Well I don't think it's far enough and what's worse is that it's now touted that lots of pubs will stop selling food to keep their smoking punters happy.

I've got nothing against people smoking, seriously, it's their choice. However, I do think it's unfair that, as a non-smoker, if I go to the pub I'll invariably come back smelling like a chimney and took a few notches off my life expectancy thanks to passive smoking. I'm 50/50 on a complete ban though as I think it's also unfair to chastise people for their own life choice. If push came to shove though I'd like to see a complete ban rather than this half-arsed approach the goverment seems to take on big decisions. I can tell you now it's lovely being able to go to a local Weatherspoons that envokes a no-smoking polic.

Big Gorram Line of the Week

"Well… my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood."

Half-arsed? Probably. But it's a hell of a lot better than the status quo.

I'm hypersensitive to some smells (I get a mild migraine if someone walks past me in the street wearing the wrong perfume. Also Lynx) and cigarette smoke has caused me a lot of grief. For example - the decorator Rob hired to sort this house out smoked like a chimney, and would often start work before I got up, let alone went out (what with me being a student and all). I resented this, but he did little enough work as it was, so Rob refused to stop him smoking in the house. One day I got so pissed off I gaffer-taped my door shut before I went to bed...

So yeah. It might not be as good as it could be, but it's certainly a step forward.

it's a partial improvement, that's true, but at the same time it's a mixed message - and i agree with Giz, it's very likely that many pubs will simply choose to can their lunch menus to hold on to their smoking clientele, and that's a shame.

I really think a smoking ban should be an all or nothing deal - either you allow choice on the matter and don't legislate at all, or you say yes - people need protecting - and ban it outright. And when you have a total ban, yes you'll get some smokers whinging, but many will find themselves all the more ready to give up so they can go down the pub again and enjoy it..

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i dont find that very likely, in all honesty. you know, Tim, just how hard it is to quit, would you really have done so *just* to go down to the pub and enjoy it again? smoking IS a VERY social activity, and, for me at least, whenever i drank i smoked twice as much.

now that i'm a non-smoker, i dont really get the half-arsed attempts to keep kids from smoking and some places being smoke free and others not. if they're going to do it at all, why not do it right and ban the production of all tobacco products? why not make tobacco illegal in all forms? (i know this is a long shot, what with the amount of revenue generated by the stuff -- not just for big tobacco, but big healthcare (in the states, anyway) and local governments benefitting from the taxes). think of all the lives that would be saved, all the heartache of fatal cancers that would be relieved.

i don't care no i wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you (Sick Puppies : All The Same)

You're exactly right, smoking is a very social activity, and one which you do when socialising with other people over a drink at a pub or club. The minute you take that element of smoking away - when you can't have a drink and a smoke together in the pub, because none of you are allowed to smoke there - that does give you an incentive to give up, in my opinion. The alternative is either to suffer - by carrying on the addiction and just going through agonising withdrawal every time you go out - or not go out at all. Either way, the social element suffers, or dissapears altogether.

It is incredibly hard to quit, and getting into the habit of drinking in a pub without a cigarette is probably one of the worst parts - but how much worse is it made when everyone around you is still smoking? How much easier would it be if everyone else was in the same boat, and you were drinking in a smoke free atmosphere? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it'd be a breeze even then, but I do think a lot more people would be able to quit successfully if that were the case. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it's going to be.

I can see the argument for personal choice, and letting people do what they like in their own homes, and if that keeps the taxes coming in and the tobacco companies in profit then so be it.. but I do think it's time for a blanket ban in public places, and for nobody to have to put up with someone else's secondary smoke.

In Britain, although the Government do make huge amounts of money from tobacco taxes, this is at least partially offset by the strain on the National Health Service from all those tobacco related illnesses. I'm not sure how/if it balances out.

This message was edited by:Tim on 2005-10-28 08:08

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Doing a little research I see that tobacco-related illnesses cost the NHS around £2 billion, whereas tax revenue from tobacco is around £10 billion. I've never smoked and like most non-smokers am for a ban in all public places.

par t of the problem is that - since the year dot - the government have continually put the taxes up and up each year, supposedly to deter people smoking - and there's plenty of evidence to suggest it's done just that. but the irony is that, as a result, they now have massive income from tobacco as the most heavily taxed product in the world (something like 80% of the price of cigarettes goes straight to the treasury) which even the most prudent chancellor would find it difficult not to rely on.

How do you say goodbye to £8bn a year?

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I can't really add much here. I too think that people can do whatever they want in their own homes, but as soon as it infringes on someone else's rights action needs to be taken. I also agree that the government should ban smoking in public places altogether, instead of giving a mixed message.

Party!

My concern is what this will do to pubs who's landlord smokes. Will they cut their food sales so they can smoke in their own home?

Honestly now...