Do you think the smoking ban is unfair?

B. Cummings

If smoking wasn't deadly, I would agree with you. SInce it is deadly I encourage smoking bans.

germankat

Part of what makes this whole thing so hard for folks to deal with is the fact that smoking was so socially acceptable for so long. It's only within the last 20 years that anything has really been done about it.

It's not about infringing on smoker's rights; it's about protecting the rights of non-smokers. A smoker going into a non-smoking place and not being able to smoke does no one any harm. A non-smoker going into a smoking area is subject to all of the smoky stuff whether they want to be or not. And for waiters and waitresses who are subject to it all day, it really isn't fair to them.

I do agree that there are a lot of loopholes here and that it's pretty contradictory in some places, but for chrissake, what's the big deal about having to go X amount of feet away from a building in order to smoke, or about getting your nic-fix at home BEFORE you go out?

Amha G

i don't see it as unfair and discriminatory because we have to take the interests of non smokers into consideration. when a person smokes a single cigarrette.....40% goes to the non-smoker. can u believe this....40%. It's like i smoked it myself. so i don't think it is unfair.

cristy p

I know smoking causes harm to the body and as a non smoker I shouldnt be forced to make a choice of where I dine or hang out because someone else WANTS to disrespect and ruin their Health. My non-smoking doesnt cause you health health issues so why should smokers be able to chose where and when I dine, because they want to smoke and destroy there health doesnt mean it should be at the cost of destroyng mine!

I like breathing. I like the smoking ban.

dojoman

this is one of those "sticky wicket" issues where the common good outweighs our penchant for civil liberties. smoking is so horrible and so disgusting and so obnoxious that it should be deemed illegal. but barring that, i will settle for it being relegated to the comfort of one's own home...so my answer is no, it is not unfair...

BigD

I don't think that you see the point. You are proposing a choice to non-smokers that they do not go into public places or even hold certain jobs over a choice that if smokers want to have a cigarette, all they have to do is go outside for 2 minutes.

when you balance the burdens, the choice is obvious

Calm71

Being a smoker myself, I have always felt guilty about inflicting my smoking on others, especially children. It is really important that people realise that a health and safety issue like sharp knives in the work place, can be avoided, but people are aware of it. Smoking in the workplace, whether in a pub, club or office CANNOT be avoided by anyone. Other people have no choice but to breathe others smoke and even non-smoking areas in pubs 'leak' and you get smoke coming in.
I think it's the best thing to happen for people's health in many years, if I choose to smoke it's my choice and I don't let anyone else breathe my smoke - even at home, where I smoke and have always smoked in the garden.

Dan H

Yes, and abolition was unfair to people who had made slaves out of an entire race of people.

The Europeans were unfair to the natives. They took the entire hemisphere away from them. We brought them firearms and smallpox and took away their land. They gave us syphilis and tobacco. Maybe we're even.

You have a right to make yourself sick. You do not have a right to pollute and infect everyone around you.

You don't like it? You could move to France.

MOHAMMAD

Smoking is very dangrous for your heart.It will destroy your health.

tal

I'm a smoker and I agree the ban is a good thing .Why should little kids ,babies,people with lung problems,people with heart problems be exposed to cigarete smoke. One has no idea what sickness a person has that you are sitting next to. I would suggest to all those who opose the smoke ban sit arround a table burn some old rags in a bucket and enhale the smoke ...see if you would like it. Well thats what it is like sitting next to smokers. I'm trying hard to give it up my friends tell me I stink like a wood furnace .

wayne g

Let me just say I went through hell trying to quit. My wife has
a trachea to breath through. 61/2 years latter they gag me.
She sure dose not need that crap going straight into her
longs. People will walk past my car-in a parking lot- and
exhale a cloud of smoke and allow the wind to bring that
crap wright into my car for me to have to breath in. Should I
not then have the wright to force something down that idiots
wind pipe like my fist? Smokers need to wake up.
Thanks

Amit P

No - it is unfair to pass your smoke onto others without their consent. I think it is akin to drink driving, why is it illegal? because it may harm others and not just yourself, same thing with passive smoking in enclosed spaces.

Alex R

Of course it's fair. The fact that there isn't a single ingredient in a cigarette that isn't poisonous means that there should quite frankly be a total ban. If people want to kill themselves just jump off a cliff - it's much cheaper and quicker, and unless you hit someone at the bottom nobody else gets hurt. So banning smoking in public places is perfectly reasonable, as the only people that suffer are the tobacco companies; and lets face it, they don't count.

