White Smoke!

SoupyNorman

Right heres the deal, around the end of last year in college here (so roughly march/april 2005) notices went up around the main entrances of the college telling smokers not to stand in the porch smoking as it was deemed an indoor area which is 100% correct, this wasnt taken seriously until a revised notice went up stating that a 500 euro fine would be imposed if caught! As the weather was (realativley) fine at that current time of year there was no real hub-bub about it.

The problem since college started back in Sept is the smokers huddle around the main entrances like emperor penguins and create plooms of smoke which hits you in the face as you go in or out of the college which is most unpleasent but its only for a second. So the college have now painted big 15ft square yellow boxes and removed the bins to the edge and put up a notice stating that smokers must smoke outside the yellow box!

Now i'm not a smoker and I'm all for the smoking ban and i'm annoyed that smokers in work get 'smoke breaks' as well as their entitled break but I think this is a little extreme, the other day it was raining and usually smokers would have the shelter of the building at the very least but they were completely exposed which aint fair. Passive smoking has been all but abolished in public places, its just salt in the wound i feel.

Lump

Well it's there choice to smoke, and there choice to go out for a smoke. No one's forcing them to smoke. Smoking out side is the only option available. I have no symphathy for them.

John

Kinetic^

Lump wrote:

Well it's there choice to smoke, and there choice to go out for a smoke. No one's forcing them to smoke. Smoking out side is the only option available. I have no symphathy for them.

John

I'm with Mr. Lump on this one, Life's about choices, they choose to smoke.

Peaadina

Nothing worse than when your walking behind a smoker on the street and ash smoke, the works blows into your face.
I totally agree, no one is forcing them to smoke and the dangers of it are well publisied! so I have NO sympathy! Proper order!

Morrigan

Doesn't the anti-smoking law ban smoking not only inside buildings, but also outside within a certain distance of the entrance? In that case, the college is just enforcing the law - covering it's own hide so it doesn't get fined.
I believe a pub in Dublin got fined recently because the smoking section/ "beer garden" was at the front and you had to go through it to get to the main entrance...

rubadub

I would love to be allowed smoke my particular plant in a fuking thunderstorm, they should count themselves very lucky. FFS I am not even allowed to take my legal drug of choice on the streets, booze

There is a definition of a smoking area. It has to have more than 50% of its surroundings open. Most smoking shelters I see and "beer gardens" that have sprung up are illegal.

bravestarr082 wrote:

just salt in the wound i feel.

as opposed to blood and cancer in the lungs? I'll take the salt please

SoupyNorman

Morrigan wrote:

Doesn't the anti-smoking law ban smoking not only inside buildings, but also outside within a certain distance of the entrance? In that case, the college is just enforcing the law - covering it's own hide so it doesn't get fined.

Wasnt aware of that, I thought it was the college self policing.

py2006

No sympathy whatsoever! They didn't care about blowing smoke in other peoples face when they were indoors, killings us all off slowly!

Kinetic^

Morrigan wrote:

I believe a pub in Dublin got fined recently because the smoking section/ "beer garden" was at the front and you had to go through it to get to the main entrance...

The only 2 I can think of that have this are "Market Bar" or "Roddy Bolands".

py2006

Keyser Soze 5 wrote:

The only 2 I can think of that have this are "Market Bar" or "Roddy Bolands".

Yep it was the Market Bar I think!

Morrigan

It was The Market Bar. The smoking section is now confined to a smaller area, but still at the front...

Executive Steve

first it was the aeroplanes - fair enough - we gave you them....

then it was the restaurants - we happily gave you a no smoking section.

next thing you wanted the trains... - ok, its never more than two or three hours at a stretch in this country - no bother...

then you wanted EVERYWHERE INDOORS INCLUDING PUBS

all on the rather absurd basis that cigarette smoke alone - and not just the VAST array of other environmentally and epidemiologically toxic compunds that have only started to become known about since the advent of the modern office with perennially sealed windows, all man made materials mdf, bizarre petrochemical compounds in those artificial manmade fireproof fibres your office carpets are made of, the dust particles heated and circulated through your computer fan, the increased number of cars on the street the increased amount of industry... - is the SOLE cause of preventable lung cancer.

studies examing lung cancer occurence in lifelong non smokers who have been married to heavy smokers for 20+ years show NO increased incidence in luing cancer over a normal non smoker married for 20+ years to a non smoker.

