Smoking banned in all UK pubs & clubs

[Lobo Baggins]

I know a woman manageress who doesn't smoke and if all the old duffers sit in the house with a cargo and smoke their pipes and rollies, then she's fucked.

I say, are you sure that's a pub you're in...?

[esoteric ed]

"it's that kind of smug do-gooder preachy attitude that really riles me"

Simply my (selfish ?) opinion, I suffer from a pretty horrid sinus condition, smokey environments trigger off severe sinus attacks which really aren't very pleasant, not just a sniffle but full blown sneezing fits which last for hours (usually around 4 - 5 hours) and usually wipe me out for the duration and rid me of my sense of smell and taste usually until the following morning.

I do find it a filthy habit but that's my humble opinion, (my close friend is a smoker and I tell him as much) if you care to smoke all well and good it's your personal choice, I never said anything hunting down and banishing smokers, but perhaps a little consideration around people who don't enjoy the habit or like in my case are affected by it.

Ed

[I, Cosh]

With regards to policing it, even in places as salubrious as the Sarry Head.

It is the publicans who will be fined, not the smokers, and potentially lose their licences. That should be incentive enough.

[Funt Solo]

Esoteric Ed - this isn't the first day I've posted without first engaging my brain.  My apologies - you weren't being arsey about things and I was.

On a slightly different note - it is interesting to hear how many people have simply been quietly suffering smokers for years without saying how they really feel.  I must have smoked approximately 100,000 cigs and I've been asked to stop doing it only twice.

[petemaskreplica]

Listen to Superman, kids!http://www.supermanhomepage.com/images/miscellaneous/Supermancig.jpg">

[[YT-2]]

When did pubs become nice places for respectable people to congregate? There are places that are more like restaurants than pubs, inns and hotels that generally cater for a more discerning clientele. I want a pub where I can smoke, drink, swear and generally do all the unpleasant things that I don?t want to do in my own front room. I can just about put up with my local having decent flooring instead of sawdust.

[esoteric ed]

"Esoteric Ed - this isn't the first day I've posted without first engaging my brain. My apologies - you weren't being arsey about things and I was."

That's ok Chiefy, no harm done, we're all different, different opinions etc etc... all that jazz, go and have a smoke and you'll feel better ;-)

Ed

[Quirkafleeg]

>Well barstaff wont all have to worry as some are going to lose their jobs.

yeah like all those poor kids that used to go up chimneys, blind pit ponies, slaves etc...

[Bart Oliver]

I've been told I'm what's called a "contemplative smoker".

I'm weighing up the pros and cons, with cons trumping pros mostly.. well on the way to stopping.. apparently.


I stopped smoking for about six weeks at the end of last year because of the flu (and then a nasty chest infection).

Once the antibiotics had got me over the worst of it, I started to appreciate the difference.

Sprinting twenty yards for a bus didn't result in me coughing my lungs into the lap of the driver anymore.

But then Christmas happened.


Do I think the ban is a good thing?

Well, if it improves the work environment of employees in the hospitality industries, contributes in some way to stopping more young people taking up the habit and helps "contemplative smokers" towards quitting then it can't be all that bad.

However, if the government experiences what they consider a significant lose in revenue generated by the tax on decreasing tobacco sales just what will they raise the duty on next to compensate?

[House of Usher]

If there's a shortfall in tax revenue from tobacco sales, the government should make up for it by taxing... (radical thought, this...)

...income !!

Although it has been very nice of smokers to fill the coffers of the Exchecquer, it's probably about time that burden fell to people who earn more than other people.

[Satanist]

"yeah like all those poor kids that used to go up chimneys, blind pit ponies, slaves etc... "

So barstaff are now forced against their will into paid employment? The point I was making is that some people will lose their jobs. Whether these people agree with the ban or not is neither here nor there.

Muppet!

[Quirkafleeg]

Whilst it is pointless trying to argue with someone who's not got a clue I'll have one more go...

'People will loose their jobs' is the excuse fat cat businessmen always make when legislation is introduced to promote safety at work (or 'red tape' as they always put it)

Not heard many news reports about the mass shutting of bars/pubs in NY or Ireland.

[johnnystress]

Here in Ireland we've had this ban for a couple of years now

I quit smoking shortly before it came into being.

Thing is I find that the smoking areas in pubs are where all the crack* is(*fun..the crack is still confined to the toilets).
Recent surveys found people congregate in the smoking areas because it's the best place to chat someone up!

Another good thing is you can tell by the people having a fag outside if that pub is really the kind of place you want to drink in. The smokers are like smelly, coughing ambassadors for the pub.

On the downside, a mate was laid off from his bar job because trade dropped so much. I think that could also be attributed to the ridiculous cost of alcohol here in Dublin though.

[Banners]

And littering is fine I suppose?!?!

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[House of Usher]

Recent surveys found people congregate in the smoking areas because it's the best place to chat someone up!

Yeah, that's interesting, but suggests that smoking isn't worth doing for its own sake, for the intrinsic pleasure of it. In the case of chatting up, it's evidently of more benefit to singles or anyone *not* single who's on the pull. The upshot of this is married and attached non-smokers might as well stay at home.

A friend of mine took up smoking at art college, and it cost him ?300 in one year when he couldn't afford to buy art materials. Why? "because when you're smoking, it makes it easier to chat up girls because you can ask them for a light, and vice versa." - which is kind of pathetic.

Actually, it reminds me of the dating advice given to the son, Chris, in Family Guy:

"...and make sure she's a smoker. Remember: 'if she smokes, she pokes' "