Is the smoking ban rather extreme and unfair?

Question

"Smoking will be banned in all public indoor spaces"

On the whole the smoking ban is quite understandable and I agree with it 75%. But the other 25% of me can't help feeling it's extreme and unfair to ban smoking in ALL public indoor places.

If I was the owner of a small business (ie corner shop) how does anyone have the right to ban me from smoking on my own premises? How can such a ban be enforced?

Answer 1

I think the Spanish have got it right, cafe`s, bars etc can choose to be either smoking or non smoking, therefore the public have a choice as to which they prefer when they go out. Here there is no choice and places will lose custom...

Why could we not have the same choice here instead of becoming dictatorial.



Hi plato So we can agree on this!! There is now hope for Y/A

Answer 2

No I don't think it is unfair. It has been in Scotland since last march and in Wales and Northern Ireland this year. The majority have accepted, true with some moans, but then they agree that the atmosphere in pubs is a lot better. Less headaches, coughs etc. Why should the people in England think they should be exempt from the smoking ban. Maybe bar workers don't have the luxury of having any choice where they can work. Bars also have smokers and non smokers. Do you suggest then that a non smoker should have to put up with the smoker blowing smoke all over them. Is it a question of choice? Then what about the choice for the non-smoker or is that not an option Prisons are seen as a place of residence for the prisoners so smoking cannot be banned there.

Answer 3

I think the ban is a bit extreme, although I do agree that non smokers should not be forced to breathe other peoples smoke. As in other peoples answers I think pub and club owners should have the choice to be smoking or non smoking giving people a choice of venues to visit. There is one thing that bothers me that nobody has mentioned. How does the law stand on prisons. You could argue that a prison is not a public space, but on the other side it is the work place of prison officers. If the smoking ban is going to be applied to prisons, as an ex prison officer all I am saying is watch out for the riots.

Answer 4

I'm too young to remember, but smoking used to be allowed in all public buildings, buses, trains, etc. They banned that some time ago (I'm in Finland). Now they've followed EU's lead and banned it in all restaurants, bars and other public establishments as well.



And I have to cheer that they have! Okay, so I'm a non-smoker, but I had to put up with my parents smoking when I was growing up, and later working in pubs. It's really unfair to us to have to breathe your smoke involuntarily. There is honestly nothing I can think of that non-smokers do that can be harmful to others quite like cigarettes (with the exception of private cars, which I think should be next...)



The people who shop at your corner shop shouldn't have to breathe your smoke. Sure, they could always go to some other place, but do you really want that? Lose business over not smoking indoors.



I'm really hoping this new ban will give my parents the push they need to quit. I've never understood why people choose to pollute themselves.

Answer 5

Well, the definition of "premises" is the key point here.



Even if it is your premises it is still a public premises and as such falls under the public ban on smoking in public places. The ban would not affect you smoking on your private premises.



Side note: Early indication says the dock area where workers went out to smoke behind the furniture warehouse is where the fire started that ended up killing nine firefighters. How sad it will be if it is determined a lit cigarette was the cause of this tragedy.

Answer 6

I see nothing wrong with banning smoking in government buildings. People need to go there and don't have a choice.



But when it comes to the private sector, I think that the government is overstepping it's bounds. I can understand regulations such as not allowing a minor into a business that chooses to allow smoking. I can understand requiring a business to clearly post whether or not they choose to allow smoking indoors so that their potential customers and employees can make an informed decision whether or not to patronize or work for that business. But I disagree with the government taking away the personal liberty of private business owners to choose for themselves what customers they want to cater to. It's a matter of personal liberty and I don't like the idea of the government taking that away. A private business is private.



Our state has instituted a smoking ban that even includes private clubs. So if a private club of cigar enthusiasts want to enjoy a cigar together, they can't do it inside of their own club. I feel that's extreme and I am saddened by the way that the general public is allowing their rights to be chiseled away by our government. Now we have proposed laws that prohibit the use of transfats in foods served in private businesses. What's next? Is the government going to prohibit serving foods with high levels of sugar? I can make my own decisions on the food that I eat and the private businesses that I want to patronize. I don't need governmental regulation to make those choices for me.

Answer 7

I don't think so , I am a smoker and I try not to smoke at all in my house . I only smoke in the kitchen with a window open . I have been trying to quit smoking for years now and I believe that the smoking ban in all public places has definitely help me reduce and is encouraging me to quit smoking . The place won't stink with cigarette as well my clothing won't either and I should regain some of my wind upon exercising often .If you are a small business and you receiving patrons in you place of business it is unlawful to be smoking because you are as well in a public place and the law as to be enforced even if you are the owner

Answer 8

A business owner should have the right to decide smoking or not especially bars and private clubs. A total ban takes a smokers choices away. I have no problem with a ban in other public places but non smokers will not make up the loss of revenue to a bar owner who loses business. By and large non smokers are not drinkers either. Smoking and drinking go together. Here in my city some bars and clubs have shortened their hours and laid off employees. My friend who owns a bar had a 40% loss of revenue. The nonsmokers who said they would make up the difference never showed up.

