stand in the street getting polluted by gas guzzling vehicles in all weathers when I go to my local pub. Not a lot of fun. And I nearly got stabbed by a total stranger. If I drop my cigarette end on the street I can be fined £50. I eat out less now and go to fewer gigs (OK maybe it's an age thing, but shouldn't sweaty blues gigs be smokey?). At least I don't smoke a pipe or cigars regularly, although I did used to enjoy a nice cigar after a meal (not in any restaurant in the country now, alas). I stopped going to cinemas years ago when they stopped allowing smoking.

I am not totally selfish and insensitive and I don't believe I have a right to inflict my smoke on other people. I believe that businesses and customers should have a choice and improved ventilation would help. For those of you in England facing the ban, I should warn you that pubs in Scotland now smell terrible (toilets and beery farts) and most of the bar staff I know preferred a smokey environment. I will have no trouble refraining from smoking at O2 as long as I refrain from alcohol beforehand.

I know a lot of you will be non-smokers who applaud smoking bans, but I enjoy a smoke - particularly with a beer - and am no longer allowed to do so. Like a lot of people, I don't go to the pub to try to get healthy and am aware of the health risks of my lifestyle. I just prefer to make my own choices.

teleblaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I know a lot of you will be non-smokers who
> applaud smoking bans, but I enjoy a smoke -
> particularly with a beer - and am no longer
> allowed to do so.

5 star post - luckily, we can still have a fag with our pilsner in my fine burg!

A very comforting post teleblaster!

I just wish they'd hurry up and get this ban started. I know it's only three or so weeks now, but it's been dragging along for too long. I'm getting sick of all the fuc*ing NHS adverts portraying smokers as lepers who need a saviour. Maybe they'll stop once the ban starts.

Like I said in my previous post, we are going to have to just adapt, I just want to get on with it now and never hear smoking in a bad light from the government, health police etc. They are getting their own way and so are the ex-smokers. They are worse with their criticisms and smugness at the ban than those who've never smoked.

One final point. What is the big idea at banning smoking from railway platforms???? Most outer London ones are bloody outside!

Big Al Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One final point. What is the big idea at banning
> smoking from railway platforms???? Most outer
> London ones are bloody outside!

I dont know but it is the train company that banned it.

If I remember it was 2004 we were told to put out our cigs on the platform, the area was definately not enclosed .
The guy said GNER or whoever had banned smoking on all their platforms.

In Scotland you can still smoke under cover providing the wall round the covered structure is less than 50% of the external area.


One really stupid rule in Scotland is banning smoking in company vehicals.

Lorry drivers must stop smoking in their cabs when they cross the Border.

But criminals are allowed to smoke in police cars on their way to Jail/Court!!!.

I remember years back when there was not such a big issue in Europe that people had to smoke outside Calgary Airport in December when it was minus 25 or so. Anyway I think for our friends South of the Alps it is much easier to handle, because in such a climate you may have an outside bar even during the winter time. Whereas when you get North things might turn very cold.
Though I am a nonsmoker I still think that there should be bars well signed where you are permitted to smoke. In restaurants without a very good air con I do not like it at all.
Rather get those pissed drunks out of my sight in front of me when I would like to enjoy the concert and some having a smoke in peace.

As a non-smoker, the thing I hate about smoke-free legislation is that you find out what OTHER smells there are in a crowded enclosed space - lots of them are much worse than smoke, even if they aren't hazardous to your health!

ROCKMAN

Keith don´t care



It´s Only Rock´n Roll

just curious what the rationale is for not leaving it up to the restaurant/pub owners
whether to have a smoking section or not

Green Lady Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As a non-smoker, the thing I hate about smoke-free
> legislation is that you find out what OTHER smells
> there are in a crowded enclosed space - lots of
> them are much worse than smoke, even if they
> aren't hazardous to your health!


You can say that again....no smell can compare to a sweat crowd in a tiny bar, I'd rather be locked up in a smelly cowshed

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just curious what the rationale is for not leaving
> it up to the restaurant/pub owners
> whether to have a smoking section or not


In Scotland, there was no consultation with the public or the spirit /hospitality trade. It was simply foisted on us. A year later, the Labour party was voted out of power in Scotland (first time in 50 years). While the Iraq war, etc., were obvious factors in this, I know plenty disgruntled smokers for whom the blanket ban was the last straw.

