nekkid_monkey


"The logic of people having a choice to go doesn't satisfy me because we both agree that we should have bars and restaurants.  That means someone has to go, and someone has to work there. "


Is there a law that says if a bar or resturant opens that people HAVE to go? If people HATED smoking SO much that there was a law required, then any place that allowed smoking wouldn't have been successful in the first place.

Sane people don't patronize places they find disgusting. 

Smoking bans are another one of these little babysitter laws that takes away personal freedoms in the guise of protecting people. 

I don't smoke regularly, and I haven't been to a bar in years. I still find it disturbing that if I went to a bar, there's now a LAW that says I can't smoke in there. If there was just a no smoking sign over the bar, no problem. But a LAW is going too far.  

The smoking ban in Scotland (and the rest of the UK) may had some effect on pubs customer's but not much.  I think the main pubs affected are the wee old man's locals, and even then they're only affected when the weather is bad.  I'm still in two minds about it - bar staff knew they would be working in a smoky environment, and customers knew they were walking into one.  There were non smoking pubs before the ban came into force.

I'm a smoker, I gave up a couple of years ago for 10 months but then lapsed and I smoke more than ever.  Habit costs me around £100 a month.  Nearly all my friends are smokers, but most of our parents are not, so it seems to have skipped a generation in my social circles!

The one real bad thing about the smoking ban is the fact that when you have a load of guys drinking beer, they fart.  The smoke used to cover that up.  A lot of venues won't let you outside to smoke during concerts too, so it's usually worth chancing a cigarette in the toilet or whatever (the mosh pit can be a good place), if you are not going to be let back in anyway.  I've had snuff at a couple of gigs to get around it, but that's pretty nasty.  Of course getting caught could result in a police fine.

The government should stay out of my damned business. If I want to smoke in a privately owned establishment, I should be able to. The government should have control over their property, and nothing else.

Now, with that said, I find smoking to be revolting personally. It smells nasty, and it tastes like goat shit. I rather like having a smoke-free environment, and I would also like a drink-free public environment too, because I dislike having to deal with drunk stranger, however that's not my place to decide, nor is it the government's.

If someone wants to smoke, and the establishment is okay with it, let 'em. There are literally thousands of places to eat a meal, not to mention, established smoking sections in the restaurants that do permit it.

I was also conflicted.  It's the age old debate of individual freedoms vs. responsible government.  Normally I side with individual freedoms.  However, I think the idea of private property for an open business needs to be reconsidered.  It should be deemed a public area simply because it's open to the public even though it's not owned by the public looking at ownership laws.  The laws do not reflect reality 100%.  Don't get caught up in the term private.  It's not private, its open to anyone, in the case of restaurants this includes children who have little to no choice as to where they go to eat. 

The owner of the bar is providing a service for citizens.  He may have a selfish view on his business, but in essence the property belongs to everyone.  When he dies the property gets past on to someone else, his name isn't permanently entrenched on the land.  The business owner is mearly controlling the property.  And he's only able to do this because he's already following a set of laws.

You're kidding yourself if you think a business owner can do whatever they want with their land.  It hasn't worked like that ever.  The food they serve has to pass health regulations, the building has to pass fire code, even before they construct the building they have to follow zoning laws.  If they fail any of these things the place can be closed down.  With respect to Health regulations, cigarette smoke isn't mearly a bad smell.  It's poison, the shit has over 80 carcinogens in it that have so far been identified.  Thousands of chemicals in second hand smoke, all of them are bad for your health, some are very bad.  If we're prepared to let people blow smoke in everyone's faces, I fail to see the purpose of any health/safety regulations in these public areas. 
    

in the case of restaurants this includes children who have little to no choice as to where they go to eat.

Very true, nobody ever mentions that.

I hate sexy woman that smoke. When I see them smoking they lose 85 points right then and there.

Well the goverments banning smoking is in it to save money. Health care bills, money lost because people get sick and cant work amounts to quite  alot.

Making life tougher for smokers is an effort to get them to stop and to avoid others getting infected with the disease like smoke.

It wont be many years till its banned all in all

I have a few problems with that.

It's not private, its open to anyone, in the case of restaurants thisincludes children who have little to no choice as to where they go toeat.

Who do you know that doesn't already smoke, who would go themselves to a smoker-heavy restaurant, no less bring their kids? Most family restaurants have had no-smoking policies for years now.

The majority of "smoking" restaurants are midrange sports bars, or high-class restaurants that rely on accommodation to establish return patrons, neither of which are really suitable for young kids.

The effects on temporary exposure to secondhand smoke are seriously limited. You only get into trouble when you're constantly exposed to the stuff. I mean, think about it. Being in a room with a smoker once or twice a month is not going to have an effect on your health. You're more liable to suffer from the food you're eating than the air around you, that is if you eat out moderately. If you're going to restaurants that smoke daily, it's time to take a step back and prioritize anyhow.

Edit: Is "Who Smoke" proper English over there, or is that just a typo?

Typo.

mikayd2


I hate sexy woman that smoke. When I see them smoking they lose 85 points right then and there.

Agreed, but that applies to ALL women.  So yes, that means some women get into the negative numbers.

Who do you know that doesn't already smoke, who would go themselves toa smoker-heavy restaurant, no less bring their kids? Most familyrestaurants have had no-smoking policies for years now.

My family has always dragged me and my brother(s) to smoking zones as kids.  That's not unusual where I live.  As an adult I stopped going out with them just to avoid the smoke.  Now I'll have dinner with them since they banned the stuff.  My aunt lives just past Montreal and she only comes down like twice a year.  She used to get so pissed off when i didn't want to go to diner with them and now that I go when she comes down they can't figure out why, they don't believe my reason. 
 
My step dads mom died of emphysema and she spent her last months strapped to an oxygen tank.  She could not take a step without being out of breath.  Three quarters of her lungs we gone.  The only time she didn't have an oxygen mask on her face was when she had a cigarette in her mouth.   

My favorite example of a smoker's determination is my father.  Guy had lung cancer and stops his two pack a day habit only to move on to his three cigar a day habit.  Expecting him to give me a stupid reason like that they were less harmful than cigarettes, I asked him why he started smoking cigars.  You know what he told me?  He said "when you're dying you can afford to spare the expense".  He was talking about the monetary price of the cigars. 

My point is, if you're expecting a smoker to make the right choices with smoking.  That's like expecting prisoners to be non violent.  They just don't give a shit.

Where I live the only family restaurants here are fast food places.  Even if that wasn't true my parents would never have paid to go out in a non smoking place.  That's pretty much the attitude in Quebec, Smokers don't care about anyone else.  So fuck 'em, I have no pity for people like that.  I'm not getting cancer because they're too lazy to smoke their drugs outside.  It's ridiculous that I have to even argue about this. 

Id almost take up smoking to show my friends how easy it is to give up with a little willpower...