Answer 9

I am a smoker and I do agree with some of it, especially in enclosed spaces, but I do find some organisations are going over the top by banning smoking outdoors on their sites. I understand near doorways and public areas non smokers wouldnt like to walk through a cloud of smoke, but I cannot understand why they ban it totally. A local college has banned all smoking indoors and outdoors, so people have to leave the site and cross the road to have a smoke! Surely this is more unacceptable to non smokers just walking past? At least with a smoking area they can avoid it?

Answer 10

Totally agree with your percentage of extreme & unfair. Smokers are going to find this very tuff to begin with as we are used to having a drink then lighting up but I think over time we'll get used to it & it might spurr some of us to quit even though it's a bit forced. I went to New york last year & you can't smoke in-doors there either so I had a brief taster of what it will be like. In a club setting I didn't feel the urge to smoke as much as when everyone around is smoking it makes you smoke more unneccasily. Basically there are good & bad points to it.

Answer 11

I live in Scotland and the ban was the best thing that ever happened - the majority of my 'smoking' friends agree with the ban also.

I come home after a night out and do not smell like an ashtray, my eyes do not water from beign in smoky rooms, I am not put off my food by the smell of smoke form other diners.

The biggest downside is that you soemtimes have to walk through a huge cloud of smoke to get into a social venue as the smokers are all huddled together outside the doors

Answer 12

I don't believe the government care a damn about peoples' health, if they did they'd get the hospitals safe for patients and visitors.



I have this feeling that it is Bossy Boots Nanny who spends time thinking about what people enjoy doing and then banning it. Let's face it, they are in a fair way to banning Christmas. It is positively Cromwellian.





Murcia is right, there are other ways of tackling the problems of passive smoking.



Have they ever thought about what heavy traffic fumes do to peoples' lungs?

Answer 13

Not really - I'm a smoker but the ban really doesn't bother me ... smoking is already banned on/in public transport, most shops, offices, factories, cinemas, a lot of restaurants, indoor malls and has been for years. It is really only pubs and clubs that will be affected and I just won't bother going to them - having a drink at home is cheaper anyway :-)

Answer 14

I have never ever smoked at all in my life-never even tried it.

And still yet i think this ban is VERY UNFAIR. I am so sick and tired of our Big Brother style government trying to dictate every direction of our lives. If someone owns a bar or restaurant they should be damn well allowed to choose if people can smoke there or not.

I dont need Big Brother telling me how to live-those idiots in Congress have no clue what the real world is like anyways.

BTW, i have probably been exposed to worse toxins through working in a major factory for the past 20 years.

Answer 15

I understand where your coming from, I'm living in Ireland & the smoking ban has been here for some time now. At first it took an awful lot of getting used to! The pubs seemed soo different with everyone who smoked getting up to go outside to light up. To be honest the pubs, disco's etc started to lose an awful lot of buissness over it...Now they have made places ouside the pubs with canopys and heaters. You get used to it edventually! But lot's of buissness have felt the pressure!

Answer 16

Don't smoke never have never will.



I would by choice prefer to go to a none smoky place.



HOWEVER we should never be legislating on this it is personal choice and let the market sort out smoking and none smoking pubs and cafes if there is a demand for none smoking pubs etc it will happen.



Next is legislation against drinking in public so don't think you'll be able to go for a picnic and have a nice glass of wine you anti-soicial bastard.

Answer 17

There is absolutely no reason that anyone needs to smoke inside. I had to endure, second hand smoke in my place of business, because it's allowed. There is a designated smoking area, but unfortunately I had to walk past this place to get to my product. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer about 2 months ago. I just almost freak out now, whenever I smell smoke. I guess in a round about way, having to quit my job because of the cancer(to much lifting involved) was the answer to a big concern. Maybe my next place of employment, will have the decency to make these people smoke OUTSIDE and away from the doors!

Answer 18

It's nuts, they should now be TAX FREE. They give free heroine substitutes out to junkies who never pay tax on their goods for their addiction and are a far greater drain on society than some smoke in a pub. Far more drug addicts die every year than smokers, the tax from smoking products more than pays the bills smoking make, but the government attacks that instead of the illegal drug problems. An act of cowardice yet again from miss Blair and his college wimp cabinet

Answer 19

You all have a point but just hope your councils don't do what Scotlands have they fine you £50 if you even throw a cigarette on the street.So if you ever come here remember to find an ashtray to put it in or you get the fine whether you belong to Scotland or not.

