We should get this in The Netherlands. I hate smokers with a passion, smoking is disgusting and a slow way of commiting suicide IMO.
Good thing that it's banned from public places (I think I heard it's banned from working areas as well, am I mistaken?). First step to an overall ban.

we've passed a similar law here (chile)

for which i am content

[JuZ]

every time a smoker lights up in an enclosed area they're denying other people's right to NOT smoke and end up with one tobacco-related illness or another.

Maybe, but by that reasoning every time you use your car you're denying someone else's right not to inhale your exhaust gas or the smog it helps create... and that's responsible for killing plenty of people too...

That would be a good point if I had a car, but I don't.

But besides that, of course there are a lot of things that we all do that in one way or another have a negative influence on others. In fact, MOST things we do probably have some negative by-product, but the negative effects of second-hand smoke are something else completely. In my half-arsed opinion anyway. I've heard that smoking areas tend not to work because extractors just aren't 100% effective, but how about the option to have a smoking room or only smoking in, say, the beer garden? I'm not an anti-smoking nut... I just don't think non-smokers should have to stay at home if they don't want to reek of smoke and get sick. Surely there's some sort of compromise.

Man, I'm glad I don't smoke: the new leper of modern society.

We should get this in The Netherlands. I hate smokers with a passion, smoking is disgusting and a slow way of commiting suicide IMO.
Good thing that it's banned from public places (I think I heard it's banned from working areas as well, am I mistaken?). First step to an overall ban.

Oh, you're one of THOSE. I don't have a problem with the smoking bans but I do have a problem with people like you.

I can just picture it - you're the type that sits there pretending to cough when there's a smoker nearby as some sort of pathetic sign that you hate smokers right?

Anyway, I agree with most people about having smoke free air in pubs and clubs. It makes a huge difference even to us smokers (except, as was pointed out, in those places that smell worse without smoke).

As for restaurants, well even I hate smelling smoke while I'm eating. As it is, I quite enjoy getting up and walking outside for a ciggy after my meal. You know, walk it off and all. I'm not a prolific smoker though. Usually when I'm drinking, maybe the odd one at other times.

Oh, you're one of THOSE. I don't have a problem with the smoking bans but I do have a problem with people like you.

I can just picture it - you're the type that sits there pretending to cough when there's a smoker nearby as some sort of pathetic sign that you hate smokers right?

I can honestly say that being around smoke does make me cough, I don't fake it, it genuinely does.

Oh, you're one of THOSE. I don't have a problem with the smoking bans but I do have a problem with people like you.

I can just picture it - you're the type that sits there pretending to cough when there's a smoker nearby as some sort of pathetic sign that you hate smokers right?

No I'm not. Smoking doesn't make me cough, but I think it smells very bad. I usually try to get away from smokers. If you want to smoke, fine.
But I hate it that I can't go out whenever I want to, because I have to calculate a shower the next morning when I have to go to school or work.

roll on march 26th!

Oh, you're one of THOSE. I don't have a problem with the smoking bans but I do have a problem with people like you.

I can just picture it - you're the type that sits there pretending to cough when there's a smoker nearby as some sort of pathetic sign that you hate smokers right?

No I'm not. Smoking doesn't make me cough, but I think it smells very bad. I usually try to get away from smokers. If you want to smoke, fine.
But I hate it that I can't go out whenever I want to, because I have to calculate a shower the next morning when I have to go to school or work.

... and therefore you hate smokers with a passion. It's a slightly harsh statement don't you think? I mean, I despise religion but it doesn't mean I refuse to engage in conversation or even be friends with those who choose to attend some form of church.

[JuZ]

Oh, you're one of THOSE. I don't have a problem with the smoking bans but I do have a problem with people like you.

I can just picture it - you're the type that sits there pretending to cough when there's a smoker nearby as some sort of pathetic sign that you hate smokers right?

No I'm not. Smoking doesn't make me cough, but I think it smells very bad. I usually try to get away from smokers. If you want to smoke, fine.
But I hate it that I can't go out whenever I want to, because I have to calculate a shower the next morning when I have to go to school or work.