global incidences of lung cancer are rising noticeably throughout the western and developed world as life expectancies rise. the amounts of people who smoke has continued to fall. as ife expectancies rise and rise we are only at the threshold of a truly expansive knowledeg of epidemiological gerontology [the diseases of the elderly]

my stepfather is a consultant radiologist in a hospital in the netherlands, he always says there are few things more tragic than a lifelong non-smoker contracting lung cancer - smokers who get it tend to be a bit more philosophical and less puzzled by it... it's by NO means just smokers or people who have had lifelong exposure to ambient tobacco smoke who get cancer of the respiratory system.

i'm all for a ban on smoking in the workplace. i will not deny that to the health of bar workers and publicans, traditionally as inclined to respiratory ailments as farmers, the ban has been a boon as it were. i'm not for one minute suggesting that cigarettes are full of vitamins and antoxidants - the chemical additives to industrially produced smokes, the saltpetre and bleach in the paper etc are probably not very good for you, not to mention the carbon monoxide etc... but don't try and tell me that the current fashion of anti smoking sentiment [of the kind favoured by hitler coincidentally enough - he too hated the civilising influence of tobacco] is anything other than the fear of legal action against all the other industries [automotive, industrial, architectural chemical whatever] who are equally responsible for the increased incidence in the global rise of lung cancer incidence.

AND please, if you are going to continue to reap the benefits from insanely high levels of taxation on a packet of smokes and then still try to get on your fúcking high horse about our legal right to smoke a cigarette then you are nothing less than a cúnt and you can fúck right off.

Morrigan

Woah.. someone didn't get their nicotine fix today...

Giblet

In IT Tallaght there are little Bus Shelter looking things about 20 meters from the entrance which seem to work grand. Doesn't stop them standing at the door though. Funny though, because It's not like there is an awning there or anything. They must just want to piss us off on purpose

Rb

Yep Giblet, I love standing just outside the door and smoking. I don't even inhale properly, just take long drags and blow it toward the door when people are coming out. Its great.
Non-smokers are unbelievable.

Executive Steve

bravestarr082 wrote:

Now i'm not a smoker and I'm all for the smoking ban .

i AM a smoker and i'm not against it per se

i don't appreciate the way pubs turn into complicated games of musical chairs every five minutes when x amount of people get up to go outside for a smoke or come back in to deperately tyry and reclaim a seat - you never seem to spend very long just quietly sitting in the same seating order in a pub nowadays, which IMO has greatly harmed the actual social and conversational function of the pub - conversation time is shortened and as a result superficialities are all one gets around to nine times out of ten... it' nice that my clothes don't smell of smoke after a night out though, i will give you that - although as a hapy smoker i didn't really mind all that much - sure i wash my clothes after wearing them on a night out anyway so i never uite got what was so wrong about that...

and i'm annoyed that smokers in work get 'smoke breaks' as well as their entitled break.

where do you work??? can i get a job there??? i have never heard of this happening before... health and safety guidelines put in place to protect office workers suggest that every two hours or so you stand up and take a walk around to stretch your legs for ten minutes - in the same way you are meant to spend five minutes every hour NOT staring at your screen - what REALLY puzzles me is that every breaktime [11am , lunchtime and 4pm] the only people who go outside and get a breath of fresh air are the unhealthy smokers!!!! everybody else sits in the dark office breathing re-re-re-recycled air and bathing in radiation! the words "what", "the" and "fúck" spring to mind...

Femelade

when i was in college years ago you could some in a certain smoking room inside the college but as far as i can remember they had those yellow boxes at all the entrances.

i am doing a night course at the moment in a different community college and when i first started there was an announcement that there was no smoking in any of the premises around the building, only outside the front gate.

seems fair enough to me tbh.

py2006

Smokers come accross as very selfish people! "We should be allowed smoke whereever we want", "Don't go to the pub if you don't like the smoke" etc. They couldn't give too shíts how they effect the health of others around them because their addiction is so high!

I think the atmosphere in pubs has much improved since the ban. The tense atmosphere around the door (caused by bouncers) is now gone and there is a more friendlier buzz about the place!

However, I was out last Fri night down the local. I was the only non-smoker out of 5 people! They all got up at once and walked out to have a smoke leaving me sitting on my own like a dipshít! :rolleyes:

Giblet

rb_ie wrote:

Yep Giblet, I love standing just outside the door and smoking. I don't even inhale properly, just take long drags and blow it toward the door when people are coming out. Its great.
Non-smokers are unbelievable.

Why do you stand at the door though, it's hardly sheltered!? People walking by aswell, can't be nice just standing there.

