Smoking in Bars/Public Places? Yea or Nay?
 

i'm for smoking in bars and restaurants, as long as its a designated smoking area, as not to infringe on other people.

I so knew this was coming.

As I said before, I am against it in places where it affects non smokers. I choose not to smoke. I don't care if others do it, as longs as I, as a non smoker don't have to breathe it in.

ok, carrying on from that thread, i understand you perfectly, but your saying its your right to smoke in a bar if you want to? thus implying you have the right to share your toxic fumes with non-smokers and damaging their health in the process. the way i see it, if you want to smoke, fine. your choice. but do it in your own homes so the only people your damaging is yourself.

no, you didn't understand. and for gods sake, you're talking like inhaling a bit of smoke every now and then in a bar will give you the black lung, it's overblown. working in it everyday, yeah, it will cause problems. but anyways, my point is, i'm for it if it's a designated, ventilated area, so i don't "share my toxic fumes" with anyone else. when i didn't smoke i still felt the same way.

as an aside...what i find really retarded is that the legion members aren't allowed to smoke inside anymore, their 80 year old veterans for gods sakes, and they have to go out in the cold to have a smoke? bull****.

thankfully, croatia hasn't cought up with this lates fad of banning smokers from bars and night clubs....in italy, you can't smoke in either....i would go crazy if i couldn't smoke while i'm drinking, whether it be a capucino or a beer....
i'm not gonna even argue this, i don't care about non smokers and how their health is affected by my smoking...besides, it's yet to be proven that second hand smoking has killed anyone.....

inhaling a bit of smoke in one instance maybe, but think of the amount of times you go to clubs/pubs/bars in an average 70 year lifespan, eventually its going to catch up with you. i dont care if you (not you personally) smoke, as long as i dont inhale the stuff.

You should post more in the 'sixth sense thread' RAR.

LedZep I'm a smoker and I agree with you.
It makes me uncomfortable if I feel my smoking is imposing on others.

Lately at work, moves are being made to ban smoking completely.
Currently we are allowed two, ten minute smoke breaks, providing it's off premises. If the smoke breaks are banned completely I will find that a breach of my free will. That irritates me.

I think smokers are being persecuted unfairly. Especially when you consider the pollution a single car contributes to the detriment of your health. They are incomparable, yet not a word said.

I'd leave it to the discretion of the owners of the establishment, rather than giving away even more personal liberties to the government.

If a dude wants to start up a smoker-friendly restaurant, so be it. Who are we to say that that's illegal? If you don't like second-hand smoke, then go some place where they don't allow smoking.

In any case, I recognize the fact that a lot of people don't want to drown in the "stench" of smoke, but the whole second-hand smoke kills thing is vastly blown out of proportion. You'd have to be living in second-hand smoke for it to kill you.

its common sense, its proven cigarette smoke is damaging, a smoker walks into a bar, lights a ***, smoke starts leaving the stick full of the toxins, non-smoker inhales the smoke, goes into lungs. i agree when people say one instance of inhaling smoke is nothing, what im saying is the long term affects cannot be good (im not even saying it'll kill you, im just saying its detrimental) if it happens to you regularly in your life.

who wants to be alive at 70?

brilliant, but good luck. personal discretion is all but a thing of the past, at least here, can't do **** without offended someone, then there has to be a law made to make sure no one's feelings are hurt.

I remember hearing this somewhere but...

What was said was

Howcome it is perfectly ok to publicly admonish people for their very unhealthy smoking habit. Even going so far as to ban smokin in public places, yet it is rude to scorn an obese person for eating too much.

I think that is hypocritical. We can verbally tell a smoker that they are ruining their life, but telling this to an obese person, we run the risk of hurting their feelings.
I dont understand

Oh trust, I tell fatties that they're fatties ;)

And if the person is smoking in enclosed public spaces, it's fine to admonish them due to the damage it can cause people.

Also be aware that while passive smoking takes longer to cause cancer, the cancer it causes is generally more lethal.

A pub landlord will probably not ban smoking, because the smokers would just go elsewhere losing them custom. It's important that the Government sets the standard as a requirement, to ensure that there will be smoke free places for people to enjoy.

If there's so many people desperate for "smoke-free places," then they can go ahead and start them. Then all the non-smokers can have their smoke-free bars and sit around and talk about how great it is that their lungs aren't being corroded by second-hand smoke.

That way, everyone can continue to enjoy their personal liberties without the government stepping in and setting regulations on what we can or cannot do.

It would not be evonomically feasible, because the concentration of people specifically going there would not be enough to maintain the shop. If the Government steps in and says no smoking in pubs, cafes, restaurants it means that the actual loss of custom is minimal while the risk of passive smoking is greatly reduced. People are still free to step outside for one.

If there's such a minority of people who would actively search out another place to avoid smoke, then why is it even necessary to punish smokers by enforcing regulations? It's this kind of mentality that just leads to more and more constricting government control.

It's not even the fact that you have to step outside to smoke that bothers me, it's just the mentality behind the whole thing, where you're punishing a certain group of people for doing something that makes YOU uncomfortable, when you should be the one responsible for coping.

I agree with you Fal. I believe that people shouldn't ignorantly be able to give young children the chance to second hand smoke.

i totally agree. but it's a rarity to see someone take responsiblity for themselves instead of trying to change their circumstances so they don't have to. everyone's always pointing the finger, but they don't excercise their right to do something about it for themselves.

what are young children doing in a bar?

