Smoking (and smokers) really is becoming a social pariah isn't it.

Mark

Quite rightly so. Filthy disgusting habit.
The only good thing this government has done is bring in the smoking ban, going out is so much nicer now.
The only downside of this plan (from a selfish point of view) is that the drop in tax revenue will have to be made up elsewhere, which probably means I'll end up paying more as I don't pay any on tobacco at the moment (as I don't smoke).

I'm sure there are plenty of people who if they judged your life would find some of your habits objectionable...

Quite right Lev, re the tax. Besides the argument as to whether anyone should decide how others live their lives the tax issue is a major one. Governments can't stand bandying about ideas if they haven't worked out how they're going to make up the shortfall in NHS funding that would be lost from reducing numbers of smokers.

I have to disagree on the going out being much nicer. Many of the pubs now don't have the smell of smoke to cover up the other smells that have been there all along.

I'm not sure about the filthiness of the habit, afaics it's a matter of personal choice for each adult to make, like smoking pot and drinking. If you don't like it and don't want to socialise in that atmosphere that's your choice, just as it's their choice to smoke. There is certainly a much more pariah-like attitude to it here, we've just come back from Egypt (in case any of you missed it ) and it's a much more tolerant attitude there. Some places are non-smoking, and anywhere there is a non-smoking area it is seperated from the smokers area by a door or somesuch barrier, in the open air (in cafes etc) it's socially acceptable to smoke and cigarettes are used as money in some areas for baksheesh.

I'm not a smoker, but I respect other peoples rights to smoke if they choose, when out socially now I find that the smell of the fake dancefloor smoke or the B.O of my fellows is far more offensive. Of course this carries the disclaimer of also not having any experience of going out as an asthmatic, I'm sure the smoke from cigarettes is far worse for you than for me, this is just my opinion.

I'm sure Roy Castle would have disagreed with you.

To quote yourself "If you don't like it and don't want to socialise in that atmosphere that's your choice, just as it's their choice to" sweat.
Jus' sayin' is all.

Mark

Is it? So out in town walking around, I get a lung full of toxic waste from the smokers in the various creches outside the bars and restaurants, or form the person puffing away in front of me. You are saying that I should stay at home and not go out because of this?

I shall point out that I am asthmatic, and cigarette smoke is a trigger. I avoid places where I am likely to be affected, and the smoking ban has actually freed up a lot of places for me which were no-go areas in the past.

Quite - as long as it doesn't directly impact on everyone else.


Again agreed. However, as I take my daily walk down the High Street at lunchtime, I cannot escape the smell of secondary cigarette smoking Now that smoking has been banned in public offices/pubs/shops etc, there are little groups of smokers huddled in doorways making it virtually impossible for me to enter a shop without smelling that awful smell. The majority of smokers I have spoken to think that they are not affecting anybody else if they smoke 'in the open air' yet some in my town complain vociferously that the local treatment works (which is supposed to have an odourless chimney system) is affecting their standard of living. When I point out that that is how I feel walking down the street every lunchtime, their attitude is somewhat different

Paul - I see we have the same views but for different reasons

I would like to volunteer to cut these smokers in half - I have my own chainsaw.

Al

Paul: No, I was talking specifically about inside places, I wasn't suggesting you should just stay at home, but you must accept that when you go out, there is a chance that you will be subject to someone elses second hand smoke if it's unavoidable.

Generally: I think that the smoking ban has made inside places like clubs and bars less smokey, but that's just moved the smoke elsewhere (mostly) into the outdoors. Smoke is a by-product of some people smoking, just as violence is a by-product of some people drinking. People are going to smoke, they just are, so at some point you're going to come into contact with second-hand smoke, the smoker can't control the direction of the smoke, anymore than you can control which direction your B.O wafts, so avoiding it completely isn't possible.

The only way to stop ever coming into contact with smoke is to make all smokers only smoke at home, and then make sure non of your friends or family are smokers, which is no more likely to happen than making everyone drink at home. Living as a society means sometimes having to put up with things that you don't like, smokers are already putting up with being treated as social lepers, forced to stand outside in whatever weather they get, just to have a smoke, but even that doesn't seem to be enough of a concession.

Forcing everyone to give up smoking completely smacks of Police state to me, we have few enough real "rights" as it is, I'm not going to be part of stomping on the bits of them that remain, not (at least) until public drinking is outlawed.

Roy Castle lived in a very different time and attributed his cancer to years spent playing trumpet in jazz clubs when smoking was allowed, not from a couple of accidental lungfuls of smoke walking down the street. It's not the same country anymore and my disclaimer was only from a point of view of not knowing what it's like as an asthmatic, I'm not qualified to comment on second-hand smoke from that point of view. I still respect peoples right to smoke if they choose to.

I'm sure they might, but my habits wouldn't affect them directly. Smokers affect my health and they stink. Sorry if that offends people, but it's true. I hate it when somebody sits next to me on the bus who's just put a fag out before they got on.

Yeah, but at least when you walk out of the pub the smell hasn't transferred to your clothes and hair.

It does to the clothes Pub upholstery isn't known for being regularly cleaned and some of it smells atrocious! There are plenty of "smells" which are just as bad, if not worse than smoke (in my opinion) but as usual it's quite a subjective subject.

I have no sense of smell. (8+)

Mark