Life after 1/7 (Should smoking be banned in public places?)

Name: bailey_kipper_uk

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Should smoking be banned in public places?
Date:	18.07.07 (143 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Don't smell of smoke, healthier environment

Disadvantages: No-one really considered the smokers feelings...

As with any law there are generally 2 sides that want to voice their opinion. On one hand you have the smokers who enjoy smoking inside pubs and aren't concered about the negative health effects. You also have the pubs/clubs etc that feel that the law would affect their trace. On the other hand you have smokers who want to quit, people who like going home not smelling like a chimney, and people who don't want their health affected by smoke. Now that smoking has been banned the benefits and drawbacks for certain people are starting to show.

Everywhere is covered with no smoking signs. My office has them on the inside and outside of the main doors and on entrances to each floor. I have seen them on Bus stops advising people it's illegal to smoke in the bus shelter. They are in our work's minibus, in pubs, bars, cafe's etc. The message is good but there just seems to be too many signs and they are starting to take over.

I have been out to a few places since 1st July that normally I would have come home from stinking of smoke. It is incredible walking into somewhere and not instantly choking from the smoke hanging in the air. Also it's great to go home and not having to leave my clothes airing by a window to ensure my house doesn't smell like the pub. It's is strange that most places seem to have put their smoking area at the entrance to their venue meaning that you have to walk through a cloud when entering or leaving a venue.

Most people I know are non-smokers, however of them most have smoked less since the ban was introduced and a few are thinking of quitting altogether, especially come winter. They don't currently seem to mind going outside to smoke, at least not at the moment anyway as it's generally sunny outside. The smoking areas do seem fairly popular however I think overall the number of people outside smoking at one time is a lot less than the number of people that used to smoke inside.

Venues do seem slightly less busy, however where I generallly go out in Southampton City Centre there are enough people who don't smoke to fill the void left by the smokers who don't want to go to those venues anymore. I think more outlying pubs may suffer, especially if people decide to drink more at home.

This in turn leads to the problem of binge drinking and the fact that more people are drinking more at home for less cost than ever before. The Tories the other day suggested taxing drinks in pubs more heavily. The problem is actually the supermarkets charging less that 70p a pint in many cases for beer. Thats a separate subject though.

I haven't actually spoken to any staff about the ban, however my general opinion is that people seemed happier who I saw out on Saturday. Normally a Saturday night in Southampton can feature fights, rudeness, lots of barging, excessive drunkeness etc. however this week people just seemed happier and friendlier. I felt the time passed very quickly whereas often it tends to drag on a bit where i've spent most of the night queuing at the bar for a drink whilst getting crushed and having smoke blown in my general direction.

In general in case you hadn't guessed i'm in favour of the ban and it'll certainly encourage me to go out more, and more to certain places that i didn't enjoy before due to the high proportion of smokers who went there and the lack of good air conditioning.

Summary: Smoking ban good, binge drinking bad.