Should smoking be outlawed?

[merlin]

Just wondering what people think. I was reading today that 100,000 people in UK die every year from smoking related issues, and that a third of all cancers can be attributed to smoking,
I am neither one way or the other, I support euthanasia in principle anyway, so perhaps it would be a bit hypocritical for me to say people should not be allowed to kill themselves slowly. I don’t smoke, it gets in the way of my drinking, interesting though, what do you think?

[Maykal]

If the government were to outlaw smoking on the principle that 'they know what's best for you' then that would open the door for a lot of other restrictions. It would be hard to outlaw smoking on the basis that it kills people without using the same logic to outlaw drink, cars, nice (ie unhealthy) food, extreme sports, and a whole other list of things.

I think they were absolutely right to introduce smoking bans in places such as in offices, on public transport, and so forth. I'm not so sure I agree with the ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants - a client has the choice to frequent such an establishment or not, and the owner should have the right to make his/her own decision as to what kind of clients he/she wants to attract. Market forces will ultimately tell him/her whether the choice was the correct one or not.

There's no smoking ban in effect here at the moment, but pubs/bars/restaurants that allow smoking have to have a sign on the door stating that they allow it. As a non-smoker, I simply avoid the smoky places and stick to non-smoking establishment or the non-smoking areas of restaurants.

[oldjerry]

No.

[Odsox]

I'm not so sure I agree with the ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants - a client has the choice to frequent such an establishment or not, and the owner should have the right to make his/her own decision as to what kind of clients he/she wants to attract.

If you think about it, this is not for pub or restaurant clients but more for the people that work there.
If you ban smoking in the workplace that must automatically include ANYWHERE that a person works, like bar staff and waitresses.

What I do find a little pedantic is fining self employed tradesmen for smoking in their vans, because technically it's a workplace.

As to whether I agree with it, I smoked for 45 years and gave it up several years ago. One of the reasons I succeeded this time was because how anti-social smoking was becoming (the other reasons were expense and my health (in that order)), so I suppose I agree with all these bans that make it more difficult and anti-social to smoke, thereby giving others a bigger incentive to quit.

[demi]

i think a tobacco ban would benifit people in that if its difficult to get a hold of then the younger generations are less likley to start to smoke it in the first place. but they are never going to do that due to the amount of tax the government get off it. i think its more likley that they legalize cannabis than ban tobacco. its funny that, in amsterdam there is the smoking ban but you are allowed to smoke cannabis as long as there is no tobacco in it!

i think the smoking ban is a good thing. i dont like sitting eating my lunch with my kids with people smoking arround me.
now that i stopped smoking the smell of cigarettes makes me feel ill
unfortunatly, there is the smoking ban here, but nobody enforces it, much like lots of other laws and regulations.
they made a stupid law to not sell alcohol after 7pm, which does nothing other that cause a nucence. it means if someone come round unexpected in the evening i cant nip out to the shop and get some wine! but there are certain shops if you know the owner they'll sell you some on the sly

[Maykal]

If you think about it, this is not for pub or restaurant clients but more for the people that work there.
If you ban smoking in the workplace that must automatically include ANYWHERE that a person works, like bar staff and waitresses.

Yes, you're right, I had forgotten about that being one of the justifications for the ban (didn't really follow the discussion in detail as I left the UK in the '90s). However, I still think that the same logic should be applied. An employer should make it clear on any job ad that the successful candidate will be working in an environment where exposure to smoke is likely, and then each person can make their own mind up whether to apply or not.

The problem is, obviously, that it's difficult to apply this retrospectively now that the ban has been put in place. Someone who took a bar job based on the knowledge that it's going to be a non-smoking establishment could hardly be asked to choose between putting up with it or quitting should the ban be lifted.

[Maykal]

Evening Demi,

i dont like sitting eating my lunch with my kids with people smoking arround me.

