smoke free, do u agree?
By halynn
@halynn (1809)
United States
September 2, 2008 5:09pm CST
Hi, i was just wondering how ppl feel about the majority of public places banning smoking? Being a non smoker myself i don't have a prob w/it @ all but i could see how smokers would have a prob w/it. I was just curious what others thought about it. Someone told me recently that they thought it was unfair bc it's their choice to smoke.
best wishes.
7 people like this
30 responses
@walijo2008 (4644)
• United States
3 Sep 08
I think its their choice to smoke, and it may be unfair, but its also unfair to those that don't smoke to have to be around people that do. I don't smoke either, and I don't like smelling it when I go somewhere. In our town they are trying to pass an ordinance to ban smoking in and around all public buildings, I hope it passes myself...I know others will disagree...Have a good day
1 person likes this
@ashar123 (2357)
• India
3 Sep 08
Really like your discussion, as was against the smokers and I am a smoker since last 10 years but I still marked it "+". In my opinion, smoking must be banned on all public places. Here smoking is only banned in hospitals so far but I wish it was banned on all public places. The main reason behind this is that the second hand smoke which a smoker exhales after smoking is more harmful then he is smoking the first smoke that is inhaling. The second hand smoke exhaled by the smoker is inhaled by other people in public places which is alot harmful, thats why it must be banned in public places. I guess in all International Airports, there are seperate lounges made just for smokers.
1 person likes this
@sapphirelilac88 (91)
• Philippines
3 Sep 08
how i wish that it would be so in this city. people here just smoke in public places anytime they want. there are no segregated place for them to do their smoking. often they then violate the rights of the nonsmokers. like when they are in a public bus, they just smoke, urgh, or even at restaurants. i often let my displeasure know my fanning and wrinkling my face. i once visited a city where smoking in public places is banned and there is an area designated where they can smoke. how i wish it would be so here.
1 person likes this
@lauriehomebusiness (656)
• United States
3 Sep 08
I'm a non smoker myself so I am all for it on banning smoking in public places rule that is at least 25 feet.
I have a problem with being forced to smell it because studies have shown proof that secondhand smoke is pretty bad for anybody that are non smokers as well as kids.
It pisses me off about people smoking so close to their own kids. I even seen it with my own eyes of moms and/or dads smoking so close to their kids no matter how old they are. Even around their own baby under a year old.
I'm a mom myself and even though there is one person in the household that I live at that smoke, she knows to smoke outside the house. She love her grandkids (I'm my kids mom) and she respect my hon and my opinion about it.
I hate it too when she comes in the house after done smoking. It pisses me off.
Laurie
@lauriehomebusiness (656)
• United States
3 Sep 08
Yes. I am pissed of the after smell. I keep my mouth shut though even though I'm pissed but there is nothing I can do about it.
As you know, if she really wanted to quit, she would of found ways to make herself stop smoking. Her boyfriend was able to quit cold turkey. One of her bro quit smoking and once told me that he notice the quality of life there because he used to keep coughing and all of that stuff.
I know it's a free country and such but it's not funny if someone thinks that they should be rude as hell to other people just because.
I respect that smokers are just cravers of the nicotine. There is nothing I can do but if someone really wanted to quit, they would try their hardest to quit.
For example, I gotten myself fat when I was pregnant with my first one with eating disgusting fatty stuff everyday just about and now, am about to stay away from fried foods for most of the time and I drink pop once in a long long long long while. I drink tea and soy almost everyday.
@metalhalo (599)
• United States
3 Sep 08
Ok, let me get this straight. Your children's Grandmother is kind enough and values your opinion enough to smoke outside away from you and your children...but you're pissed because she comes back inside after she's done? Maybe you should demand she febreze herself before coming back inside. 
