Smoking? Your opinions

We have a public smoking ban in Scotland

Just thought I'd inform you all of how great it is...

discuss smoking...

yeah, and we're getting it too in England, you dirty, smelly, smoking... people!

My resolution is to stop smoking...hahaha, that ought to be easy...since I don't smoke...lol

We sort of have a ban in Las Vegas on smoking, too. I never thought it would pass, but it did last month. Only gaming areas and places that don't serve food can have smoking. There are still a few restaurants that refuse to comply with the ban, though. Plenty of restaurants exist that have no-smoking already; I think restaurants should be able to decide as it's private property. No matter what, people can choose not to patronize a place that allows smoking.

I'm really enjoying the smoking ban in Scotland - every public venue and work place has to comply. Everyone thought there would be rebellion, but I've never heard of or seen anyone trying to break the rules!


As a resteraunt/pub it's very hard to ban smoking in your establishment, unless everyone else is following suit - otherwise you've already lost out on a huge potential market to competitors.

As it is, no one seems to mind going outside to have a smoke, although there's been lots of jokes about the smoke/smokers lingering outside the entrances...

But, going out on a day/night is actually really improved by it - no where has that fog as you enter, the smell doesn't interfere with a meal, you don't have do wash your hair/do laundry the next day. Pubs are now my replacement coffee shops - no loud music, and cheap food!

I know there's no win/lose to this argument, but I heartily feel businesses should be allowed to decide. As a smoker, if a restaurant chooses not to allow smoking, I respect and abide by that. But if it's just generally illegal for me to do something completely legal, I spot the problem; to me, it's an infringement on my rights. Is it really different than saying people can only order alcohol at a bar?

I guess it depends if you believe in the effects of passive smoking - smoking in your own home (and I guess outside) won't harm anyone else but yourself. Smoking in a place with other patrons and staff having to inhale second hand smoke is a bit like saying 'I want to die by explosion, and I'm going to do it in a public place, because that's my right'

urgh i hate eating in a restaurant and smelling the stale smoke while you're trying to enjoy your food, we definitely always eat in the no smoking area lol

I know what you're saying and I don't disagree, but I think there can be a happy medium by setting up more effective smoking sections and installing air purifiers. Casinos in Las Vegas, for instance, have powerful air purifiers in the ventilation systems. Considering there are probably 1000 cigarettes burning at any given time on the casino floor, the fact that you don't even remotely smell the smoke (unless you're right next to someone, of course) is astonishing. I feel it would be fair to all parties if the law permitted restaurants to have smoking sections if they adequately meet certain provisions instead of banning it outright.

moved - nothing to do with new year !

We have the same sort of law here - came in last month actaully. No smoking in pubs, clubs or restaurants. And we haven't been allowed to smoke in workplaces or shopping centres for a few years now.

I gave up smoking 2 weeks ago and so far haven't looked back.

In NY you can't smoke in any bar, restaurant etc.. in Dallas there is a "Ban" but you can still smoke in bars etc as the fines go to you not the establishment and it is only enforced by the health dept. not cops etc.

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I hate IE 6. Just sayin....

I was in Edinburgh for the New Year drinking my head out for 4 nights and I loved the fact that smoking was banned in bars, restaurants and pubs...

My girlfriend loves a cigarette with her drink but even she actually got used to it and started to smoke less in that small period (it wasn't worth it going outside in the freezing cold every 10 minutes just for a fag).

I can't wait for the ban in England (coming this summer). I think a lot of people will cut down on their smoking if not stop altogether. And I don't smell like an ashtray on the way home. Really doesn't go well with all that Sambuca...

The ban in Nevada doesn't apply to bars that don't serve food, so it already seems stupid to me. While I am against it entirely, it seems strange to ban smoking in the type of establishments where there are a massive selection of restaurants that don't have smoking sections. Meanwhile, the only type of place where smoking is in everywhere, bars, are not being affected at all. The bill essentially cuts out the mere 10% of places I could go to and eat (well away from the non-smokers, by the way), but it does nothing for the bars, which generally don't even have designated smoking areas.

When was the last time you went to a restaurant (not a bar) and had problems with people smoking? I don't know if it's just Vegas, but when ever I see a smoking section, it's always reasonably separated from non-smoking with walls and sometimes doors. Just curious.

I don't smoke and I don't like the smell of smoke. In my town we do not have a smoking ban. An all out ban would be great, but it's unrealistic in many places. I don't have a problem with people exercising their right to smoke as long as certain precautions (air purifiers, partitions, doors, outdoor smoking areas away from the main entrance, etc.) are taken so that I don't have to smell it or deal with it in any way.

It's impossible to make everyone happy on this issue, but I think there's a lot of give and take that could happen to make everyone a little happier.

I want to smoke.... but my gf will beat me up

On the last day before the smoking ban

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm quite sensitive to smoke; especially when eating, so it can really degrade the quality of an evening.

When I went back to England and people were smoking inside, it was just so shocking; I forgot that they were allowed! But it was really horrible - I didn't realise how nasty smoke indoors was until I got to be without it for a while.

I really thought that there were going to major problems when it was introduced, but as spinal said, smokers seemed to accept it and it really helped those who wanted to quit or cut down.

I wasn't as 'for' the smoking ban, until I got the chance to live with it. Now I think it is possibly the best thing since sliced bread, or something even better than that.

Im going to move on to heroine when the smoking ban comes in .... That'll show them !!

Here in South Africa the smoking ban happened a while ago. With the exception of pubs, all restaurants that didn't have a closed off smoking section had to either build one or ban smoking all together, so most of them cornered off an area with glass (and bad ventilation) for the smokers. I like to call it "the smoqarium".

I've heard rumours now that they are going to ban smoking in public outright...which means that you can't even smoke on the street! I don't know if that applies to your car, but if it does, I'm sure road rage incidents will increase drastically. As it is, if you have a maid, you have to ask them for permission before smoking in your own home. I'm a smoker trying to stop, so in a way I'm happy 'cause there's more reason to stop then.

Hm, that's odd, snow. Perhaps Nevada had previous laws regarding smoking sections, because I have never been to a restaurant that smells like smoke. Bars and pool halls, yes, but never a restuarant. That's personally why I think it's so pointless here because every restaurant I ate at has smoking sections that were kept separate to begin with. Don't you think provisions in the law regarding adequate filtration and separation would make both sides happy, though?