Scottish Girl

I Understand where you are comming from, but

I am a non smoker, all of my family smoke and most of my friends smoke. None of them ever consider how it affects me. When we go out for a drink, If i want to sit in a non smoking section I would be sitting there on my own as everyone makes a bee line for the smoking section. I chose not to smoke because I have a tendency to get chest infections. I therefore suffer with the smoke.

I live in scotland where the smoking ban is already in place. There have been no problems here, my friends go out for a smoke in twos which means I have company for the night and can enjoy the night without feeling ill at the end of the night. The friends that smoke have mainly found it no problem to go outside for a smoke and quite a few have commented that they speak to many more people when they are out. You dont go home smelling of smoke, which is a bonus with a hangover the next morning. There is however one downside, you often smell other smells that used to me masked by the smoke.... I will let you use your own imagination on that one.

angie c

It's going to be the law, get over it!

Other countries have accepted it, so why can't we?

I smoke and i think it's a good thing, as it will encourage me not to smoke and surely that is a good thing all round?

If i want to smoke I will stay at home or go outside!

stuarti35

get a grip we here in scotland have managed it , so wots wrong .give up and we can all breath more safely and im an x smoker

barrie s

yes this country is now becoming like a nanny state soon you won't be able to fart without that going on your carbon foot print.

kelly m

This smoking ban has been long overdue! smokers have had it their way for far too long now. ive waited for years for something like this to come about. why dont smokers understand, this flithy stinking self-ignorant habit is a killer to them and people around them. im feed up at coming home early hours stinking of their flith and having to jump into the shower. justice has been done!

shamalay101

I think ban of smoking in public places is very very FAIR!
I mean the law should be nice enough to let smokers smoke in their homes but not outside where they could harm other people especially non-smokers.I'm sure you're aware that a cigarrette contains more than 4000 chemicals,most of which are filtered into the air so that smokers do not breathe in so much of these chemicals.When those chemicals got filtered into the air, passive smokers become victims of lung cancer,Emphysema and loads of other diseases and it's not even their fault.It's murder!To think that smokers do not even think of their family members before started smoking! It's their disgusting habits that they prioritise not the health of loved ones and the public who are very very innocent particularly the asthmatic.

andrew_j_lewis

I don't thing the smoking ban is un-fair! Tobacco is a DRUG, you wouldn't use other drugs in public, so why should people be allowed to use Tobacco in Public. The only difference is Tobacco is Legal, Hopefully thats the next step to a SMOKE FREE UK

Loz

why should none smokers have to think twice about walking into a smoking building because they smoke, the people who smoke are the ones in the wrong there damaging their health as well as non smokers, why should non smokers have to watch where they go because some else choices to give people bad health

Anon

For people who believe it is an infringement of human rights, may I remind you that you are still able to smoke, just not in enclosed public places. This means you may smoke in the comfort of your own home, in public gardens and on the streets. May I also remind you that it is an infringement of a non-smokers human rights to have to endure the smoke from a smoker; and may I also remind you that the effect of a non-smoker, or in fact a smoker who must endure the smoke from a smoker at the time, is far greater and harmful than a smoker who is no longer able to smoke in an enclosed, public space.

We must keep this in perspective.

It is a known fact that smoking causes deaths and illnesses. It is a known fact that second hand smoke causes deaths and illnesses in non-smokers. It is also a known fact that we also have a duty of care to each and everyone of us. Do we endure the ravings of drunken shenanigans, or noise pollution? And if not, I ask you why not? It's the same reason that some people do not want to have to inhale and endure harmful cigarette smoke. I am a social smoker and fully respect the rights of non-smokers. In any case, the ban may help me give up completely, which can only be a good thing - not only to my health but also for the lining of my pockets!

Greater concern seems to surround blury tax implications. Should concerns over money derived from cigarettes and tax be more important than human health? If you argue from this point, before the economic effect of the ban is even established, then you are saying it is. That debate should really be left for another day's fight, when and if it becomes a reality.

To smokers who say they will only begin to smoke around children, I say you should think again before uttering what could be conceived as emotionally blackmailing words. I am sure you do not live in a brick box, without windows or doors.

There is no need to smoke around non-smokers and that includes children and adults alike.

To those of you who advocate smoking bars and pubs alone -what would be your choice if, as a family, you wanted to frequent a pub or restaurant, or as friends you wanted a night out, and some of you smoked and others didn't? I take it the night would not take effect in separate venues? We mainly go out in groups and, I for one, have friends who smoke and don't smoke. As a social smoker, I believe it is my right to protect non-smokers from my smoke should I choose to open that packet and spark-up. And what about our employees? Should they be subjected to smoke-fuelled environments? Or should they simply have to look for other jobs? What would be your wish for a loved one, perhaps someone who did not have a vast array of jobs to choose from?

