ok i just thought of a really good subject to bring up do you think that smokeing should be banned from public places i for one think so now i don't smoke but i would really like to have it all gone mostly for my mom cause she has really bad asma and she gets it really bad when she even smells a little bit of it! it doesn't bother me as much as it does her but still anyway i don't think people should be aloud to smoke like in restures or something like that i mean if they can't even eat without smokeing then thats pretty bad! so just tell me what you think about that!

well, seeing as i am from britain, the no smoking ban is actually going to be enforced next month, meaning that pubs, bars and restaurants will have to comply with this ruling made by the government. i am a non-smoker and i have no intention in taking up a cigarette, particuarly if i am being peer presured into doing so. i have to take into consideration that at 26, i want to live a healthy and active life as long as possible and that i tend to make sure that i am not exposed to second hand smoke and become a victim of passive smoking.

however, i do believe in freedom of choice and that if people want to smoke then they should be able to do so in their own free will. just as long as it doesn't harm or effect me in a way that is detrimental to my health and my well being then so be it, i'd say

I don't smoke - can't stand the smell of it. I think smoking should be banned in restaurants, malls, etc. However, I think it's stupid to ban smoking in bars. What's the point in that? :confused:

I don't smoke - can't stand the smell of it. I think smoking should be banned in restaurants, malls, etc. However, I think it's stupid to ban smoking in bars. What's the point in that? :confused:
i agree, then they just smoke outside and it's effecting the people who walk by them...

smoking in private places is a person's right, but i'd like to hear one decent reason why polluting the lungs of strangers minding their own business is ok. you can't say "oh, well they can leave if they don't like it"... the purposes of those places aren't to smoke, they're for things like shopping and eating, and people have the right to do those things without putting their health at risk.

Where I live, the smoking ban was imposed 3 months ago; no smoking on bars, restaurants, workplaces, etc. Apparently, it has worked since yesterday in the news they said that the percent of smokers has declined by 3% percent since the ban started.

I think smoking should be banned in public places absolutely. I would never smoke in a public place. I only do in the privacy of my own home or outside. I know how harmful second hand smoke can be and would never put others at risk.

I'm once again a smoker but still agree 110% it should be banned in public places. Why should we breathe poisons into someone elses lungs? Doing it to ourselves is bad enough.

I'm once again a smoker but still agree 110% it should be banned in public places. Why should we breathe poisons into someone elses lungs? Doing it to ourselves is bad enough.
Amen! lol

As far as restaurants/bars go, it should be up to the owners.

I think smoking should be banned period. I hate smoking you can kill yourself and other people around you! I would never date anyone who smokes that's how much I hate smoking!

I think that smoking should be banned in public places. I hate going anywhere there is smoking because the smoke messes with my sinuses. I've actually never smoked. Not even once to try it out. I've been drunk, yeah, but I've never smoked. :lol: I just never saw the point in it. It is a good way to get lung cancer, and besides, smoking makes people smell awful.

As far as restaurants/bars go, it should be up to the owners.
That's what I think too. It's their place of business so it should be up to them.

I personally don't like smoking. I grew up with it. I have asthma probably because I was around it and if it's that bad then they should just ban it. Smoking is not banned here in PA and you can go into any restaurant and have smoke blown in your face. Many smokers here are very rude. No wonder people are in an uproar. Have some respect for other people.

I don't smoke, used to over ten years ago and quit, but one thing that REALLY gets on my nerves is in the city limits of Seattle, where there are signs all over the bus stops: NO SMOKING WITHIN 25 FEET OF THE BUS SHELTER. Seattle city ordinance, whatever-the-number-is. And what do these assclowns do?? They SMOKE!!! :mad: It's like if we aren't smokers, WE are the ones who have to step 25 feet away from the bus shelter!! Quite convenient in the rain!! :rolleyes:

smoking in private places is a person's right, but i'd like to hear one decent reason why polluting the lungs of strangers minding their own business is ok. you can't say "oh, well they can leave if they don't like it"... the purposes of those places aren't to smoke, they're for things like shopping and eating, and people have the right to do those things without putting their health at risk.
That's exactly how I look at it.

Where I live, the smoking ban was imposed 3 months ago; no smoking on bars, restaurants, workplaces, etc. Apparently, it has worked since yesterday in the news they said that the percent of smokers has declined by 3% percent since the ban started.


Here in Ontario Canada the ban has been in place for all public places for years. I don't agree with a total ban at all. It's REALLY hurt many businesses (bars, restuarants, casinos). Those places you more or less expect there to be smoke. I know plenty of people that don't normally smoke, but they like to when they're at a bar or casino and are drinking. Many places have had to go completely out of business.