@jccjr5 (62)
• United States
3 Sep 08
I completely agree with the banning of smoking in public places. It is a smokers right to smoke, they can go and do it where it will not bother anybody else. Think of all the other annoying things that people could do at a restaurant if they chose. Somebody could bring in a loud boom box and listen to music while they eat. After all they have a right don't they. No, because it is disrespectful to others so they don't do it. Smoking is the same thing, if you want to do it you don't force others to inhale the second hand smoke. I should not have to sit next to somebody smoking while my three young kids have to inhale that! People will say, well leave then, how is that fair? The smoker is doing something, known to cause cancer, in a public place and I have to leave. I don't think so! It is their choice to smoke, then it is their responsibility to do it somewhere where it will not bother anybody. If my kid is screaming in a restaurant or store, we leave because it will bother the other patrons. It is all about respecting others.
@soooobored (1184)
• United States
3 Sep 08
Don't you think though that it is unfair for the government to mandate this, knowing that it will hurt business for small local bars? I agree that non-smokers should be free to enjoy clean air, but couldn't the decision lie in the hands of the business owners?
@soooobored (1184)
• United States
3 Sep 08
That is actually what can happen, some businesses still allow smoking so business drops for those who are stuck being "non-smoking" establishment.
For example, clubs are often exempt, because it is membership only. But really, almost anyone can go to the VFW for drinks, they don't actually keep anyone out. Or some bars just ignore the mandates, sure they run the risk of a fine, but the business they gain is astronomical! So the nice guys who play by the rules lose out on a lot of business.
Currently, bars can retain the right to smoke in PA by selling 20% or less of their gross income in food. However, about a year ago, it was required that bars sell 30% or more of their gross income in food to be open on Sundays. Any kind of drastic reduction in food sales will likely result in an audit by the LCB, and those audits are painful and disruptive to business, no matter how well your establishment is run!
I agree with the right to clean air, but more so I agree with the right to offer services to customers. If the customers were demanding smoke-free, the bars would almost certainly follow suit. There were several non-smoking bars in Philadelphia before the ban. But the customers want to be allowed to smoke, so that is the nature of the business.
@jccjr5 (62)
• United States
3 Sep 08
On one hand, I agree with you about businesses being able to choose. I do think that certain establishments should be able to choose, especially bars. But, restaurants are hard for the reasons that I said above. It is hard to tell how many would choose to not have smoking, only because of the business that it may lose. I don't know how much business a small local bar will lose by not allowing smoking. people can still go outside to smoke. If somebody wants to go out to a bar, they will go regardless. If all places are banned from smoking they don't have a choice. I suppose if the business had the choice and some chose to ban it and others didn't, then you would see a reduction in business because the smokers would find a new bar.
@fedge098 (1330)
• Philippines
3 Sep 08
The answer is yes. I am not a smoker so I strongly agree that smoking be banned in public areas. In my country smoking has become part of tradition and I think there is no way to eradicate this vice. I think the government should pass a bill requiring only certain places to allow smoking. This way, those people who are not into smoking won't be hassled due to the smoke emitted from the dirty mouths of the smokers (no offense to my fellow smoking mylotters 
).
).
@Wyldrose (1216)
• United States
3 Sep 08
Being a non-smoker, I totally agree with banning smoking in public places. But my friends who do smoke are totally against it because they say it is their choice, their right, etc, etc. Well I end up getting more smoke in my face now than I did when I was a smoker. It seems unfair to the nonsmoker but then the smokers think it is unfair to them, so who really is right?? 
@Amberina (1541)
• United States
3 Sep 08
I used to smoke several years ago and I know people who smoke. I feel sorry for the ones I see outside smoking while it's pouring down rain or snowing, or very hot outside. I feel sorry for them because they are a slave to the nicotine addiction If they didn't smoke they would live longer and be able to stay comfortable when the weather is bad.
Smoking is a very hard habit to break for anyone out there who is trying to quit I wish you the best, and for anyone out there just starting to smoke STOP IT! LOL.
@ravinder18 (868)
• Malaysia
3 Sep 08
i also think it is good banning smoking in public places. i can't stand the smoke. The smoke make me sick and hard to take breath easily.
