Smoking Ban Today?

Mr E · 30-01-2003 10:00AM #1

I can't imagine this going through, but....

Health Minister Micheál Martin has reportedly brought forward new regulations to ban smoking in all pubs, restaurants and workplaces.

Mr Martin is expected to announce the move later today at the launch of a report highlighting the effects of passive smoking in the workplace.

The report, compiled on behalf of the Office of Tobacco Control and the Health and Safety Authority, says tobacco smoke is a serious carcinogenic which can also cause heart disease and respiratory tract infections.

http://breaking.examiner.ie/2003/01/30/story86312.html

I'll be interested to see how it pans out. I'd love to see it, but I don't think he'll get away with a ban in all pubs.

- Dave.

ykt0di9url7bc3 · 30-01-2003 11:35AM

It could be on the spot fines....(more money in the coffiers)

The older pubs will probably just ignore it - but nightclubs and busy pubs will fall in line unless its over-looked by the local Gardaì

Its a good thing and it maybe a long time until it happens unless Zero-Tolerence is enforced.....

[I honestly cant see my Mother going to the 'local' with her 20 B&H....]

What about cigars...is it just regulated to ciggarettes or are all forms of tobacco banned from public places??

Snaga · 30-01-2003 11:51AM

Its not just cigarettes, its all forms of "smoking". Bit of a pointless exercise if it isnt.

Stark · 30-01-2003 12:06PM

i'd love to see cigarettes banned from pubs, fed up of waking up after a night out stinking of cigarette smoke, plus the inconsiderate people who burn you with their cigarettes in crowded pubs :mad:

eth0_ · 30-01-2003 12:18PM

I bloody hate smoking. Can't stand the smell and coming home with your clothes stinking of tobacco is just infuriating. I definitely think smoking should be banned in public areas.

Wook · 30-01-2003 12:33PM

just for the sake of it ...
I never owned a car in my life , yet i inhale exhaust air every day..
I pay for roads, safety and everything that comes with it.
Should i not be allowed a sum of money from everyone else that poluted my air ?

Wook · 30-01-2003 12:34PM

Originally posted by eth0_
I bloody hate smoking. Can't stand the smell and coming home with your clothes stinking of tobacco is just infuriating. I definitely think smoking should be banned in public areas.

since when did you became such a moral loving girl ?!
just keep following the horde...

Stark · 30-01-2003 12:36PM

just for the sake of it ...
I never owned a car in my life , yet i inhale exhaust air every day..
I pay for roads, safety and everything that comes with it.
Should i not be allowed a sum of money from everyone else that poluted my air ?

couldn't agree more

elexes · 30-01-2003 12:50PM

ye heard about that this morning looks like its going to be tuff to enforce tho .

also rember hearing about that last year but they said there was going to have to be air conditioning in the pubs and clubs and if they had it they would be allowed to have smoking area's or somthn like that .

Stark · 30-01-2003 12:53PM

Air-conditioning in pubs/clubs, that'll be the day. Too good for us cattle.

Samba · 30-01-2003 01:06PM

I welcome it as I'll be taking the long and harsh road of no smoking as of Monday.

Cork · 30-01-2003 01:06PM

i'd love to see cigarettes banned from pubs, fed up of waking up after a night out stinking of cigarette smoke, plus the inconsiderate people who burn you with their cigarettes in crowded pubs

It is about time that they are banned. How people work in such an environment is crazy. Smokers can do as much damage to themselves as they like but they can smoke their weed elsewhere.

Wook · 30-01-2003 01:13PM

when smoking is done for , let's do Alcohol !!
bad for the health of anyone cought in a road accident, fights, relations, unwanted childeren etc etc etc... while we are at it , let's just ban anything that is bad for our health and can influence other people along the way ?! any suggestions ?

Meh · 30-01-2003 01:28PM

Originally posted by Wook
when smoking is done for , let's do Alcohol !!