If it were punishment, then it would be more than just a ban on smoking in public. It's not an issue of comfort, solely, it's also an issue of health. It is the duty of the government to protect the health of it's citizens, while still allowing them to kill themselves.

For the record, I am not a non-smoker - people smoking around me causes me no discomfort (though I'm aware that it is still damaging my health).

That's the funniest thing I've ever heard.

Hey guys! Let's go to the bar tonight, get close to a guy smoking a cigar, and second hand smoke!
Cool!

Seriously, I hope you were joking.

People don't just smoke in bars.

true, my only real beef is here is bars and restaurants. and if parents bring their kids into the theoretical smoking section, thats their mistake.

Do you not know what second hand smoking is? It is when you recieve the same affects of smoking but they are not as great. When you second hand smoke you still are at risk of getting lung cancer.

Smoking and non-smoking sections in bars and restaurants are poorly organised and inneffective. The vast majority of bars/restaurants will have a smoking/non-smoking section. Even if you sit in the non-smoking section you're still at risk from secondary smoke. Do you wish to deny people the right to a healthy meal out every once in a while? Or is it more important to let people kill themselves?

i agree smoking sections could be improved, but like i said before, a little bit every now and then isn't going to kill you or even have a noticeable effect. unless you're eating out every night, theres not a real danger. and where i live, NO restaurants and very few bars have smoking sections, i think its bad for business.

i dont care man if the restraunt or what ever dosent mind then let the people smoke if they do mind tell them to put there ciggerett out

our city recently passed a law that there's no smoking in any public establishment that admits people under 18. It's nice being able to go to a restaurant and not choking down second hand smoke, but the bars are horrible. Mind you, it's a bar, so you have to expect it.

Deopends on what she looks like. Nasty habit, but women look so sexy doing it.

Seriously, though. A bar is a bar. It's like some comedian said. I don't remember exactly, so I'll paraphrase: "So I'm in this bar. I'm getting puke drunk, talking ****, trying to get with some chick for a little unprotected sex, then some ******* comes up to me and blows SMOKE in my face. What's the world coming to?"

Yeah, I didn't say it exactly right, but you get my point.

Did I miss something?

And you know, I got in a fight with a friend of mine who used to be a cook. Don't work in places that allow smoking if you don't like it. It cripples economy in a municipality and certainly ruins the overall in take of a business.

I don't smoke, I hate smokers, but there are coffee house, lounge bars around here that host poetry readings and open mic nights that had an image, a feel, a vibe, and its not the same anymore.

Smokey jazz lounge is a staple of american society. So here at least, i'd say we need it back.

I said no for the fact that noone has the right to shorten my life expectancy...second hand smoke is horrible for your lungs and i dont think public places should have even designated smokin areas

FFS people are shortening your life each day whether it be smokers, drivers or even factory workers.

Walk along a city footpath and you're inhaling ten times as many carciogenic fumes than you ever would in a bar

I don't smoke and I absolutely hate it, but if other people smoke, well, they smoke. That's their problem and who are we to tell them where they can and can't? It's common sense to not smoke in a hospital and such, but a bar? What's a cig going to do while most people are drunk off their asses anyway.

Which entirely justifies adding to the toxins? Please find me the science to back up your claims.

I'm not really bothered.
In restaurants (well in England) there are seperate parts for smokers and non smokers. If you smoke, you smoke. If you don't, they're not forcing you to.
And anyways, in most public places where the smoking actually effects you would be places like Pubs or where bands play, which you'd expect it to be like that anyways.

Seriously? In New Zealand? I thought you guys had sheep and hills? I probably don't even know where the hell you are on a map then, brb...

Ok no, I was right, but seriously, im suprised you have cars there, do you import alot of food or can you grow it there in the middle of nowhere.

meh! i don't smoke anymore and i hate it. but in a bar well it just doesn't feel like a bar with out clouds of smoke going by your face on the dance floor. but where we don't get a choice i think there should be areas. i don't agree with smokers having to go outside to smoke. its unfair, just make a areas in the bars, and food areas for smokes. and everything could be fine.. i hate going into Micky D's now that theres not clouds of smoke meeting me to say hello..

I said yes because I would bet that more than 50% of people that go to the bar to enjoy a drink also smoke. I dont see a use for a public bar, but Iam sure that if the people in the bar had a quick vote inside a bar, the people who want to smoke and drink would overcome the people who didnt want to smoke inside. Iam not pro-smoking, but I think if the people who go to bars could choose the rules in there own bars they would ok it.

I'm assuming this was meant in jest, but i'll respond anyway. You might not want to, I might not want to, but someone else sure as hell does. Like the guy who is 68.


And to the people who are citing the governments role in this: The sole reason that any law is passed at all is because there is a proven negative side affect to free born cigarette smoke. It damages the lungs of everyone in the area. As a non-smoker and a runner, I don't want to breathe in smoke, whether it be from marijuana, cigarettes, cigars, etc. If I am in a public area, then I have that right. Smokers are welcome to smoke at home. Or with other smokers or where people who don't care are present.

i just think if there going to banned smoking every where which seems like there going to do. why don't they just stop selling smokes...make it simple.. you can't smoke them anywhere if theres nothing to smoke.. but then i guess it would be more like weed.. there would be cig dealors everywhere.. but my point being is that banning it all together in bars in stupid, i can understand family areas, but bars.. really.