Smoking in Public Places?

Should Smoking be banned in public places?

  • Total voters
    18
I think it's fair enough in that kind of situation because, in the interests of health and safety, people are less likely to get hurt if people aren't smoking or taking cans in. But I would have thought you'd be more interested in the game and the atmosphere than lighting up. 😛
 
Faith said:
As for me i'm a smoker, even as i'm typing this i'm smoking. I never smoke anywhere if there are people eating I do smoke in pubs and clubs when I have a drink but if i'm with non smokers i'll move away. If i'm in a friend's house even if they are a smoker i'll ask if its ok, if they are a non smoker I just won't do it. My mum smoked as a was growing up and I hated the smell and always complained about it. But one day I just started, my flatmate smoked and I took one of hers. I use candles in incense so my room doesn't smell, I make sure the smell isn't on me by using perfume and gum.
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Twins I TELL YA! 😀

Here in Ontario, smoking is banned in all public places. Bars, restaurants, coffee shops. Only problem is - the gov't did this without offering any help to smaller businesses who have since gone bankrupt with the loss of business.

I smoke, but I'm like Faith, I don't smoke around non-smokers, I move away, I even de-smoke the house when non-smokers come to visit and I go outside when I want to smoke.
 
Oh I was...but the nice man kept bringing the beers by and after a few I really was craving a cigarette 😀

Jenny said:
Twins I TELL YA! 😀

Here in Ontario, smoking is banned in all public places. Bars, restaurants, coffee shops. Only problem is - the gov't did this without offering any help to smaller businesses who have since gone bankrupt with the loss of business.

I smoke, but I'm like Faith, I don't smoke around non-smokers, I move away, I even de-smoke the house when non-smokers come to visit and I go outside when I want to smoke.
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I can't picture you smoking Jenny! You don't seem the type! I see you as all healthy you veggie girl 😀
 
She needed the beer to distract her for the fact that the Yankees were winning 😀

The only times i've sat thinking 'I could really do with a smoke' is when i've been in class. I'm a strange smoker, i've woken up on days and simply stopped for weeks, months and even a year. And the something will happen and i'll go buy a pack. A 20 pack can last me between a week to 3 weeks.
 
I'm against smoking in public...especially if you're on fire...I mean, really, shouldn't you go immolate in private??
 
J
Jacklyn
OK, you almost made me laugh in the middle of a crowded office! Bad KD! You're gonna get me fired!
I'm impressed. No, smoking in public places should not be banned. Period. Why do people always do that, instead of trying to educate and create a culture of respect or something that would make smokers understand the whole non smoking around non smokers, it is banned and illegalized?

Smoking is a personal choice, and public places are for the public, which include smokers. Just because smoking is mostly negative to the physical health of the smoker doesn't mean non smokers can discriminate smokers.
 
C
Cordelia
well-said
K
killerdwarf
Hey, well said, and I agree (mostly), as I said below!
Sorry, Jacklyn, I just had to...and you can always tell 'em you were laughing because it's so fun to work there...

Seriously, about the smoking in public thing:

I am a life-long non -smoker. I never have, and I never will. That being said, I find the anti-smoking crusade to be a bit...uhh, shrill. I call 'em smokenazis. I'm against a smoking ban in private entertainment establishments, like we have here in Ontario. It's not that I like coming home smelling like smoke, and with a sore throat, I believe it's a matter of choice. If a restaurant/bar/nightclub wants to be smoke free, great. It is then up to the non-smokers to support the endeavour, and if it is so desirable to have a non-smoking place, it will succeed. But leave it up to the owner/operator according to market demand. Public places (like where you work), well, that's another story. Designated smoking areas work for me, as long as they are well ventilated, and don't affect other non-smoking areas. I guess I'm for some controls, but I still have a bit of a problem with overly strict rules regarding a legal, non-narcotic substance...
 
Lorne The Host said:
I'm impressed. No, smoking in public places should not be banned. Period. Why do people always do that, instead of trying to educate and create a culture of respect or something that would make smokers understand the whole non smoking around non smokers, it is banned and illegalized?

Smoking is a personal choice, and public places are for the public, which include smokers. Just because smoking is mostly negative to the physical health of the smoker doesn't mean non smokers can discriminate smokers.
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I completely agree. These Smoke Nazis remind me of the South Park episode in which they are trying to teach the boys to be tolerant of all cultures, races, religions etc. They visit the tolerance museum and as they exit The curator sees a smoker and starts to berate them and all the parents join in.

Banning smoking in public places is another sign of the decline of intelligent civilization.
 
Sorry but no club could survive being non-smoking unless every place is non-smoking. The fact of the matter is that smoking is more unhealthy for the people around the smoker second hand smoking than for the smokers themselves. Not to mention the people who work in bars and restaurants and are inhaling the smoke all day long.

I'd be the last person to tell someone they shouldn't smoke, well, that they don't have a right to. But other people should have a right to not have to breathe smoke. And not going out is not really an option. It might be a little inconvenient, but is going outside really that horrible?
 