In Scotland we submitted to the ban meekly, in my opinion. I will be interested in the English experience, although I doubt further concessions will be made given the high profile of the alleged risks of passive smoking and the selective reporting in the media.

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just curious what the rationale is for not leaving
> it up to the restaurant/pub owners
> whether to have a smoking section or not

They tried that but the Restaurant and Pub owners here well most of them were not prepared to spend the money on a good AC system or air curtains round the serving area.

So the smoke from the smoking area drifted in to the non smoking area.

On this point the establishment owners have only got themselves to blame for the blanket ban.

The view of the Scottish Exec is they are saving the Staff in the Bar from passive smoking.

You can still sit outside (weather permitting)and eat/drink/smoke but self
service only, the staff are not supposed to bring your drink or food to you if you smoke.

>> They tried that but the Restaurant and Pub owners here well most of them were not prepared
to spend the money on a good AC system or air curtains round the serving area. <<

... so what's wrong with having some nonsmoking restaurants/pubs and some where smoking is allowed?
people who don't want to encounter smoke don't have to go to (or work at) the ones that allow smoking.
why wouldn't that be satisfactory?

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> ... so what's wrong with having some nonsmoking
> restaurants/pubs and some where smoking is
> allowed?
> people who don't want to encounter smoke don't
> have to go to (or work at) the ones that allow
> smoking.
> why wouldn't that be satisfactory?


because the nanny-state governments of modern Europe and most of the United States have given up on the idea of personal choice. i think its an outrage.

Long Before some of the laws that banned smoking, most indoor venues did not allow it in the seatin area's. I remember back in the 70's concerts at the Boston garden there were NS signs everywhere. Of course you could not read them clearly through all the Smoke.

Long Before some of the laws that banned smoking, most indoor venues did not allow it in the seatin area's. I remember back in the 70's concerts at the Boston garden there were NS signs everywhere. Of course you could not read them clearly through all the Smoke.

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> ... so what's wrong with having some nonsmoking
> restaurants/pubs and some where smoking is
> allowed?
> people who don't want to encounter smoke don't
> have to go to (or work at) the ones that allow
> smoking.
> why wouldn't that be satisfactory?

We have had non-smoking pubs in the past, but whenever I've seen them they've been empty.

At the end of the day, come July I will no longer be allowed to light up inside. I'm just going to have to lump it along with all the other smokers who have no intention to quit. I just hope the sun is shining! )

the singer not the bong Wrote:


the nanny-state governments of modern
> Europe and most of the United States have given up
> on the idea of personal choice. i think its an
> outrage.

Couldn't agree with you more, mate

teleblaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> with sssoul Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > just curious what the rationale is for not
> leaving
> > it up to the restaurant/pub owners
> > whether to have a smoking section or not
>
>
> In Scotland, there was no consultation with the
> public or the spirit /hospitality trade. It was
> simply foisted on us. A year later, the Labour
> party was voted out of power in Scotland (first
> time in 50 years). While the Iraq war, etc., were
> obvious factors in this, I know plenty disgruntled
> smokers for whom the blanket ban was the last
> straw.
>
> In Scotland we submitted to the ban meekly, in my
> opinion. I will be interested in the English
> experience, although I doubt further concessions
> will be made given the high profile of the alleged
> risks of passive smoking and the selective
> reporting in the media.

As a fellow Scot - alright, I'm half Glaswegian - I'm VERY surpreisd that there weren't full scale riots. My dad grew uop in the Gorbals. They rioted there when the sun didn't shine when it was supposed to.

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just curious what the rationale is for not leaving
> it up to the restaurant/pub owners
> whether to have a smoking section or not


As has been said, the reason given is that no one should be forced into passive smoking as part of their job. This includes the cleaners/caretakers of a building such as a pub or club who will not necessarily be in it at the same time as the smokers.

I gave up smoking nearly 16 years ago when I was expecting child number 1 and have been too skint to start again ever since. But now the govt. has TOLD me I can't smoke in a public place I am filled with a strong urge to light up a cigarette.

The one thing that struck me when NYC went non-smoking 4 years ago was just how awful all the bars & pubs actually smell.

Someone puffing a Marlboro next to you is going to seem like a fresh ocean breeze compared to the unique bouquet of years of stale beer, stale smoke, and plumbing problems.