The difference is that you can drink a pint of beer without affecting me negatively. If we're both sitting in the pub, and you're smoking a cigarette, there's no way for me to avoid breathing your smoke short of wearing an oxygen mask.

I fully support your right to destroy your own health, but I draw the line when you want to give me lung cancer as well.

MrPudding · 30-01-2003 01:41PM

Originally posted by Wook
when smoking is done for , let's do Alcohol !!
bad for the health of anyone cought in a road accident, fights, relations, unwanted childeren etc etc etc... while we are at it , let's just ban anything that is bad for our health and can influence other people along the way ?! any suggestions ?

I think you are missing the point. This is not to protect smokers from something that is bad for their health. This is to protect people who work in an enviroment where they have to inhale other peoples smoke thereby increasing, by as much as 30%, the likelyhood that they will develop lung cancer. This does not even take into account other illnesses that can be caused by passive smoke inhalation.

Drinking and drinking, to a certain extent, is illegal it does not need to be banned, as it already is. Getting drunk and hitting someone is also illegal so those 2 examples you have given are pretty pointless.

A government has a resposibility to protect people who cannot nessecarily protect themselves.

will skill III · 30-01-2003 01:45PM

if i hear another whinger talking about their clothes smelling of smoke yadayadayada.... if u dont want to go to a pub, dont go!! the trouble with the situation here is that pubs still arent deregulated; if they were, at least some publicans would open up non-smoking pubs because the market would demand it; as for staff passive smoking issues, its simple: staff must sign a disclaimer before commencing employment which states that they understand the dangers of passive smoking; if they're not happy they shouldn't bother working there. Nobody absolutely MUST work in a pub, its not the eighties anymore, and there are other jobs..and the kids argument is simple: all kinds of other "environmental factors" make a pub an unsuitable place for minors, not just passive smoking (language is one that comes immediately to mind)

Mr. Fancypants · 30-01-2003 01:55PM

Well, it looks like it will happen......In January 2004.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0130/smoking.html

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 30-01-2003 01:55PM

so..what you are saying here is that people who don't smoke should go to certain pubs.. and smokers should go to the rest? .. marvellous idea! cos I don't go out to have a good time with my friends, I go out to get plastered, and I don't give a rats arse where I do it, or who I do it with! :rolleyes:

I go out to drink with friends, they go out to drink with me (and others, I presume.. I'm great and all but..

), should we be seperated because they want a fag and I don't? they can just go outside, smoke away, and come back in.. *Shrug* it isn't THAT big a deal!
granted, it's an inconvenience, but so is getting a lungful of stale smoke every time you take a breath, or having eyes stung with smoke when you walk through the bar... at least they are less likely to die form it

unless they stop in the middle of the road to light up and get run down

and also

just for the sake of it ...
I never owned a car in my life , yet i inhale exhaust air every day..
I pay for roads, safety and everything that comes with it.
Should i not be allowed a sum of money from everyone else that poluted my air ?

ever used the bus?

Wook · 30-01-2003 02:01PM

the bus in Ireland ? hahaha , don't make me laugh

Beruthiel · 30-01-2003 02:11PM

Originally posted by Wook
the bus in Ireland ? hahaha , don't make me laugh

fags and joints!!

I am a smoker
I have never smoked on a bus, I can manage to wait till I get off the bus for that - however I like my ciggie with a drink, I will be very upset if I am not allowed to smoke anywhere, why can we not have some pubs were us smokers can go and not be treated like lepers? why an all out ban, surley it could have been organized that there are smoke free pubs for those who don't smoke and some which are smoker friendly

eth0_ · 30-01-2003 02:15PM

Originally posted by Wook
since when did you became such a moral loving girl ?!
just keep following the horde...

I didn't, and remember I am an ex smoker. But I think it's a disgusting thing to be in a pub/club and inhale other peoples smoke, it can make me for one feel physically sick at times.

I'm not following the moral majority, it is my personal preference that I want to have to sit in a cloud of smoke when I go out...