Lots of people don't like going out for a smoking and having other people's kids around them. The point is to have a system which encourages businesses that cater for the entire range of customer needs: places for people to sit and have a quiet drink and a smoke as well as smoke-free family-friendly places.

now that i stopped smoking the smell of cigarettes makes me feel ill

Yeah, me too. Although the thing that bothers me most now, and the main reason I avoid smoking-tolerent places, is the stink on my clothes when I get home.

they made a stupid law to not sell alcohol after 7pm, which does nothing other that cause a nucence.

Seriously? Surely that don't apply that rule to bars and restaurants too, do they???

[boboff]

What Jerry Said.

[demi]

Evening Demi,

i dont like sitting eating my lunch with my kids with people smoking arround me.

Lots of people don't like going out for a smoking and having other people's kids around them. The point is to have a system which encourages businesses that cater for the entire range of customer needs: places for people to sit and have a quiet drink and a smoke as well as smoke-free family-friendly places.

now that i stopped smoking the smell of cigarettes makes me feel ill

Yeah, me too. Although the thing that bothers me most now, and the main reason I avoid smoking-tolerent places, is the stink on my clothes when I get home.

they made a stupid law to not sell alcohol after 7pm, which does nothing other that cause a nucence.

Seriously? Surely that don't apply that rule to bars and restaurants too, do they???

sometimes id rather not have my kids arround me to, but theres not much that can be done about that
the no alcohol after 7pm only applys to shops, not in bars/resteraunts which no doubt have made a nice profit from the ban.
if we can get a shop it buy it after 7, you can get a carry out from a resteraunt/bar but its way more expencive.

smoking and non smoking designated areas, with walls between them, i think would satisfy both partys. then the employees would work on either side accordingly.

[Thomzo]

My father smoked when I was a child. Not only did it kill him, we also know now that it caused my childhood asthma. Despite that, I don't believe that smoking should be banned outright. At least the government gets tax from it as it currently stands. All that would happen by outlawing it, would be that people would continue to smoke in secret and they would have to buy their cigarettes from drug dealers.

I don't even support the smoking ban in pubs. I believe that they should be allowed to offer smoking rooms. If they were fully air conditioned, and there was no bar, then nobody would have to work in the smokey atmosphere and it would mean that non-smokers wouldn't have to run the gauntlet of drunk smokers outside the pub door. I've noticed that the main Street in Swindon Town centre smells a lot more of smoke than it used to before the smoking ban.

Zoe

[MKG]

Absolutely not. Nor should drinking. Or sex. There's a long list of other things, like over-eating, which would make more effective but less easy targets.

Besides which, I do not care to live in a society which is so regulated, hidebound, stuffy and holier-than-thou that it would bore and annoy me to death.

Mike (please excuse typing - it's hard to see through this cloud of nicotine-laden smoke).

[baldybloke]

We have a crisis with more people living into old age, without the money to support them. The Nanny State is only going to make this matter worse.
As a smoker, I agree with the smoking ban on the whole. Unfortunately it has had a major effect on pubs and other establishments.
As for binge drinking, I blame the supermarkets for selling cut price booze, putting pubs out of business and ruining communities. Then I blame the Government for turning a blind eye to this problem whilst looking after big business such as supermarkets.

Right I need to go and calm down and have cigarette.

[seasidegirl]

One problem I have with all these death rates quoted in relation to various diseases or lifestyles is that they never include data on the ages of the people that died. In a book recently I learned that it is illegal to put old age as a cause of death, on certificates.
We all have to die of something.

Now experts are saying that the young people of today might be the first generation to live less long than their parents because of obesity. As my parents generation were the heaviest smokers, but also seem to be the generation that has lived very long lives it does make me wonder.

Also did the people who smoked in pubs drink less, or slower maybe? An interesting experiment could be to test the alcohol consumed in pubs where smoking is allowed indoors versus a similar peer group pub where they all have to go out for a smoke.

Although I do smoke I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't started but its pretty horrible how smokers are treated now.

[seasidegirl]

Found some stats here on ages

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer ... statistics

[southeast-isher]

Five or so ago i started to get a letter from my doctor asking whether i smoked / still smoked / never smoked. And i got this letter once or twice a year. Now (the last letter i got from them just recently) they not only ask about smoking but about your weight. It just goes to show: give them an inch and they take a mile. What will be next?