Answer 20

I think it's great.I can't wait till I can go out and not have to breath in other peoples smoke and then leave clubs with my clothes stinking of smoke.



And for all you people saying you just won't go to pubs and bars and clubs anymore-are you really that hooked on cancer sticks that you can't go a few hrs without them while your out?



As for your shop thing well you could smoke outside it but not inside or else your customers could complain to the council about you making them breath your smoke and you'd get in trouble.

Answer 21

i have never smoked but i do think this is turning into a big brother state telling people not to smoke, next we will be allowed to drive one hour per day and all be in bed by eight o clock regardless of age, and the worst thing is were all saying yes to it all, wheres the great that britons once had,

Answer 22

I think its outrageous to stop smoking in public places ,Pubs for 1 are going to suffer financially it should be a choice if they want to be smoking or non smoking then people choose to go there or not,as a smoker i know its bad for you ,so why dont they ban them altogether but oh no wont do that make too much revenue from us ,so just leave us smokers alone its our choice and dont need to be persecuted .grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Answer 23

The smoking ban is totally unfair as it is infringing on peoples rights, if they want to smoke then why shouldnt they?

Answer 24

I've got one week left to go to a pub - after that I'll be drinking at home. I stopped going to the pictures all those years ago.



The cry is always "Why do we have to breathe your smoke?" My answer is "You don't."



I'd like to know what the tobacco nazis did before the ban - surely if you don't like going into a smoky atmosphere, then simply don't go there.

Answer 25

Nobody has the constitutional authority to prohibit you from allowing smoking on your private property. Tobacco is still a LEGAL product.



I find it extremely hypocritical of our government to spend so much time, energy and money to prohibit or discourage the use of tobacco under the guise of concern for our health, when they do anything but discourage a lifestyle, such as homosexuality, that is substantially more dangerous (avg. life expectancy of homosexuals is approx 30 yrs less than heterosexuals).

Answer 26

Well, first of all, you would potentially be endangering the health of your customers. And it would probably deter the customers seeing you smoking or smelling the cigarette smoke in the shop. Most people who do not smoke do not like the smell of smoke. Also, it is potentially a fire hazard (I know, weak argument, but the hazard still exists).

If I'm a non-smoker, but there is no ban to smoking whatsoever, my health will be put into danger because of your choice (yours hypothetically, not you specifically) to endanger your own health. Your smoking would be a hazard to me. So how fair is that for my health to be at risk for a decision you have made about your own health?

Answer 27

making rules for the greater good always has its pros and cons. It is not an easy subject to legislate upon. Non smokers will benefit the most here, smokers and buisnesses will not. It is a shame tobacco was ever invented as it does so much harm. I wish there was a substitute which would benefit everyone, but that is wishful thinking.

Answer 28

I don't think it is extreme at all. I myself used to suffer with terrible breathing problems because my dad smoked at home.Smoking is more harmful for the person who has to breath in all that smoke rather than for the person who's actually smoking.

Answer 29

No one will complain if you expose yourself to smoke toxins, but you have neither the moral nor legal right to expose anyone else to such. You may do as you please in your home, but if you have a business or other facility which is open to the public, the state, acting to protect the citizenry, has the right to ban smoking there, just as it has the right to ban other hazards such as insufficient exits.

Answer 30

If you want to smoke you will have to go and live in China or some other communist country where you will have more rights than you do in this democratic country as Nanny Blair and his cohorts delight in regulating everyone to death. They are more deadly than cigarette smoke.

Answer 31

Yes, it's extreme and unfair.

Why don't they ban all vehicles that run on anything other than lead free fuel from using the roads? Why don't they ban drinking alcohol in public? I've never heard of the police being called to break up a fight where ciggies have been involved. More public money is spent on alcohol related problems than nicotine ones. I'm bothered by drunk idiots in pubs/clubs but will they ban that?

Why can't there be smoking areas in public buildings? I'm sick of being dictated to, and sick of people jumping on politcal bandwagons!

Answer 32

If you don't smoke and you cant stand the smoke then stay at home and stop ruining the smokers night out.



Completely agree with Jane doe

Answer 33

I am a smoker and will continue to smoke whenever I deem it necessary, wherever that may be.

I used to be a polite smoker and try my best not to smoke in the company of non smokers, now, I just dont care.

All they will succeed in doing is closing pubs which will make you non smokers travel further for a pint.