Tree

Peaadina wrote:

Nothing worse than when your walking behind a smoker on the street and ash smoke, the works blows into your face.
I totally agree, no one is forcing them to smoke and the dangers of it are well publisied! so I have NO sympathy! Proper order!

one thing worse.... driving on your motorbike behind a car-driving smoker. despite the ashtrays found in most modern cars they still insist on flicking ash AND butts out the window into my face.

littering is illegal people, even when you drive.

YeatsCounty

py2006 wrote:

No sympathy whatsoever! They didn't care about blowing smoke in other peoples face when they were indoors, killings us all off slowly!

Indeed. I have died three times already due to second-hand smoke. :rolleyes:

RoundyMooney

There are a surprising amount of nicotine nazis about the place.

I smoke, I think the ban was an inspired piece of legislation, all for it and all that-but ffs let us catch hypothermia in peace you bunch of ninnies.

YeatsCounty

RoundyMooney wrote:

There are a surprising amount of nicotine nazis about the place.

I smoke, I think the ban was an inspired piece of legislation, all for it and all that-but ffs let us catch hypothermia in peace you bunch of ninnies.

Agreed. I don't smoke, never have done. I dislike it when someone blows smoke into my face and they know what they're doing. But smoking is legal. It is above the law. There are adequate restrictions governing its use. So would everybody stop whining and let those who want to smoke do so in their designated areas.

RoundyMooney

Well said.

I'm very conscious of lighting up around non smokers (as I should be), but some of these weed haters take the biscuit. :rolleyes:

I bet there's a reformed smoker in the angry mob somewhere.

the_syco

I smoke. The non-smoking in the pubs has done only 2 things.

Stopped people smoking.

Stopped any air-conditioning units.

Seriously. Any nightclub I go to, half of them don't have any proper air in the place. Its all stale. At least when there was smoke, they had to pump it out. Now, just stale air.

phantom_lord

Lump wrote:

Well it's there choice to smoke, and there choice to go out for a smoke. No one's forcing them to smoke. Smoking out side is the only option available. I have no symphathy for them.

John

I'd agree with that.

binaryboy

the_syco wrote:

Seriously. Any nightclub I go to, half of them don't have any proper air in the place. Its all stale. At least when there was smoke, they had to pump it out. Now, just stale air.

yeah, i know what you mean. bah humbug to ye begruders, im off for a fag!

rubadub

YeatsCounty wrote:

But smoking is legal. It is above the law.

it is not legal everywhere, so it is not "above the law". Plenty of pubs and people could face prosecution. I see people breaking the law all the time. It is illegal to smoke in your car on work premises. Many beer gardens are not legal smoking areas since they are so enclosed.

Be thankful your drug of choice is legal at all. If it was discovered today it would be laughable to consider legalising it.

rubadub

[cm]tyranny wrote:

all on the rather absurd basis that cigarette smoke alone is the SOLE cause of preventable lung cancer.

Who ever said this?

And many seem to think that if passive smoking does not cause cancer/harm then people should freely be allowed to burn plant matter in enclosed spaces! crazy, smoke is an irritant, if I went into a pub spraying any non-toxic gas that caused people to cough or stink up the place I would be turfed out in seconds.

rubadub

RoundyMooney wrote:

I bet there's a reformed smoker in the angry mob somewhere.

Yeah they're even worse than the ex-heroin addicts, always banging on about giving it up and how people would be better off without it. Self-righteous inconsiderate bastards.

binaryboy

the only thing worse than a self righteous ex smoker is a self righteous ex gambler!

Sleepy

py2006 wrote:

However, I was out last Fri night down the local. I was the only non-smoker out of 5 people! They all got up at once and walked out to have a smoke leaving me sitting on my own like a dipshít! :rolleyes:

Oh, how terrible for you having to sit inside in the warmth while consuming your drug of choice :rolleyes:

rubadub

TheGrouch wrote:

Can you really expect people to all stand together in one little yellow box thats been marked out?

They yellow box is where they cannot smoke, Obviously somebody feels the burning of plant matter close to doors is not very acceptable, just like people burning leaves in their garden tend not to do it right outside the backdoor. They are free to stroll around abusing addictive drugs elsewhere outside, lucky fu cking bastards, enjoy it while it is still a legal drug you whining gits.

binaryboy

rubadub wrote:

They yellow box is where they cannot smoke, Obviously somebody feels the burning of plant matter close to doors is not very acceptable, just like people burning leaves in their garden tend not to do it right outside the backdoor. They are free to stroll around abusing addictive drugs elsewhere outside, lucky fu cking bastards, enjoy it while it is still a legal drug you whining gits.

they'll never outlaw tobacco

rubadub

binaryboy wrote:

they'll never outlaw tobacco

You never know, somebodys mother might complain to mary poppins-harney and they could be illegal by 4 o'clock today:v:

Morrigan

rubadub wrote:

They yellow box is where they cannot smoke, Obviously somebody feels the burning of plant matter close to doors is not very acceptable, just like people burning leaves in their garden tend not to do it right outside the backdoor. They are free to stroll around abusing addictive drugs elsewhere outside, lucky fu cking bastards, enjoy it while it is still a legal drug you whining gits.