Good points Buffy...the only thing I have to defend my blackened lungs against that is the fact that a lot of clubs are making their patrons pay for the laws instituted by the city...many of them actually charge you to leave and come back in for a cigarette. From what I know, Webster Hall charges you $5 everytime you want to go out for a cig....
 
No way! Well that is definitely crap. So much for making the transition as easy as possible...

That's as crap as people who call in and report people smoking in bars after hours...
 
Yeah I used to love Webster Hall...especially cuz I got in free with my last job and got an open bar until midnight..but still it was fun and different from most city clubs and totally worth the $25 to get in...but after that I haven't gone back.
 
Buffy Summers said:
Sorry but no club could survive being non-smoking unless every place is non-smoking. The fact of the matter is that smoking is more unhealthy for the people around the smoker second hand smoking than for the smokers themselves. Not to mention the people who work in bars and restaurants and are inhaling the smoke all day long.

I'd be the last person to tell someone they shouldn't smoke, well, that they don't have a right to. But other people should have a right to not have to breathe smoke. And not going out is not really an option. It might be a little inconvenient, but is going outside really that horrible?
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Ah, yeah, you've hit on the fatal flaw in my argument, haven't you? The thing is, no one had ever tried to run a non-smoking place before the laws came in, so I guess we'll never know for sure...and I did say that the workplace should have a designated smoking area...so how do you rectify the situation for bar workers (that was a rhetorical question...I really don't know...)? Gets a bit sticky when equal but different rights collide, doesn't it?

But charging to go out for a smoke when you're already in...that's just plain greed.
 
Well taking into consideration the outrage over the ban in NYC and the number of people in this city who smoke...if you were a smoke and had the choice between two identical bars one which allowed smoking and one which didn't, and you were a smoker, which would you go to?

And even with a designated smoking / non smoking area - it's not like you can prevent the smoke from traveling into the non smoking area...
 
The onus in the smoking/nonsmoking bar argument has to fall on the nonsmokers. The statistics keep saying there are more nonsmokers than smokers. You'd think they would support nonsmoking places, right, when they have a choice? But they go to smoking places despite their convictions...hmmm, is that hypocracy I smell, along with the smoke? (not you, Buffy, but the smokenazis in general...). If smokers make the choice with an eye to their addiction, why couldn't nonsmokers choose to go to smokefree places because of their abhorrance of smoke? Answer: They wouldn't, and they want someone to legislate it out of the equation so they don't have to feel bad when they abandon their nonsmoking ideals. Again, let me say, I am a life-long nonsmoker here, just to, ahem, clear the air...and I'm not accusing anyone of hypocracy in our friendly conversation here! I'm sure no one here has actually lobbied for the laws we're talking about, let alone helped get them passed.
 
But why should non smokers be forced not to go someplace just because there is smoking? Frankly, they won't. Which makes it even more beneficial to the public health to have non smoking ordinances.

I would venture to say - only from observation and not from any real data - that in the places I know of where smoking has been banned, LA and NY, there is a greater percentage of smokers than in other parts of the country. There seems to be a concentration in these cities.

I will say, that I understand the argument of smokers that they should be allowed to live their lives. Perhaps it's just selfishness of liking the smoke free ness 😀
 
Buffy Summers said:
I will say, that I understand the argument of smokers that they should be allowed to live their lives. Perhaps it's just selfishness of liking the smoke free ness 😀
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I'm sure not disagreeing with you on this point, darlin'! I like coming home from an evening not smelling like smoke too. But I'm blessed (cursed?) with the ability to see both sides of the argument with some degree of objectivity (not that you don't too). Just a byproduct of being aged...
 
Cordelia said:
Good points Buffy...the only thing I have to defend my blackened lungs against that is the fact that a lot of clubs are making their patrons pay for the laws instituted by the city...many of them actually charge you to leave and come back in for a cigarette. From what I know, Webster Hall charges you $5 everytime you want to go out for a cig....
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Whatever happened to getting your hand stamped? That's a much better way. God Damn these evil money-grabbers!

I do agree that people should have the right to smoke if they choose to. Just like you have the right to drink if you're over 18 (21 for the states). I just don't like the fact that people like me, who have never and will never smoke, have to breathe in second-hand smoke. If what Buffy Summers said is true about smoke being more dangerous for the non-smoker than the smoker then that just makes my argument stronger. But perhaps I can come to a middle ground: Instead of banning it from public places all together, they should make a "smoking room" so that we non-smokers don't have to breathe it in.
 
P
ProphecyGirl
[No message]
Except that it is impractical for establishments to construct actual walls and as I said before you can't keep the smoke contained in one area lol

The reason it's more dangerous for non-smokers is that cigarettes have filters on them (unless you smoke unfiltered and all I can say to that is whoa), so the person smoking gets the smoke filtered of some of the harmful ingredients, while everyone around them is breathing unfiltered.

🙂
 
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