hopefully they will do that here soon.

How about cars too? I mean, if the speed limit is 100KM, that's as fast as they need to go. Think of all the lives that would be saved if the goverment would just mandate everyone drive Volvos with 100KM per hour spped restrictors.

I wonder if there isn't somebody somewhere that could make an argument that we should just ban porn because it may lead to some negative outcome in some cases?

i would love if they do it in germany too

What about banning perfume? Not everyone likes the same fragrance..

Why do you feel that the non smokers are entitled to tell a pub owner, a restaurant, a bar, or whatever private establishment to conform to their desires?
Why can not a free market dictate what happens? If there is a demand for there to be smoke free establishments then the market will make it happen.

I can't stand smoke but I do think there probably should be some sort of compromise. Maybe some sort of partitioning and a/c system that ensures the smoke doesn't wander to other parts of the room. It costs money, but so does losing customers because people can't legally smoke in your business.

In Melbourne Australia smoking has been banned in restaurants for a couple of years. The casino has also been smoke free for a while, which made a HUGE difference (it's all open plan so prior to the ban the entire place stunk)

good move for the UK< they did that here, so much easier to breathe, noone really minds going outside anymore.

Its Been in New Zealand for about 1 year , everyone kicked up stink about there too, but when it happened it when over smoothly, now nobody cares .
The only thing you notice is that the pubs with a garden bar are always the busiest.

you can't smoke in any bars in Norway either... Best thing ever happend!!

Here smoking is banned in ontario, and comming to quebec in may 2006... nom ore smoking in ANY public place

i hope holland is next -- nonsmoking nightlife does not exist here. so there is no choice for nonsmokers except staying home.

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

That sounds like the state of Washington. I cannot have a smoke anywhere in Seattle. If you want to smoke outside, you have to do it 25 feet from any doors. It's stupid.

If there are a great many people who mind the smoke so much, start a non-smoking bar, and you'll be rich.

Why do people keep on expecting the government to regulate every little part of their lives? Fuck, are we men or are we children?

i personally think there shouldnt be laws about smoking -- SMOKERS SHOULD JUST BE CONSIDERATE ENOUGH not to smoke indoors!!! it should be socially unacceptable and out of POLITENESS and harmony people would step outside for a smoke.

actually you're talking about pathological behaviors, no responsible person drives a car after alcohol and no normal person beats his wife or starts a fight for no reason

fact is that drinking a few beers ( drinks, whatever ) with some friends is a great thing, it gets you relaxed and gives a good feling, while cigs, well, they don't really give you anything as far as i know ( non smoker here, smoked maybe 7-8 cigs in my life :) )

Why? Who's forcing you into places where people smoke? I'm sure most smokers will be perfectly happy with being in a bar where they can smoke, while you are in another bar where smoking isn't allowed. What's your problem with that?

Actually, most smokers do enjoy smoking, and having a cup of coffee with a cig in the morning or a beer with a cig at night, to them, is extremely relaxing.

i can imagine, but IMO you need to get addicted to it first

a beer you can drink once every 2 months and you will enjoy it always, at least if it tastes good ;)

and i don't think a person will enjoy a cig once every two months - if you smoke, you need to do it regularly ( at least this applies to the majority of smokers I'd estimate )

You're right, no responsible individual plans to drive their car drunk or loses control and flies off in to a rage. However, plenty of otherwise responsible people abuse alchohol, and make bad choices because their judgment is impaired. It happens every day. Try asking a Police officer what the one single largest factor is that leads to problems. 9 out of 10 will tell you it's alchohol.

Nictone is also a depressant, like alcohol. Smoke a cigarette, I promise you'll get a head rush and feel it.

Here's the crux of it. Why are most bars smoke filled enviroments if the goverment doesn't otherwise legislate? Because more often than not, heavy drinkers are also smokers. The two go hand in hand.

So in a free market, establishments relying on booze sales for their income are best off to cater towards smokers.

The reason why nobody opens non smoking bars in places where it's legal to smoke in the bars is because it would be empty and likely soon go out of business. If not that, it would at very least be less profitable than a smoking bar. :2 cents:

Yeah! Great news! :)

So you are saying penalize the profitable bars by forcing them to become non smoking bars since apparently the non smokers would not sustain a non smoking establishment when given the choice between the two.
If a business can not remain profitable by itself then it deserves to go out of business. Less profitable has nothing to do with it in a free market, nobody is guarenteed a profit margin nor should be.

But forcing bars to stop allowing smoking because of that would be much like forcing all bars to ban alcohol, on the grounds that non-drinkers may not enjoy being among drunks, and bars that don't serve alcohol are rather likely to go out of business quite rapidly in places where serving alcohol in bars is legal.

No, even though I don't smoke anymore, I don't think it should be banned. I'm just pointing out that the vocal minority is actually getting their way in this situation.

absolute rubbish

well I don't like the GOVT telling us what to do but its a lot easier for me not to smoke if people around me are not smoking the private members thing does seem a bit stupid

Yeah...It's a wonderful world...ban smoking everywhere, ppl stop smoking, and that will be the end of Formel 1....that sucks...:(

I will continue supporting Formel 1..:winkwink:

One of the most successful pub owners in Britain is a company called JD Wetherspoons - they own over 600 pubs and have an annual turnover of in excess of $1,000,000,000 despite having a "No Smoking" policy in all their pubs.

someone must have forgotten to tell the staff about the ban last time I was in a weatherspoon's then...

it saddens me that so many people agree with more freedom controlling rules from governments

Been like that for a few years here..I can still smoke in the club I go to though

We've had the law here since June last year. There was so much BS before it. People said they would stop going to bars and restaurants and they would go out of business blah blah blah.

* Health is better among people who work at bars and resturants
* Even SMOKERS think it's better at bars and restaurants and they think twice before they go smoking = less smoking
* Bars and resturant business has gone UP

So far there has been no downside to it. First time I was out after the law came in place I was so amazed that my clothes didn't smell like crap the day after :)

Its been law here since last year at first alot of people bitched about it but now people are use to it. I find my man doesn't smoke as much either cause he don't want to go out in the cold and smoke so its a saving for us. Some bars have closed down but I also find that there are more non smokers that wouldn't go to a club because of all the smoke at the bars going now. :2 cents:

It works here in Newfoundland it just takes time to adjust to it.

Smurfette