Dustaz · 30-01-2003 02:16PM

Originally posted by will skill III
at least some publicans would open up non-smoking pubs because the market would demand it

There is no market for non-smoking pubs. Ask the publicans who already tried.

I cant believe this topic is back on the agenda and making me angry again.

"lets not bother with air conditioning, or smoking sections or even trying for some sort of middle ground. **** em, its not like the millions of tax euros they contribute to the exchequor matters"

Dustaz · 30-01-2003 02:21PM

gosh im really angry now.

Everyone in government whos tried to tackle this has shied away from the real decision.

Ban Smoking outright.

Its kills smokers. It kills non-smokers. It has no beneficial effects.

If the governemt wants to offer me tax-sticks fine, but they can let me ****ing smoke them in the envoiroment that i paid to smoke them in.

If this comes across as selfish, i know it is. Cant help it, sorry.

And before the ex-"smokers" come out of the woodwork, 15 years of smoking habits are a little harder to break than the odd ciggie behind the bike sheds.

30-01-2003 02:26PM

I like my ciggie with a drink, I will be very upset if I am not allowed to smoke anywhere, why can we not have some pubs were us smokers can go and not be treated like lepers?

lol. I'm a smoker too. I want to give up though for health and cost etc. For me, when I've tried to give up in the past, it's down the pub that it's hardest to resist the urge to light up.

But if smoking was banned in pubs you wouldn't have to look at other heads puffing away around you when you're trying to quit. Niceone.

Right, that's a grand excuse to keep smoking for one more year

Mercury_Tilt · 30-01-2003 02:54PM

This post has been deleted.

John2002 · 30-01-2003 03:52PM

Originally posted by Dustaz
gosh im really angry now.

Everyone in government whos tried to tackle this has shied away from the real decision.

Ban Smoking outright.

This would be in an ideal situation but I think doing this would simply fuel the market in illegal cigarrette smuggling, which would create a lot of issues.

domeara01 · 30-01-2003 05:07PM

take it from me when i say that if the vintners dont agree with it, it wont happen.

this country is becoming a clone of america.

domeara01 · 30-01-2003 05:11PM

Originally posted by Dustaz
Ban Smoking outright.

what are you ****in crazy.
nobody can do that atall.
do you see another country where smoking is banned outright,
it cannot be done because there are members of the government who smoke so therefore it would be hypocracy.
full stop,

Meh · 30-01-2003 05:19PM

Originally posted by domeara01
do you see another country where smoking is banned outright,

Actually, Bhutan is going to ban tobacco smoking. Be interesting to see how that works out for them...

RainyDay · 30-01-2003 06:18PM

take it from me when i say that if the vintners dont agree with it, it wont happen.

The nay-sayers are amazingly creative in finding reasons for objecting to this, but it's really wishful thinking on their part. This will happen - remember all the fuss from the bronchritic oul grannies when they banned smoking at the bingo a few years ago? I haven't heard of too many bingo halls going out of business as a result of the ban.

The sheer selfishness of smokers is almost incredible. They see personal liberty issues in the restriction of their right to pollute my air, and expect the state to fund any attempt they might consider making to kick the habit.

Well, I'm an oxygen addict. I'm addicted to breathing fresh air. Take your pollution outside (& don't drop your butts 'cos you'll be fined 100 quid).

Michael Collins · 30-01-2003 06:58PM

Originally posted by RainyDay
The sheer selfishness of smokers is almost incredible. They see personal liberty issues in the restriction of their right to pollute my air, and expect the state to fund any attempt they might consider making to kick the habit.

Exactly.

Not to mention they want the state to fund any medical treatment if/when they develop lung cancer - taking up vital bed space that could be used for people who got ill through no active decision of their own - like passive smoking for example...

No no this is a very good thing. The sooner it's banned the better, however I doubt it'll be easy. Tbh I couldn't believe it when I read the newspaper this morning, for once our government are doing the right thing. Well done!

Smoking Ban Today?

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