Stupid Sign

[col]

I Think smoking should be classed as an illegal drug like cocain and users treated the same as cocain users by the law. We already get the leper treatment from some and find it difficult to have a smoke anywhere in towns, as sometimes you cant even find an ashtray to put it out, so I end up nipping and holding on to it till I find a bin, as I dont want the £ 50 fine for littering if I drop my nipped dump, which has happened to people I know. But the wardens targets are selective, The local loudmouths or mean looking ones never seem to be approached, Probably because its not as safe.
Now Im sure most smokers when they first started didnt for one second realise the dangers involved or how addictive fags are, I didnt, and if they/we did probably wouldnt have started in the first place.
But it seems the about turn from government and councils putting adverts on the telly and big billboards telling the dangers, have come about because the cost of treating people with smoking related illness has now surpassed the amount of revenue, or nearly has, of which is coming in from the sale of fags, and also because the real effects of smoking are now known.
Make it an illegal drug, because thats what it is, one of the if not the most addictive drug known(nicotine) It would help more stop, as when your given the choice of a fag or fines on site, it would help me stop I think

 

[PBancroft]

Maybe I missunderstand. Why would a non-smoker want to go outside and spend time in a smoking shelter?

Why should you want to stop them? Why should you want to seal off a portion of the world, and say this bit is for smokers, and that over there is for everyone else?

EDIT: I've just realised how hypocritical that sounds. Meh.

 

[ufkacbln]

I pass through this 'subway' regularly I just wonder who thought a] the sign was necessary and b] who would comply ? It's only about 15 feet from one end to other.........

You can just see the sign to the left about 1/4 way up.

And why no bin for law abiders ?

Graham

I will be commuting under that bridge (Anns Hill Gosport) about 06:15 tomorrow morning!

The murals were a suggestion my wife put to the council many years ago to brighten things up!

 

[ufkacbln]

Slightly OT....

 

[Bman]

That's the point. Before the ban, if we went to a pub/restaurant then I had no choice but to suffer because of another person's habits.

I agree. I also agree in principal with the new laws. Employees should be protected. No-one should be forced to breathe other peoples smoke.

However the new regulations are a bit OTT, especially where it comes to outdoor shelters and the 50% rule. Most of you must agree, a "shelter" with <50% coverage, isnt really a "shelter" at all. Enforcing it isn’t really protecting anyone (besides, perhaps indirectly being a deterrent to smoking in the first place).

And that is exactly my point. Its not a rule to protect employees and the public. It is an anti-smoking law, regardless of what the politicians say. It’s the first step to prohibition.

Anyway, in an attempt to bring this slightly back OT (I’ll never win this argument here ):

Yes, it is a stupid sign. I’m not sure, but I think the local council are probably legally obliged to erect a sign like that in that position. It just highlights how excessive this law is and how PC us British have become.

 

[Mr Creosote]

Because it's got three sides

No smoking inside football stands either because it's 'an enclosed structure'

I don't think that it true. I think smoking in stands was banned after Hillsborough (or whichever ground suffered the massive fire and many deaths) so long before the law.

 

[Mr Creosote]

The laws weren't to encourage people to give up. They were to protect people working in a smoky environment, mostly bar and restaurant staff.

(I hate smoking and the smell, so I think it's wonderful that I can now go to a bar/restaurant/nightclub and not feel ill.)

Protecting employees in the workplace is what the Health and Safety at Work Act is for.

This is a POS legislation that dictates to private business owners what can and cannot go on within their premisis. It should ultimately be down to the owner whether to allow smoking or not*.

*I hate smoking but I hate the miserable po faced puritanical f******* that pushed the ban more because I know they will not be happy with banning smoking. Now you see the miserable bastards going after the drinkers and the overweight and one day they might get around to banning things that you enjoy as an individual.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

This is a POS legislation that dictates to private business owners what can and cannot go on within their premisis. It should ultimately be down to the owner whether to allow smoking or not*.

*I hate smoking but I hate the miserable po faced puritanical f******* that pushed the ban more because I know they will not be happy with banning smoking. Now you see the miserable bastards going after the drinkers and the overweight and one day they might get around to banning things that you enjoy as an individual.

Absolutely.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...-people-who-never-go-to-the-pub-200903051623/

 

[PBancroft]

I don't think that it true. I think smoking in stands was banned after Hillsborough (or whichever ground suffered the massive fire and many deaths) so long before the law.

Bradford, I think. Saw some footage of that the other day - people are stupid.

Oh look! There's a fire over there. Let's just sit here and watch the game. Oh, its getting closer, lalala. Nevermind, someone will put it out soon. Ooh, it's rather big now... and OH SH*T OH SH*T OH SH*T I'm on Fire! Get out of my way panicpanicpanicpanic.

That, and the fact the stand was made out of wood, which most aren't nowadays.

 

[ASC1951]

That's the point. Before the ban, if we went to a pub/restaurant then I had no choice but to suffer because of another person's habits.

Whereas now you have no choice because the pub/restaurant will probably have closed.

If I had been Smoking Ayatollah I would have banned it in offices and restaurants but allowed it in pubs provided they had separate smokers rooms so heavily ventilated that if smokers got too close to the extractors they would find themselves outside in bits.

And if you want to protect your health by not working behind the bar...crikey, scratches head... get a job somewhere else.

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

I used to smoke and I remember getting really arsey when pizza hut banned smoking in thier restaurants but if you think about it practically it was only a matter of time before a ban came in to stop smoking in anywhere but the home really.

There is just no way to contain smoke properly and it really is a health risk so you can't just have smokers one side and non smokers another can you?

I think that the new smoking ban must be great if you are trying to give up though. When I gave up (before the ban) I had to stop going to pubs becuase it was just sooooo difficult to not light up when the person next to you did.

Now though I would think that it would help immensely with quitting and also it would surely help stop people from starting? I started when someone offered me a fag in the pub 23 years ago... nowadays you would have to actually get up off your arse and go outside to try one - not sure whether so many people would be bothered?

I will be interested to see what happens when we finally get a nice summer though - since the ban the summers have been terrible and I don't know whether smokers puffing away in the middle of the beer garden is going to go down well or not?

Personally I have no problem with smokers smoking near me in the street or a pub garden or whatever - it's no hassel to me but some people really hate it don't they?

Times change and things move with the times don't they? If we had known what we know now about smoking it would never have been allowed in the first place - I am sure I have heard that said about alcohol too!! At least alcoholics don't poisen somebody else's liver though whilst they are drinking!

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

I am not so sure either that the smoking ban is the reason for the closure of any of the pubs that have closed either.

I pin it on the trend for entertaining at home more. Every property program you watch everybody wants "big spaces that they can entertain in"

My little 'un is all grown up now (21) and she doens't do traditional pubs like I used to when I were a lass anyway - she's a lot more likely to drink a load at home before she goes out at about 10.30 pm - straight to a club where she will dance the night away until about 6 am when she will come home on the morning bus and meet me and hubby getting up in the morning!

The family pubs with good food and a nice atmosphere are thriving around by me still. The only ones that have closed are the tiny little ones that are in pretty rough areas... not sure if that's a good or a bad thing to be honest!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Try finding a rural pub that isn't struggling. As you say, there are other factors at work too, but the smoking ban has hardly helped.

 

[col]

Smokers now go somewhere they can smoke, lets go to so and so pub, nah you cant smoke anywhere there, but this other place has some where we can. So even if they are not closed they will definitely be feeling the loss in take.