When I lived in Japan the platforms in train stations, which are totally open on all sides, all had a yellow box painted on the ground at the end of the platform with an ashtray in the middle. It was the only place you were allowed smoke once you entered the train station. I never saw anyone ever smoke outside that little yellow box. I thought it was mad at first, but I think it makes sense to keep smokers confined to a certain area, even if it is an open area, when it's an area where people have no choice but to wait for a period of time or have to pass through.

PS It did look hilarious, all these addicts squashed together in "marlboro country", carefully keeping inside the yellow line...

Peaadina

TheGrouch wrote:

Its getting a bit to much now..people are now complaining because they are smoking to close to the doors?..outside?
people tend to gather together when they are smoking.
Can you really expect people to all stand together in one little yellow box thats been marked out?
It will get to the stage where you are only allowed to smoke in the attic of you house with a fan on. People are never happy.

Oh come on! Im so sick of the 'poor smokers' bit. So what if its difficult for you to smoke. Proper order, its Your choice to be a smoker and its others choice not to smoke, So why should they have it blown in their face? I dont see heroin addicts or any other type of addicts taking their drug of choice out in public that much!
My whole family smoked for most of my life. My mother for 30 yrs (gave up cold turkey 8 yrs ago!) my 2 sisters from a young age(1 gave up after 20yrs in Jan) and my dad on and off. So I know about smokers.
I developed asthma at 12 and NONE of them smoked in the house after that. And they didnt even complain!
I never asked them not to and my asthma wasnt caused by a smokey environment.
My mother used to smoke out in the garage. in the freezing winter and everything even 1st thing in the morning. and I dont feel bad about that it was her choice to have this habbit.
I just dont get smoking, its just addictive, smelly and expensive. I have tried it, and i really couldnt be bothered with it! It makes you stink, and gives you worse hangovers!
As for it being directly linked with lung cancer as someone posting earlier, yeah I agree alot of the rise in lung cancer has as much to do with the quality of our air from cars etc. But there is No use for ciggarettes unlike cars other than being a habit so why add to the risk? There are other things than cancer that you can get from smoking.

Jimi-Spandex

Leave me smoke in peace please. I have made my choice. I know the risks better than you, I have experienced the effects 1st hand. I still choose to smoke. I find it condescending when non-smokers lecture me on the ill effects.

You may think there is no use for cigarettes, but I don't. I find them quite useful, evidenced by the amount of money and time I put into it.

and finally,

FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO MOAN ABOUT

Peaadina

Thats cool with me!
I dont really care if u or anyone else smokes or not!
I just care when its blown in my face and then I get the 'poor me I have to smoke outside' lecture from certain smoking aquaintences.
I dont mean to offend a habit thats important to anyone its ur choice.
Enjoy it!:)

the_syco

One good thing about having to smoke outside. The wind. It blows the smoke away. Esp handy if what your smoking something thats not legal:cool:

=-=

Oh, and for those who don't smoke, alot of us smoke as it eases the stress. Yes, some people do yoga, etc, but we smoke. It feels good. It'll proberly kill us, but in all fairness, if we didn't, the stress would kill us quicker.

YeatsCounty

rubadub wrote:

it is not legal everywhere, so it is not "above the law". Plenty of pubs and people could face prosecution. I see people breaking the law all the time. It is illegal to smoke in your car on work premises. Many beer gardens are not legal smoking areas since they are so enclosed.

Be thankful your drug of choice is legal at all. If it was discovered today it would be laughable to consider legalising it.

Firstly, I don't smoke. So it is not "my drug of choice". Please refrain from posting once you read the first couple of lines of a post without reading the rest of it, and indeed the rest of the thread.

Secondly, I made a typo when I said that it was "above the law". I meant to say that it was legal to smoke in certain areas.

Boggles

the_syco wrote:

One good thing about having to smoke outside. The wind. It blows the smoke away. Esp handy if what your smoking something thats not legal:cool:

=-=

Oh, and for those who don't smoke, alot of us smoke as it eases the stress. Yes, some people do yoga, etc, but we smoke. It feels good. It'll proberly kill us, but in all fairness, if we didn't, the stress would kill us quicker.

