I can't wait when smoking is banned here in the UK! I can go to the pub and enjoy a pint in peace and not come out stinking of smoke. I can't wait! Ultimately this will save thousands of lives.

When it happens I'll not be able to stop smiling.

Prepare for the smokers backlash . . .

Smoking is banned in most places here. Nice to breath air. Employers here expect their employees to go outside to smoke only.

I don't smoke but it is nice not to smell like it, coz it clings to your clothes, makes my stomach queezy.

I know how you feel!!! I have ashtma because of 2nd hand smoke and now also have a 70% chance of contracting lung cancer as well. My Father died within 3 days of being admitted to the hospital while they were still running tests to see what was wrong with him. It was lung cancer from 2nd hand smoke and a clot broke off and went to his lung and he had a massive stroke. My Mother died 10yrs age from lung cancer as a active smoker.

I support the ban why should I risk my health becuase of something somebody else wants to do!!! I have to dry-clean and was my work clothes all the time becuase of smoke!!! The ban has been in effect here since July and i love it BUT it is not city/restrurant wide yet.

My job pays for you to go through smoking-cessesation classes and patches to keep down health care costs, with are out of control in the USA anyways. Peeps at my job STILL wont take advantage of it, my co-worker has had 3 heart-attacks still smokes, and is on 8 medicines. With our insurance they still run her $235 a month!!!!

Agreed we are debating this no in Philly I hope it gets banned!!!!!

i am a smoker.....



























and i completely 100% agree with the ban.
it may be an inconvenience but so what!!??
it is province wide here in New Brunswick. no smoking in public buildings. everyone must go outside to smoke. i think its fabolous. especially when i get up the confidence to break the habit!

Alright, can I be the lonely smoker who is opposed to the government telling businesses what kind of otherwise legal activities they can or cannot allow in their establishments?
Cause that's lame.
The city of Mpls' smoking ban goes into effect at the end of this month. Now, I'm a smoker. I also don't like coming home wreaking of cigarette smoke. I know it's unattractive, gives me bad breath, wrinkles and probably eventually lung cancer and emphysema.
But I think the market can decide. If SO many people are SO for a smoking ban, then why don't they pressure business owners to only offer smoke-free environments? There are already smoke-free restaurants, bars and even dance clubs in my fair city. Why don't all of the non-smokers just go there? I think there is room for smoking and non-smoking establishments alike!
Vote with your dollars, people!

alright, rant over. I just wanna be able to enjoy a nice smoke with my cocktail.

CarrieMpls said:

I'm with you. Outrageous! I tell ya.

i would love for chicago to go smoke free in all restaurants! i may be the worst kind of non smoker - a former smoker, lol. seriously, though, i go to work at a restaurant that has a smoking section. if i get the smoking section on any given night, i feel like shit by the end of my shift - and this was also the case when i was smoking. my hair and clothes smell, my sinuses are all dried and irritated, my eyes burn by the end of the night...its just nasty. to top it off, its not like i have health insurance through the restaurant. maybe i shouldn't complain because i used to be a smoker but what about the other non smokers who have never smoked but also have to work in environments like this? they most likely don't get health insurance offered to them through their restaurants either - this is common practice in the food industry - but they sure do get the option of developing cancer.

yeah, i think smoking should be restricted to specific establishments. not in restaurants at all, though. certain bars can be smoking bars as well. if smokers want to smoke and drink they can go there. for those who want to drink and not smoke, they will have the option. california and new york are great that way!

off topic but this thread made me think of it ...speaking of STINKING ...

WTF is it with people that wear SO MUCH damn perfume/aftershave ya can smell um a frigging mile away

i mean who the hell wants to sit in a booth near someone that has a gagging smelly perfume on that ruins your expensive meal ?


thank you for listening... continue on as you were

CarrieMpls said:

amen.

i don't smoke and i've been in tons of establishments where it's like smoke city (many a night i've come home from first ave., smellin like an ashtray), and yes i know about secondhand smoke and all that shit, but you know what? that's all a part of a nightclub. it's just as ridiculous as not going to a bar or club because they serve alcohol and you don't drink at all. if smoking bugs folks so much when they're out, they can just either go to a smoke-free establishment or stay the hell home. might be a pain in your ass, but oh well.

what pisses me off the most about minneapolis's upcoming ban is the little ad campaign they have goin on at the moment...i don't smoke, and i even find it totally patronizing/aggravating. that, and it's totally gonna be weird the next time i go to first avenue. a smokeless first ave. is like a caramel apple without the apple. it's part of what makes it what it is, same with other places too.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

the problem is, as far as nightclubs/concert venues go, there are no other options. its either deal with other peoples bad habits or don't have a night out. no concerts, no dancing, etc. why should those who don't have those vices have to deal with it anyway? its everyone's right to do what they want with cigarettes and their own body - fine, you wanna smoke? stay home. why does it have to be the other way around? my not smoking is not hurting anyone. someone else's smoking (in public) is.

SassyBritches said:

But see- that's where having the market decide kicks in. Mpls HAS smokefree bars, restaurants and yes, even dance clubs. So at this point you can choose which places to give your money to. Which businesses to support.

CarrieMpls said:

and there it is. it ain't like every bar and club here is all-smoking, otherwise i'd see your point, sassy.