Eep. So you don't shower otherwise? Ok!

Agree with ya on the smell issue though. I hate waking up smelling like I've rolled around in a giant ashtray.

Hey, I hate the smell too and I smoke!! I'm not a prolific smoker but fuck it goes well with beer.

Anyway, there was this woman a few weeks back while I was enjoying a cigarrette who sat there next to me coughing. Not actually coughing, just putting on a show for my benefit. Well, I told her what I thought of her and she left pretty quickly after that. I despise idiots like her. She had a whole pub to sit in yet chose to sit in the one section that was smoking.

I quit smoking nearly 3 years ago.

hurrah for us!

Hell yeah!!!

Hey, I hate the smell too and I smoke!! I'm not a prolific smoker but fuck it goes well with beer.

Anyway, there was this woman a few weeks back while I was enjoying a cigarrette who sat there next to me coughing. Not actually coughing, just putting on a show for my benefit. Well, I told her what I thought of her and she left pretty quickly after that. I despise idiots like her. She had a whole pub to sit in yet chose to sit in the one section that was smoking.

I agree, that if she sat in the smoking section she doesn't have much right to complain, but if she wants to show that it makes others uncomfortable, then I don't see what the problem is. You probably view her actions as rude, and she probably views your actions as rude, that's life.

... and therefore you hate smokers with a passion. It's a slightly harsh statement don't you think? I mean, I despise religion but it doesn't mean I refuse to engage in conversation or even be friends with those who choose to attend some form of church.

I don't think religion is as much of a choice as smoking. I really can't see any benefits in smoking, and loads and loads of negative aspects. Conclusion: to me, smoking is downright idiotic, sorry if you feel offended.

But I won't go sitting in a smoking area, when there is a non-smoking area, just to annoy the fuck out of smokers. And I won't have to, because all my friends are non-smokers, which I am proud of (and I didn't even choose them).

And I do shower of course. But I'm too lazy to get in the shower everyday before going to school. A couple of times a week will keep me clean enough to be hygienically responsible (with the ammount of excersize I get).

Time for my two cents...

I'm with some of the people here, I really do hate smoking and I'm affected by it everyday as my mother refuses to smoke outside or contain it in a room. I come home from school and my room is smokey because she's been in there and smoking up for whatever reason. I feel it is detrimental to my health and I do resent being forced to stand smoking in public places, such as the idiots who smoke up next to me at concerts.
From what I can tell, those who do not smoke have a very harsh viewpoint on it while those who do are a little laxer and very defensive. This is fine, they have to defend their (undefendable) habit. I'm trying to be very careful here in what I say, i've been in a few bitch outs with smokers before.

I fully advocate a ban of smoking in all enclosed public areas and to be honest, smoking should be wiped out entirely, especially for those who start through peer pressure because they are too weak to say no. That gets my blood boiling. Many of my old friends have fallen to the "smoking crew" simply because they want to look cool/can't say no. I'm bitter about it because they all "hated" smoking before this and now they argue with me when I tell them to at least smoke when i'm OUT of their area. Why would someone want to SMOKE while i'm talking with them? Isn't it a stress reliever? Talking isn't that stressful.

Ok, I think i've stepped through this carefully enough.

Smoking is shit and should be stopped, and would be if it weren't for the tax money the Government makes off it- although the prices that smokers now pay is almost revenge for me.

Let's clear up the hospitals and the air. No more smoking.
Sorry to the smokers on this board, I know you really want your childhood habit to continue.

Hey, I wish I'd never started too.

I do find it ironic that the government wants to ban smoking in all public places yet at no stage have they contemplated banning cigarrettes full stop. That would be the logical thing to do would it not? But of course, then they wouldn't rake in all those billions of dollars in tax money. What a cop out.

Incidentally, I agree that non-smokers should never have to stand in smokey areas. But fragility, there was nothing rude whatsoever about my actions (apart from when I told her to fuck off) in regards to the old woman. I was within my rights to smoke being in the smoking section and all. She was not within her rights to complain.