To qoute Bill Hicks

"100% of non smokers die too"

rubadub

YeatsCounty wrote:

Firstly, I don't smoke. So it is not "my drug of choice". Please refrain from posting once you read the first couple of lines of a post without reading the rest of it, and indeed the rest of the thread.

I did read it and saw you did not smoke.

the "your" was referring to all the smokers who should be grateful they are allowed to smoke at all.


Another poster was mentioning that smoking relieves stress, this may be true but a lot of that "stress" you are suffering from is the withdrawl symptoms of the drug. It really is a useless drug, all the addiciton with no high. Thats why tobacco joints are highly addictive. Combining a nice pleasant high with the most addictive substance known.

the_syco

rubadub wrote:

Thats why tobacco joints are highly addictive.

Speaking from experience?:p

rubadub wrote:

Combining a nice pleasant high with the most addictive substance known.

Wonder what the "most addictive substance" is? Its not hash, as thats not addictive. Haven't tried anything else, so I wouldn't know, tbh.

SoupyNorman

Boggles wrote:

To qoute Bill Hicks

"100% of non smokers die too"

Hmmmm, didint the man die at 32 from cancer!


He is a legend though.

Dustaz

edit: post deleted due to anger at righteous non smokers.

Dont like people smoking outside the entrance to a pub? dont go in.

Dont like people smoking outside in general? Tough.

ferdi

*blows smoke in everyones face

and i dont even smoke

rubadub

the_syco wrote:

Speaking from experience?:p

Well I know a lot of people who say "I don't smoke, I only smoke joints". Usually they give up cigarettes and end up smoking hash every single day, putting miserable amounts into each tobacco joint trying to convince themselves they "dont smoke cigarettes". They are the only ones going mental when there is a "drought" on, the few pipe smokers go by fine. I would go months without smoking without even noticing, or conciously doing so, whereas the tobacco joint smokers could tell me the hour they had their last. They moan about the price of cigarettes and convince themselves they only smoke it with tobacco since it "tastes nice" or some other BS fooling themselves.
The only medical "authorities" you hear claiming cannabis is addicitive is usually people in addiciton centres, the difference being that in studies to see if it is addicitve why on earth would you mix it with the most addictive substance known! yet this is the common way it is smoked here and in the UK so of course people are convinced they are hooked on it. The fact that the illegal bit of the combination is not addictive is totally overlooked since the other addictive substance is legal.

If it was common to add nicotine to alcoholic drinks the AA meetings would have queues outside a mile long. People would be pissed day and night. The non-smoking joint smoker is similar to an alcoholic saying he is off the drink and only drinks coke now, but still puts vodka in it just for the taste!

the_syco wrote:

Wonder what the "most addictive substance" is? Its not hash, as thats not addictive.

Yep, not hash, it is nictotine. Dangerously overlooked by many since you don't get high smoking it in a regular way "so it must be grand".

Boggles

rubadub wrote:

Well I know a lot of people who say "I don't smoke, I only smoke joints". Usually they give up cigarettes and end up smoking hash every single day, putting miserable amounts into each tobacco joint trying to convince themselves they "dont smoke cigarettes". They are the only ones going mental when there is a "drought" on, the few pipe smokers go by fine. I would go months without smoking without even noticing, or conciously doing so, whereas the tobacco joint smokers could tell me the hour they had their last. They moan about the price of cigarettes and convince themselves they only smoke it with tobacco since it "tastes nice" or some other BS fooling themselves.
The only medical "authorities" you hear claiming cannabis is addicitive is usually people in addiciton centres, the difference being that in studies to see if it is addicitve why on earth would you mix it with the most addictive substance known! yet this is the common way it is smoked here and in the UK so of course people are convinced they are hooked on it.

If it was common to add nicotine to alcoholic drinks the AA meetings would have queues outside a mile long. People would be pissed day and night. The non-smoking joint smoker is similar to an alcoholic saying he is off the drink and only drinks coke now, but still puts vodka in it just for the taste!



Yep, not hash, it is nictotine. Dangerously overlooked by many since you don't get high smoking it in a regular way "so it must be grand".

Why do you care so much what other people do, well done you don't smoke, your brilliant, your a better class of person than smokers.

rubadub

Boggles wrote:

Why do you care so much what other people do, well done you don't smoke, your brilliant, your a better class of person than smokers.

I do smoke... am I now lower class?:rolleyes:

I was simply pointing out how people can think they are addicted to cannabis by mixing it with a "harmless drug"

binaryboy

ferdi wrote:

*blows smoke in everyones face

and i dont even smoke

lol!