To those of you who blame the government and it advocating a lack of choice, it is the government's responsibility to make moral choices when we collective cannot and which benefit the whole, no matter how difficult or unpopular.

Remember, we always have a choice and smokers still have theirs. The crux really depends on what moral stance you make your choice from, but the choice is still yours.

I do hope you come to see some of the positive sides to the argument, even if the decision is not to your complete liking.

Remember, one step at a time. Change is sometimes never easy, sometimes it is just harder to accept

hughgrza

If the smoking ban is truly a health issue then all fat people should be banned from McDonald's and take aways. More people die from obesity than smoking so lets ban all fat people from eating and see how that goes down.

roundy

its been forced upon me to inhale second hand smoke for last tens years if i want to go out. why should non smokers be limited to premises they can enter, its the smokers that have the habit and the choice to smoke or not. why should non smokers have to have suffer the smell and health effects.

klingonbatleth

I believe that the smoking ban is completely fair and I am glad that it has arrived. I am a non-smoker by the way, and always have been. I understand that people want free choice in their lives, and if smoking only affected the smoker then fine, but smoking is one activity which affects everyone around the smoker. Whenever I walk into a pub or club, the air is filled with smoke. I have no choice but to breathe in that smoke as long as I am in that pub.

Don't I have the right to breathe clean fresh air that is not polluted by tobacco smoke? Don't I have the free choice to choose whether my health is destroyed by smoking or not? If a smoker wishes to die at an early age due to various illnesses, then fine, but it is wrong for a smoker to do the same to everyone around them just because they want to light up. I feel that smokers are discriminating against me just because I am a non-smoker.

If someone wants to continue smoking, then go into the street where there is less chance of harmful chemicals in the smoke to build up in the air and are breathed in by non-smokers. I truly believe that everyone should do whatever they want in life, except if those actions affect other people. Smoking certainly does affect other people by destroying their health against their will, and removing their free choice of walking into a pub or club without breathing in tobacco smoke.

In general, people do whatever they want to, without considering how their actions affect other people around them. In other words, smokers are selfish to impinge their beliefs onto other people. It would be wrong for a person to force their political or religious beliefs onto other people against their will, so why is smoking any different?

Conclusion: the smoking ban is completely fair, as non-smokers can breathe clean air inside places such as pubs and clubs, and smokers still have the right to smoke outside or in their own cars and homes. This is the best compromise giving rights to both sides of the argument.

Nichola

I can't wait for the smoking ban - smoking is unhealthy and I don't see why non-smokers should put their health at risk just because of the inconsiderate people who have no regard for other peoples health. It's bad enough non-smokers taxes have to help pay for all the extra health care and resources the smokers take up.
I can't wait to have a laugh at all the smokers so desperate for a cigarette they have to stand out in the rain and snow. It's going to be nice going for a drink and not coming home stinking like an old ashtray - yes you smokers really do smell!!

cricketninja

I think there are aspects of the ban that are over the top. I think 20% of pubs should be able to apply for a smoking license rather than a total ban. I don't object to working environments being smoke free but I think there's a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon...lots of companies won't let you smoke anywhere near the premises which will surely mean less work being achieved and even risk of accidents by people having to cross the road several more times a day for a quick ciggy. Some open air train platforms are introducing a ban...why? It's not an enclosed space.

Personally I don't think it's bad to encourage people to give up but I think a total ban and the way in which certain work places are going about it is way OTT, impractical and discriminatory.

What I'm more worried about is the way this country is becoming more and more a nanny state. You've seen the adverts that tell you..."Eat no more than 6mg of salt a day". What next?..."No more than one bar of chocolate a week", or what about a ban on running cos it's bad for your knees.

Besides anything else we're breathing in far more pollution from all the exhaust fumes we pump out everyday from our cars and no one seems to be doing much about that. Reducing our carbon emmissions and being less wasteful with the resources we have will have a far greater impact on the future of our country and the rest of the world.

Rant over!

garlicjnr2001

They can still kill themselves, just without killing everyone else. So it's fair, but there's still a problem with all the toxic smoke being put into the air every day, sure it's less than vehicles make, but there's still a huge load of pollution happening every day because idiots want to get disease & die. We should have a big bonfire where we chuck all the smokers on there to smoke.

jESS

I understand the smoking ban and am fine with it. I am a smoker myself. But I don't think then that the state,cities, or goverment should be allowed to use or raise the tobacco tax to pay for buildings and other locations where I will then not be allowed to smoke.

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