Fucking right. Too many people saying “you know, there oughta be a law…” who just don´t stop to think that it´s as simple as not going to the bar. "but it´s boooooring at home 
" they respond. Boo hoo.
Non-smoker here who hates the ban.
Smoking used to be permitted and commonplace on buses and trains - if non-smokers wanted to avoid it, they could always just walk home. It used to be permitted in theatres and cinemas - if non-smokers didn’t like it, they could just not bother going to shows and to see films… and so on. I appreciate that smoking is quite an ingrained bit of pub culture, but ‘if you don’t like it, don’t go’ is too simplistic and unsatisfying an argument, IMO.
And can also be reversed. If you don’t like non-smoking establishments then don’t go.
Why are there laws against taking a shit in public places? If you don’t like to see people crapping next to your dinner table, you don’t have to go to that restaurant. Is it too boring at home? Boo fucking hoo.
As a member of a fraternal organization, and an advisory board member, we were worried when the Theocracy of Utah proclaimed that smoking would no longer be allowed in our club. The potential loss of revenue from both the bar and our food sales worried us.
We had nothing to worry about. Our bar sales dropped 20% the first month. But our food sales soared 600%!
Our bar sales are back up to normal now, 7 months after the ban took place - and the food sales have stayed at their high levels.
Win-win all around.
Oh yes, former smoker here, smoke free for 7.5 years.
I’m less likely to frequent the bars to begin with. Hence less likelihood I’ll have one too many and drive home?
Woohoo! Stay home until you find one that allows smoking, then drink to your hearts content! You can smoke! Whoohoo!
Then drive home shitfaced! Woohoo!
edit: The edit is facetious, I realize.
That’s a good point.
Word.
Are there no pubs that have separate, enclosed “smoking rooms”? Pubs and bars here (British Columbia, Canada) have closed-off areas where smokers can drink, eat and smoke. I believe there are regulations (you can’t just stick smokers in a broom closet) regarding air filtration, etc. This seems to be the best of both worlds, really. Non-smoky non-smoking areas, and well filtered smoking rooms. Even if someone has come with non-smokers, they can always duck into the smoking room for a smoke, rather than go outside.
Nah, in every jurisdiction in the UK they went for the big stick option. I’ve noticed that this year in the pubs I’m familiar enough with that the landlord/owners have been working far more shifts than before, and a couple of places have shut. That suggests to me that business has dropped.
Sorry, gotta call you on this one.
It is NOT illegal to drink then drive, at least not here. It’s illegal to drink while driving, and it’s illegal to drive if you have had enough to drink to get your BAC up to .08, but I can stop at the bar, have a beer, and drive. If I drink faster than my body can metabolize the alcohol and allow my BAC to reach .08, THEN it is illegal for me to drive.
I can also be arrested for driving while impaired with lower than a .08 BAC if the officer deems me to be impaired, but I can be arrested for driving while impaired with zero alcohol in my system. It’s not an alcohol specific charge. Likewise, the mere presence of alcohol in my system is not a guarantee of arrest.
Not that this has a damn thig to do with smoking in bars, but sometimes things get posted that are just not true.
I was in Barcelona recently in a bar that had a separate smoking area - the smokers in our group would go in and smoke as quickly as possible, then come out and complain it was smoky in there! (the same seemed to be true when there was one smoking carriage on the trains, often you could tell which carriage it was from the outside because it was nearly empty - very few people stayed in there longer than it took to smoke a cig)
Personally I have mixed feelings about the ban - I hate being told what to do for my own good, but I spend a lot of my life in bars and pubs and hate the smoke.
A lot of smokers I know are looking forward to it as an opportunity to give up (from my own experience it’s being in a pub that saps any willpower if you’re trying to give up)
(apologies to The Orlons)
Don’t light up, no no.
Oh don’t you do it now, don’t light up, no no.
Don’t light up like you always do.
We think your smoke smells like poo.
I’ll explain the facts to you, don’t light up.
Won’t give you a chance, your smokin’ is through.
Don’t light up, oh don’t you do it now, don’t light up.
Take a walk with Cuban Lou,
When you go to visit Sue,
But in Berkeley’s Bar of Blue,
Don’t light up.
The city of Ottawa has been smoke-free for a few years now.
The province of Ontario has been smoke-free for about a year, I think.
Let me tell you, it’s absolutely marvelous to go to a bar or restaurant and not have to almost puke from the stench of second-hand smoke. I quit a long time ago and it seriously chokes the hell out of me to have to put up with it now.
The more places smoking is banned, the more delighted I am. I don’t even visit my mother’s home I hate it so much. I think it’s awesome there’s a voluntary ban on smoking on our state’s beaches because of the filthy littering associated with it. When anyone says “smoker’s rights” it just blows my mind because I can’t imagine what entitles one to such rights.
I guess you could say I’m for the ban.