UK Smoking Ban

March 11, 2008, 12:03 PM

OK, as many Brits are aware, the government instituted a nationwide smoking ban in all bars, clubs and pubs on the 31st of June (July?)

What I want to know from you is what you think about it. Do you smoke and feel this is a robbery of your rights? Are you a regular club goer and find smoke irritating and praise the new system?

I personally do not like it. Reasons being that yes I am a smoker and I don't like going outside for a quick biff. Many clubs and pubs do not have a smoking bin outside the place, which leaves you with only one option of stubbing it out on the floor, which, if seen by the police, can result in a hefty £50 fine.

Another major issue behind this is should the government be more focused on serious aims like gun conrtol (the recent case of Rhys Jones is a prime example) and gang activity throughout the UK, rather then on people enjoying a cigarette in a relaxed, sociable and above all else WARM atmosphere

?

Please, tell me your thoughts. No off topicness in this thread please i.e if you should smoke or shouldn't.

March 11, 2008, 12:57 PM

You're a year late there. This happened last June.

Personally I'm not bothered about it. It hasn't changed what any of the clubs are like, no one seems to complain about it too much and everyone copes. People have just accepted it and got on with it.

March 11, 2008, 1:15 PM

Im a smoker and it doesn't bother me either, it's making people smoke less and the bars all have clearer air, I hate stinking of smoke (yes I know, you don't even need to say it but Im not a heavy smoker)

Meh, it' all good

March 11, 2008, 1:20 PM

Ahaha no it's all good, I must admit, it was kind of refreshing walking into a pub and smelling the food rather than the smoke. I think the owners of places should all invest in the cigarette bins though, so we're not throwing them on the floor if you get me.

I guess I just miss sitting with a pint in one hand and a fag in the other. Such is life I guess.

I honestly do think they should be better focusing their efforst on gang activity and the like though. But that is for another topic methinks.

March 11, 2008, 1:26 PM

Some places near me have proper smoking areas and people just lounge around outside on the settees with the canopy over their heads, but some places really DO need to get bins

Its rather unsightly looking at all the fag ends in the gutter. I know it's my choice to do it but what do they expect you to do? Put it in your pocket?

Edit* if im on a night out, i wont even HAVE pockets

March 11, 2008, 1:34 PM

Government focusing on important things?

Lolz, sorry but...yeah, they don't focus on important issues such as homelessness for one. It's always charity organisations that look after homeless folk. Never hear anything on the news about them tackling homelessness do you?

They should do yes - concerning gun crime - police are too scared to deal with youths of today. There needs to be a big kick up the arse for the Government of today.

Anyway, I'm not a smoker, and I do agree with the ban. Uh huh...that's going to seem a bit biased to some, but, at the end of the day, I think this will encourage some people to reflect on this habit, and try and give it up, especially if they've got a serious addiction to it.

Smoking may seem like good stress relief, but cost of cigarettes can accumulate, and eventually you'll be paying the biggest loss - your life could be stopped short. There's other ways to destress, like - martial arts! Seriously, great way to destress, and to keep fit. Smoking, kinda like doesn't help you keep fit. All the build up of the "bad stuff" is going to have a knock on effect.

Clubs/Pubs round my area seem to be doing pretty fine. Not that I'm an avid visitor, but when I pass them, there seems to be still a regular inflow of people.

People say this ban could encourage people to smoke more around children but seriously - it's not as if this doesn't happen already in homes.

People complain about being outside in the cold? Hah. It's nothing. You're inevitable screwing your life up and worried about a few minutes in the cold? Tut tut.

I still can't understand why people smoke. I really don't. Stress relief - yeah, but...eh. It's just confusing.

If anyone doesn't like what I say, then sorry. But that's me

March 11, 2008, 1:39 PM

Your points are perfectly valid Rulia, I hate the smell of smoke and thats coming from a smoker. I know I should quit but it's just something I do

I was really wary of the ban at first but it doesn't bother me one bit, if it's pissing down outside I might not even bother going out at all

People are certainly smoking less, I never smoked much anyway but on a night out I used to smoke quite alot and now I don't so it's all good

March 11, 2008, 1:45 PM

Hey don't orry about it, you're totally entitled to your own opinion. I'm not gonna be like "ARGH HOW DAREZ YOU SAYZ IM KILLING MYSELVEZ?" cos in all honesty, every smoker, social or regular, knows they are shortening their lives.

But anyway, I do think the smoking ban has made people smoke more at home, which I really don't like cos although I smoke, I don't want a house to reek of it. It puts me right off a house straight away.

March 11, 2008, 2:05 PM

Ugh, I've been raised under the care of a dad who smokes, and so I REALLY really hate it, and all drugs for that matter.

I think it's good that the act went into effect as far as the pubs go; second-hand smoking is really bad, and is perhaps as harmful as smoking the actual cancer stick yourself. Back in the day, my dad used to smoke around me all the time until I was 10, and then I turned into a bitch and threw away all of his cigarettes, poured bleach on them, and told them that if we wanted to smoke anymore, he had to do so on the balcony facing the backyard with the window closed lest anyone see him and me be embarrassed.

Now, I have an awkward breathing problem, which made me collapse twice this past year of band camp. The doctors accredited that to my 'heavy' second-hand smoking all those years ago, and now I just think it's silly for people to smoke in enclosed public places like that. I know it might motivate more people to smoke at home, but if you really don't want your house to smell like that, then smoke outside like my dad does. The downwind will take all that nastiness away for ya.

March 11, 2008, 7:13 PM

I often socialised in pubs and casual bars whilst I was in school/college, and found constant thick clouds of smoke to be quite a dampener of a Saturday night's pleasantries. It's understandable why smokers would begrudge the law, but it's a perfectly considerate act for those who don't smoke, as far as I'm concerned.

Bars weren't solely places to smoke, so I saw nothing wrong with the passing of this rule.