CarrieMpls said:

what about the employees of those establishments? do they get to have a say in what kind of health problems their jobs put them in risk of? i suppose its easy to say "well, they can work somewhere else" but if those jobs at "somewhere else" are taken then they are not left any choices. judging from my experiences in chicago and philadelphia, working in restaurants, the majority of people want to sit in non smoking. even many smokers prefer it because they don't have smoke in their faces when they eat. most nights we have immediate seating available in smoking but folks will still wait an hour for a non smoking table. isn't that the market deciding?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

you have non-smoking concert venues and dance clubs? you're very lucky! the only place i've seen them are in cities that have banned smoking altogether. its one of the many reasons i'm looking forward to california or new york for grad school.

SassyBritches said:

Not truly. Cause if those restaurants were smart, they'd only offer non-smoking to make the cast majority of their patrons happy. If I ran a business, and that's what I saw, that's what I'd do. Smokers are such a small percentage of the population anyway. I can take only having a small percentage of public places to smoke indoors. I'm down with that. But smoking is a legal activity. If someone wants to allow it inside premises they own, they should be able to.
I've been wondering what this will do for places in Mpls like Club Ashe, which is a frou-frou martini and cigar bar. Patrons go there specifically TO smoke cigars in public. And they have these fabulous hookah pipes at Cafe Babalu to smoke tobacco out of. Its a social activity.

CarrieMpls said:

but there are plenty of legal activities one can engage in at home that they can't engage in at public spaces. business laws are different than residential laws. i can have sex at home but if i try it in public i will be arrested. cigar bars usually don't count in smoking bans, by the way. it is unreasonable for a non smoker to go to a cigar bar and expect a smoke free atmosphere whereas it is not so unreasonable for a hungry person to go into a standard restaurant and expect to et free from harmful chemicals.
[Edited 3/25/05 11:56am]

There's been a smoking ban in Boston for years now. I actually don't mind it at all and I smoke. They have designated areas for us to go have a tube and it's all good. I find that I don't smoke half as much when I go out now and I don't have a cigarette hangover on top of the alcohol hangover! You get used to it...

for smoking ban

i loved being in ireland where the ban is already in place.

next to go....

Alcohol ok i'm dreaming but you never know

lollyp0procks said:

then maybe opened toed shoes and v-neck sweaters

lollyp0procks said:

we already had that. it was called the prohibition. didn't work out too well.

lollyp0procks said:

Are you crazy!!!!! I'd kill myself!

Mach said:

I hadn't thought about open toed Shoes but yeah i think so, after all some toes should never be seen

@ ugly toes

SassyBritches said:

is this some american thing i don't get?

CarrieLee said:

am i crazy.... yes i like to think so in some ways. And you would feel better in the long term without alcohol


But really truely if Alcohol was discovered this day and age it would be classified a class A drug.

p0pRocks said:

I would NOT feel better! I'd be very very bored! Either that or pick up a nasty drug habit to replace my love for alcohol!




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[Edited 3/25/05 13:23pm]

CarrieLee said:

ok



ps alcohol is a nasty drug


pps I drink too

ppps I wish i didn't after i found out how bad it was for me

pppps DON'T EVERY JUST STOP DRINKING ALCOHOL WITHDRAWEL CAN KILL YOU

ppppps felt morally obliged to add that public heath thing

p0pRocks said:

It's not bad for you if it's in moderation! Oh wait, I don't know how to keep it in moderation so forget that.

And I just got a HUGE bottle of tequila from my friend who went to Mexico! Margaritas tonight!!!

CarrieLee said:

I'm boring since my course, i keep telling people about safe drinking levels, units, how to cut down thats probably why I'm sat infront of a computer on a friday night

oh and the fact i smell

CarrieMpls said:

but should you have to decide whether to go out with your smoking friends or not? it has never been a question where i live...there never has been non smoking and smoking bars...there WERE all smoking and now with the ban they are ALL non-smoking. someone shouldn't have to choose fun over their health (or vice versa), which friends should they go out with or segregate themselves from. i admit at first it was a piss off...having the government tell what i could and couldn't do and where i could and couldn't do it. but now i understand. its only an inconvenience. now, if they told me i couldn't smoke in my home or in my car...then i'd be angry. we won't even start on the unfairness of secondhand smoke on employees of an establishment...patrons have a choice to be there or not.


sorry...now i rant. oh how i miss having a cig in one hand and a drink in the other...the good thing is that house parties have now come back in fashion...

There's no reason why someone shouldn't be allowed to open an establishment for people to smoke. Why would a cigar shop be allowed to have smokers, but not a bar? What about a cigar shop that happens to serve alchohol? lol

People complain that smokers are endangering the lives of non smokers with second hand smoke. But arent non-smokers who go out drinking all night, then hit the roads sloshed endangering peoples lives as well anyhow? Liver cancer/pancreatic cancer or lung cancer/emphysema. Some ailment from second hand smoke, or kill someone while drunk driving. Take your pick.

Non smokers have an attitude that it's their way or the highway when it comes to a resolution on smoking in public places, and it irritates me, especially when I'm being taxed out the ass for ciggarettes. Smokers deserve rights too, period. As long as smoking is legal, and we pay a high price for it, we should be allowed some public places to smoke.

Anyhow if these smoking bans continue, it wouldn't suprise me if people simply start opening private establishments, where you have to become a member...

I don't smoke cigarettes but I do have the odd "J", which I put a bit of baccy in. I sometimes worry about smoking dope though, because I've heard there's more tar in MJ than there is in tobacco, though less of a harsh concoction of chemicals.

Maybe I should start eating it/making tea instead?

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[Edited 3/25/05 18:10pm]