[JuZ]

It's like gambling... in the Aussie state of Victoria the opposition party were critical of the way the government invested so much in the Crown casino and other forms of gambling (poker machines in pubs and clubs etc.). Bad for society and all that. Then they got in to power and realised that they "needed" the revenue generated by gambling taxes. End of anti-gambling rhetoric.

This will be quite nice. Last time I went out, my jacket smelt like smoke for the next week.

Good example of this was last nite. I left the concert oh about 830 or so to make some prior engagements (i got to see DTB and thats it). Well i was at a pool hall for about 5.5 hrs and when i got home i almost puked cuz if the smell of smoke. My throat was sore and my voice was hoarse, my nose was filled with shit, and i had a headache...so yeah this is definitly a good thing, i dont mind the smoke, but when its so bad that your eyes are watering, you might as well ask the local SWAT team to come in and practice teargassing...

Have a designated section for it, or something...

[JuZ]

Have a designated section for it, or something...

Exactly. If smoking is legal then smokers should have somewhere to smoke. But then, non-smokers should have somewhere fore non-smokers to.. um.. non-smoke.

Or should that read "breathe freely"?

I think there should be smoking bars and non smoking bars.

I will still be in London when it happens.

It won't affect Intrepid Fox (no food) so I might not be too bothered. Only thing that bothers is small cafes, I really enjoy a cappuccino with a cigarrette any time of a day and most of them probably will go non smoking.

We'll see what happens. It could be that no one will care about the legislation?

The whole smoking thing doesn't bother me. All I'm gonna say is that Pubs are gonna smell less like a Pub. The classic pub smell is stale beer and cigarette smoke! Now they're all gonna probably smell cleaner! As for clubs, who cares? It'll probably be smokey anyways, so why not spark up?

I am a non-smoker, but I don't mind people smoking around me. Just so long as you don't breathe on me, then we're cool!

It could be that no one will care about the legislation?

Probably.

There has been a petition going on in The Netherlands to achieve the same thing. I signed up

[JuZ]

It could be that no one will care about the legislation?

Probably.

I remember seeing a news story about Italian no-smoking enfocement guys going around to all the cafes, restaurants etc. to make sure people adhered to the law. They were saying that a lot of people just stayed at home instead, such was their need to smoke all the time. Interesting.

I can just see that.

"Dress up like a smoker tonight Giovanni, we're going in undercover!"

[JuZ]

"Sure thing Gianluca, just give me a second to find my smoking jacket and fake pencil moustache and I'm good to go."

just smoke outside, no inside smoking
is that so hard?

They could have nights for smokers. Tuesday night's, smoke your heart/lungs/and brain out at Mc'O'Shays.

It could be that no one will care about the legislation?

Probably.

There has been a petition going on in The Netherlands to achieve the same thing. I signed up

I burnt it with my cigarrette

we have that law comin to Jersey in April....now i don't smoke and don't ever planning on it but truthfully the smoke never really bothers me in the diners,pretty much all my friends smoke but they always make an attempt(at least some of'em) to make sure the smoke never comes in my general direction,i'm never really bothered by the other people smokin 'cause it never hits me...plus the smoking section is just a more enjoyable area for me at least,it just seems like a more enjoyable section at least at my local diner,oh well soon it won't matter come April

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.

Well said, man. Boy, I wish you guys hadn't brought this topic up 'cause it always gets me pissed off. Please bear with me here, everybody...

You see, I'm also a smoker and I have absolutely no problem with the legislation - I sit outside, the non-smokers don't have to smell/smell like smoke, everybody's happy. Likewise, if my smoke is bothering a nearby non-smoker, then all they have to do is politely bring it up and I will, equally politely, move - I find the coughing thing incredibly rude and obnoxious. I'm not five years old, you can talk to me!

What I always find interesting is how some (by no means all) non-smokers approach this topic. Time and time again, you hear a variant of the phrase: "They can pollute/destroy their bodies all they want, but they don't have to make US join in!" the comments of Biert & others earlier are good examples of this.

What a ridiculous thing to say on so many levels. First, it implies that we're deliberately forcing you to breathe our smoke against your will. Not true: we're just minding our own business, and you just happen to be in the same room as us - most likely, rotting your livers with the same beverages as us too. We're doing our own thing - we don't even know you're there, so why would we want to harm you? Some people, however, get this idea that smoking's some global conspiracy to kill them off.

Second: Well, this is kind of a variant of the first. Who says you HAVE to go to these places? Someone got you held at gunpoint? There are enough non-smoking bars/clubs/restaurants to go round (And with the popularity of these legislations, they are now in the majority). If you're standing in a smoky room, you've essentially chosen to be exposed to that smoke. Again, us smokers are generally a fair minded bunch; we have no problems going to a smoke free place instead (We'll just go outside if we want a fag... though we will come back reeking of cancerous death, of course, so don't take the saddle off that high horse yet!)

Third: Wanna know a secret? We know that smoking's bad for us! We know it's often - NOT always, but certainly often - lethal. Using melodramatic and emotive language as suggested above and used by people like Biert says nothing anyone doesn't already realize, and only denotes that you're enjoying your own outrage a little bit too much. Seriously guys, do you have any idea how smug you sound? You don't need to use that kind of language, and doing so is making assumptions about peoples' intelligence and morality you're simply not qualified to make. And if you drive/drink alcohol/smoke pot/eat junk foods, you should really look at your OWN body maintenance before playing the 'purity' card.

Look, I'm sorry about my tone here, everyone; I'm generally a very polite guy and I'm definitely not into slagging other board members, but the thing that's so annoying about this whole debate when you're a smoker is that before you get to open your mouth you've already been classified as an idiot at best, a black-hearted manslaughterer at worst. There are many, many non-smokers out there who don't make a big deal of it, so please don't think I'm trying to tar ( ) you all with the same brush - it's only a certain breed I'm having a go at here.

Hey, I don't see myself smoking that much longer - I enjoy it a little less each year, and I know I'm approaching the point when I'll finally be sick of it, and quit. That, however is my choice. It was my choice to smoke in the first place, just as the non-smoker chooses not to smoke, and chooses to be places where smokers are present. With these new legislations, your choices are getting ever easier, and rightly so.

But honestly, some of you need to re-think your attitudes. Us smokers - the good ones, at least - are working very hard to accomodate you; please be a bit more open-minded and stow the superiority complex, eh?

Bugger me - I need a lie down now!