I think the owners should be given the choice - either it's smoking or nonsmoking and is advertised as such. That way the public can make a choice and people can keep their businesses.

Also a lot of places went to huge expense putting in high tech air filtration systems before the ban. You'd never even notice the smoke at these places but because of the law, had to go smoke free and again, a lot went out of business - especially after going to all that trouble and expense.

Yes, smoke stinks, but the public should feel betrayed that we've been lied to by the EPA and now all the institutions that use their bogus second hand smoke study. Turns out the study that everyone basis the dangers of second hand smoke on (including the Cancer Society) was extremely flawed and doesn't prove one bit that second hand smoke is dangerous to others. It's now an urban legend that has taken on a life of its own.

As long as cigarettes are legal, then I feel it's an infringement on human rights for a total ban. Allow places to choose which they want to be. Isn't this a democracy? I'm tired of Big Brother constantly telling us what to do when the governments go on their own merry way with their agendas bowing the the big drug companies and car makers when they still are lobbied by the tobacco companies silently. Hypocrites.

Meanwhile, you stand out on any city street corner and tell me the fumes of exhaust and diesel (buses, etc.) is pleasant. When I work in the city, I smell more of exhaust fumes than cigarette smoke. :rolleyes:

"'Mind if I smoke?'

'No, mind if I fart? It's one of my habits. They have a special section for me on airplanes now. I tried to quit once, for about a year, but I gained a lot of weight. After sex I really like to light one up!'"--Steve Martin

It should be up to the business owners, especially of restaurants and bars. They may have a clientele made up of mostly smokers, who should be able to go to their favorite "watering hole" and unwind the way they want to. There are gazillions of other bars and restaurants who wouldn't allow smoking for people to go to if they don't want to be around smokers.

I don't smoke. Never have, never will. And I don't understand why anyone would want to. But government should keep its nose out of it.

Nothing will really change. There's been a smoking ban here for almost 10 years now. (It just went statewide last year) and the popularity of rooftop patios have skyrocketed and are at almost every single bar in town. They also have bars up there too, so anyone who wants to be smoke free stays inside, you want to smoke go up to the roof and drink there. Perfect solution.

i agree that smoking should be banned in public places (with the exception of bars). i hate smoking and cigarette smoke, and if you wanna do it at home it's fine, but like Sarah said, there's no use filling everyone else's lungs with smoke.

I don't smoke. Never have, never will. And I don't understand why anyone would want to. But government should keep its nose out of it.
Right, that's what I say, too.
It would of course be better for everyone, including smokers, if smoking was not allowed anywhere. But I don't like the idea of not having the freedom to smoke if one chooses to. The government is involved in too many things already.

Right, that's what I say, too.
It would of course be better for everyone, including smokers, if smoking was not allowed anywhere. But I don't like the idea of not having the freedom to smoke if one chooses to. The government is involved in too many things already.


:clap :nod: Perfectly said!

I'm a non-smoker and I've been to many places where you come out smelling like an ashtray. I don't care much for it.

What happened to the smoking and non-smoking areas of restaurants? Do they still exist? I guess it's all non-smoking now.

Speaking as a smoker, I don't think every public place should be banned from smoking. I understand restuarants banning smoking, but what I don't get is why ban smoking from bars and bowling alleys? That makes no sense, I don't go to bars, but drinking and smoking go hand-in-hand. I love bowling, but I can't go now, because of this lame @@@ law. From a smokers point of view, IMO, we are being screwed! Smokers and non-smokers should be able to go where-ever they choose, but IMHO, the government is taking away smokers rights!! Had to throw in my two cents!

^ You're throwing in 2 cents already - literally!! How much is the sales tax on cigarettes now?? :eek:

Speaking as a smoker, I don't think every public place should be banned from smoking. I understand restuarants banning smoking, but what I don't get is why ban smoking from bars and bowling alleys? That makes no sense, I don't go to bars, but drinking and smoking go hand-in-hand. I love bowling, but I can't go now, because of this lame @@@ law. From a smokers point of view, IMO, we are being screwed! Smokers and non-smokers should be able to go where-ever they choose, but IMHO, the government is taking away smokers rights!! Had to throw in my two cents!
A smokeless bowling alley seems weird. I mean, unless you build a new one, there's sooooo much smoke in the walls, carpet, etc in those places that it's totally pointless. I grew up in a bowling alley that had machines that "ate" cigarette smoke. You still smelled like smoke and you still breathed some of it, but it made it tolerable enough.