@blackmantra_x (2732)
• Philippines
3 Sep 08
Good day.. Well, it's a public place and what the smoker are doing is unhealthy. I mean if they have a choice so do we the non smoker. If they the non smoker can only keep the smoke to themselves then no problem if not then I think they should also respect our right to clean air.
@titagdl (136)
• Mexico
3 Sep 08
I´m a non smoker too and i think it´s great that smoking is banned in public places,but i do think it´skind of unfair to people that do smoke,because we´re not giving them any place at all to smoke now. Last weekend my family and i went out to the mall and a restaurant for lunch, but my husband had to keep leaving and going outside in order to have a smoke,,,,and it turned into a big problem beacuse we would get lost afterwards and couldn´t find each other,or simply waisted somuch time on that. Later in the restaurant, the same thing,,,,we were all together eating and he had to leave so often to smoke,,,so it does cut into our supposed family time, because the family had to wait hours for him!
@Classkeeper (9)
•
3 Sep 08
As a non smoker obviously i thought it was fantastic when smoking was banned in pubs and clubs. A few of my friends who smoke were understandly annoyed at having to stand outside in the winter, and even in the summer in england to be fair!! Since the inital hit though, a lot of people seem to not really care any more and even like the fact it helps them smoke less and help them ultimately quit.
@kinonai (10)
• United States
3 Sep 08
Since it is something that effects everyone, I agree with banning it in public indoor places. After all, many people have asthma and even allergies to the smoke... including myself. People often smoke without even a second thought of who may be around them and who it may negatively impact. This is not just limited to smoking though! When people wear perfumes, I feel the same way. After all, even a whiff of most of them will make me break out in hives and begin to have an asthma attack. The problem here is that no one thinks of anyone but themselves. As for smoking outdoors... I don't have a problem with that. After all, it's no longer trapped in a small area where people like me cannot breathe.
@rogue13xmen13 (14402)
• United States
3 Sep 08
Are you kidding me? I have Asthma, and this is wonderful for me because I should not have to put up with people who smoke are harm others with their smoking. People who smoke are hurting my lungs. They might have the right to smoke, but I have the right to LIVE!
@know21 (1250)
• United States
2 Sep 08
The government is getting too close to our personal lives. If I owned a business, I should be allowed to do anything I want, within the law.
We have started with smoking. They are going after weight and cholesterol. The Supreme Court is becoming involved in decisions that should not be made by judges. Government -city, county, state, federal- is telling us what words are acceptable and consequences we face if used. They tell us what our kids are required to be taught about social matters. Where will it end?
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
3 Sep 08
hi halynn sorry but smoking is bad for anyones health and if they want to smoke themselves sick fine, just do not do it around me as the smoke makes me ill. do not minus me for this, I have aright to my own opinion. their choice to smoke is just fine providing its not around people allergic to the smoke and around hospitals with sick people. let them smoke themselves into a carcoginc fit if they want just not around us nonsmokers. lol.
@banadux (630)
• United States
3 Sep 08
The place I work at has banned smoking across the entire campus. I don't know how the smokers dealt with it so quickly, but they had 6 months to stop smoking on campus. I know the company offered help of various kinds to those people. I think it helps keep the insurance lower for the company if they have that sort of policy in place. I think it's nice because I don't have to smell smoke coming in and going out of the building throughout the day. I think people should have the right to smoke, but their rights stop when they are forcing other people to also breath it.
@DavidVRJ (14)
• United States
3 Sep 08
I agree and disagree since banning smoking in public places is like banning cell phones, because some people find it necessary to smoke at times; but at the same time, smoking is bad for your health , period, so I guess it's not a bad decision to ban smoking in most public places since not only does it lessen the amount of times a smoker smokes, but it greatly reduces second hand smoking as well, which is pretty good when it comes to children who are also in the public places that adults smoke
