Scotland To Ban Smoking in Public Places

[General Nosaj]

I live in the central belt of Scotland where the greatest concentration of Scottish smokers are and I can't wait for the ban to be put in place. It's about time the government tackled the smoking and general poor health time bomb in Scotland. When my chance to vote comes round Jack's got my vote for getting having the balls to do something wich should have been done ages ago which would have saved and improved so many people's lives!

[Mouse]

I'm Scottish.

I smoke.

I support the ban.

[Melusine]

I am fervently anti-smoking myself, partly because I am quite allergic to the smoke (get a really sore throat, red sore eyes and stuffed nose). But I'm not sure about the banning in bars part - I am sensitive to the argument that it will really affect bar owners financially. Add to that the fact that if they were to ban smoking in cafes over here, it'd leave us with the ridiculous situation where you could buy weed/hash in coffee shops, but not smoke it there. Sounds crazy! But in my eyes there's a big difference between bars and restaurants. I am all for banning smoking in restaurants, or at the least forcing all restaurants to have glass-separated, ventilated smoking and non-smoking areas. Why? Because in a bar, even though the smoke really bothers me (at best), it doesn't ruin every non-smokers experience of meeting their friends, chatting, having a drink etc. FOOD on the other hand! I absolutely love food. When I go to a restaurant I really look forward to having something nice, and the most annoying thing that can happen is when some freaking imbecile starts to smoke while I'm eating right next to him/her. That just completely ruins the experience! Enjoying food is all about smell, taste, looks - not really great if you have to look at your meal through a smoke-screen, taste the smoke with every bite, and are unable to smell anything other that cigarette smoke. And talking slightly more high-quality restaurants, I can't imagine chefs who carefully create a dish appreciating it very much if people smoke near that dish. So I'm still undecided on the bar ban (for me personally it would be a godsend, but I see the negatives as well) but in restaurants I think smoking should be banned everywhere.

One last thing BTW about the bars - it does strike me that in my country, there are strict regulations about building accessibility for people in wheelchairs. If there is a big club or concert hall that wasn't wheelchair-accessible, there is usually a hubbub about it. But what about OTHER handicapped people - people who have severe asthma for instance. They cannot go in either, because of the smoke. Quite unfair.

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Illumina Drathiran'ar: I haven't gotten a memo since I wrote that essay that connected 9/11 to The Vagina Monologues...

Ahhh, that explains it. While the Vagina Monologues contributed to the general Pre 9/11 uneasiness, discombobulation, and feelings of a bloated economy. The Viagra Consortium played a larger underlying role seizing the opportunity to push their aganda to the front while pawning an illusion of addressing the concerns of the Vagina Monologues...

[ 11-12-2004, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: John D Harris ]