^ You're throwing in 2 cents already - literally!! How much is the sales tax on cigarettes now?? :eek:
They just increased it a whole dollar here. People are crossing state lines to buy cigs.

What happened to the smoking and non-smoking areas of restaurants? Do they still exist? I guess it's all non-smoking now.
A lot of them here, there was no real separation. It'd be in the same large room and the smoke would still drift over. I always liked the restaurants with a separation wall. Or a totally different room.

They just increased it a whole dollar here. People are crossing state lines to buy cigs.


Nobody's ever going to want to cross the border for them - they're now over $70 a carton!!!!!! (And the Canadian and U.S. dollar are so close now, you can understand just how expensive that is).

I've been lucky the past year or so and have a connection who does monthly runs to the reservation to get them cheaper. They're only $31 a carton there. And yes, most of it is pure taxes. I don't know why any teenager who isn't making that much money would ever think of starting smoking - it would bankrupt them! :rolleyes:

A lot of them here, there was no real separation. It'd be in the same large room and the smoke would still drift over. I always liked the restaurants with a separation wall. Or a totally different room.


A lot of places wanted to do that here. They fought with the government for months to request that they could separate the sections entirely. A couple actually did do it. And in the smoking area put in huge, expensive ways of getting the smoke out and clean air circulating in but the government rammed it anyway. Some of these guys had to totally go out of business. Really sad. Especially now knowing this interesting bit of info:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,26109,00.html

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000602.html

http://www.forces.org/evidence/evid/second.htm

Think about it for a minute. IF second hand smoke was as deadly as the EPA initially tried to say it was, then why aren't the pets of smokers dropping like flies? I've smoked for 24 years and all the while had either cats, small dogs, rabbits, etc.. A lot of that time they were in a small apartment with myself and mother (who also smoked). Tell me why then, that NONE of them ever died from cancer, lung disease or even developed chronic lung problems. You'd think their tiny lungs are as vunerable as a child's (and we've been led to believe how dangerous it is to children), then why are they seemingly unaffected? If anything, it was during this time that I had some of the longest living pets ever - 18 - 20 yrs for my cats.

Nobody's ever going to want to cross the border for them - they're now over $70 a carton!!!!!! (And the Canadian and U.S. dollar are so close now, you can understand just how expensive that is).


Jesus Christ, $70 a carton?! Wow. I thought we had it bad here in Mass. It's around $48 a carton. I'm an hour from New Hampshire and am up there a lot; the cartons there are around $22 because NH has no tax.

Jesus Christ, $70 a carton?! Wow. I thought we had it bad here in Mass. It's around $48 a carton. I'm an hour from New Hampshire and am up there a lot; the cartons there are around $22 because NH has no tax.

Wow - that IS a bargain these days! I wonder what they cost in Alberta since they have no tax, but I think most of the tax comes from the Feds anyways.

Duty Free isn't even a bargain anymore.

I know - it's all a PLOT by our governments. They put the prices so high, that only the rich can smoke. Then they'll get sick and die of lung diseases, and somehow our governments will find a way of grabbing a good portion of their estates - probably claiming it's to pay for increased healthcare costs, yadda, yadda, yadda and they'll make a fortune. (That's an Art Bell take on it anyway ;) ).

the government is taking away smokers rights!!
their rights to put strangers' healths at risk? how selfish.

their rights to put strangers' healths at risk? how selfish.


You're not at risk though. It's all been propaganda - check it out yourself Sarah. Just google "EPA Second Hand Smoke Study" sometime and checkout all the sources that now debunk it - including the EPA themselves if you look enough.

I can fully understand that it does stink and is bothersome to people, but using the guise of it's putting others at risk is total b.s.

:) well i'm glad to hear some of you like the idea of a none smokeing places i for one don't smoke and i will never smoke or even think about smokeing now its a kind of a mix in my family me and my mom don't smoke but my dad does and everytime we go out together it always has to be none smokeing now i don't know if this is hard on my dad or not but he doesn't seem to mind too much (of course he sometimes goes outside for a minute!) but anyway i'm just useing my family has an example cause with my mom haveing ashama and all its not very fair or very good for that matter for her to be around smokers! but she and i couldn't be more happier about the smokeing banned happening thats good for me too cause now we can eat where ever we want to when i'm sending some time with her! and for all of those who do smoke well i guess you'll just need to smoke outside or something! :D :D :D

:) and for all of those who do smoke well i guess you'll just need to smoke outside or something! :D :D :D

Or maybe try to find some ways to quit.

I too think smoking should be banned from public places.