The government sponsored adverts for cigarettes encouraged many of us to smoke for years and years, now they are saying we cany smoke in public.



Cant wait untill someone (I hope it's me), takes the government to court for their protracted encouragement to smoke.



You non smokers (for whom I had a lot of sympathy) can kiss my big fat a@%£. I am a better person than any of you as I have never met a non smoker with any sympathy at all for smokers.

Answer 34

there has been a smoking ban in Scotland for over a year now and no one seems to be bothered one single bit about it

Answer 35

Get ready for loads of people huddled in doorways and specially built shelters. If your kid had never seen a smoker they are sure to now and they will think it's cool because everbody is doing it in the street.

Answer 36

Just imagine the u-turn the government would make if it got party funding from tobacco companies. As they don't, their calling the tobacco industry's bluff by banning it. Nothing to do with our welfare, just the same old power games.

Answer 37

Smoking ban is the greatest law passed. I'm tired of worrying about my children's healht everytime we try to have a nice dinner at a restaurant. So great! Now I can enjoy a meal without rushing through it so that the UNCONSIDERATE smokers won't pass that nastiness to my children's lungs.

Answer 38

i was discussing this earlier while enjoying lunch and a cigarette in town .... its all gone too far my ex boss has actually put his pub on the market coz he will no longer be allowed to smoke in his own pub fair enough peeps dont want to breath in 2nd hand smoke so have some smoke free bars etc buut still have somewhere us lephers can go and enjoy ourselves and our cigarettes

Answer 39

It's a fantastic idea! You may think it's unfair for someone not to be able to smoke ( a choice they made) on their own premises, but I think it's even more unfair for people who don't smoke, to be subjected to second hand smoke and have no choice about it!

Answer 40

yes i agree don t get me wrong i am pleased the smoking ban is in it means you can take ya kids to a pub when theres a private funchion but i also think whats wrong with a smoking room?

Answer 41

Speaking from a personal opinion, I am an asthmatic. Coming in contact

with 2nd hand smoke is lethal. I suffer terribly. In our town, there is no

smoking in public places at all. If you want to smoke you have to go out

doors. There are a lot of us who can't tolerate the smoke. We had 2 friends

die of lung cancer from 2nd hand smoke. They never smoked a day in

their lives. Please see our side of it. Many of us can die just from breathing

it in. I am one of them.

Answer 42

I think its totally fair..........





i think my home taxes are extreme and crazy and I think the township is screwing us all over but, that is how it goes!



If i were you, I would be more pissed about how much you shell out of your pocket to smoke! now that is something to yell about IMO

Answer 43

The ban is being "policed" by local councils - i.e. all the do-gooders - so if you live in London and come under Westminster council, you won't stand a chance ! ! !

Answer 44

Agree with you for once 'The Happy Murcia'!

Answer 45

nopers i think its very fair...us non-smokers don't choose to give ourselves problems by puffing on those things so its about time non smokers get a say...my hair and clothes have been smelling of smoke for far too long now and its time it stopped

Answer 46

NO...by banning smoking they can keep people alive and get more taxes from them.

Answer 47

i myself smoke but i agree with the ban even tho it is contradictive because they are taking are rights away in order to give none smokers theres but i dont think my bad habbit should affect others

Answer 48

No why should us non smokers put up with it. If you want to do it, then do it at home or outside.

Answer 49

its not unfair its brilliant. i gave up some years ago so welcome the ban but also at the same time i feel sorry for the smokers, at least the ban might entice more people to give up....good luck smokers.

Answer 50

Yep now must people dontgo to the pubs becaue they cant smoke inside !!

Answer 51

i fin kits the best idea ne1 has come up wid x

Answer 52

Because it doesn't help us non-smokers. And people with illnesses.

Answer 53

I dont really think so. I really glad this is going nation wide because you smokers dont realize that use nonsmokers dont have a filter..... you do. and another thing y would you smoke its unatractive and it KILLS YOU AND TAKES YOUR MONEY THAT IS ALL IT DOES.

Answer 54

Honestly, I wish that would have been there in the past...I wouldn't have such a hard time quitting now.

Answer 55

Your question exposes a certain naivety...



How can the government expect you to pay taxes, or adhere to maximum safe occupancy laws. How does the government know if you are following the department of health guidelines.



Public laws are in place to protect the general population. It doesn't matter if you think it is fair or not.



All this crap about taking rights away is BS.... You do not have the "right" to smoke. Show me where that is in the consitution...

Answer 56

only if you chain smoke.

Answer 57

yes it's very unfair

Answer 58

It is the best idea ever.

Answer 59

Because us non-smokers will come 'n' lynch ya.