28-03-2004 23:00									#1
	Ireland's Smoking Ban Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europ...n.ap/index.html

Within another few hours Ireland will have the strictest anti-smoking laws in the world. All places of work, excluding prisons and hospitals, will be smoke-free. It was meant to come in at the beginning of January but various legal groups caused it to be postponed until now.

I'm delighted personally. No longer will I have to breath noxious fumes every time I go into a pub. So, what's the consensus here? Has the State gone too far on regulating what can be done? Has it gone far enough? Would you like to see a similar ban in your own countries?

	28-03-2004 23:04									#2
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Smoking is banned in provincial jails here. We actually have convicted folk asking for heavier sentences so they can serve their time in Federal prisons.....and be allowed to smoke.

	28-03-2004 23:10									#3
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to this idea. Smokers shouldn't be allowed to impose their fumes on everyone else.

	28-03-2004 23:11									#4
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Smoking will be banned inside all bars, restaurants, clubs etc. in Norway from june this year. It's not allowed to smoke inside anywhere except in places which isn't open to the public, or places that employ people. Even airports will be smoke-free from june. This will probably cause some trouble when travellers will have to walk for ages to get a cigarette...

	28-03-2004 23:16									#5
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The perfume and 'scent' bans have started here. Our local HRDC office (unemployment office) has such a policy for all employees.

	28-03-2004 23:24									#6
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Uhm.... why can you still smoke in hospitals? Seems like that should be the first place to ban it.

	28-03-2004 23:28									#7
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Yeah, the hospital one is kind of weird... I saw it in one of today's papers. I'll have to check up on that one to make sure it's correct, but I think it's probably because of psychiatric hospitals. Schizophrenics tend to self-medicate using cigarettes to combat some of the side-effects of dopamine antagonists.

	29-03-2004 00:02									#8
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NY state banned smoking in public places over a year ago. The bars are hurting enough that I think the ban has become passed over by law enforcement. In NY city many bars will willingly let you smoke in the building because the profits from selling more liquor far outpace any fines that can be given out.

	29-03-2004 00:06									#9
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Harry, really? The spin I heard on the NY law was exactly the opposite - that it was increasing the revenue generated in pubs and resteraunts. I guess we'll find out for ourselves which argument is true in time...

Surveys in Ireland indicate that a large majority support the ban, so I don't believe it'll have a negative impact on the hospitality industry or other businesses.

	29-03-2004 00:09									#10
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The 'good for business' argument is BS on the face of it. If it was good for business the State would not have to force business to comply. The business owners know the truth.

	29-03-2004 00:47									#11
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I support bans like these except in places where alcohol is served, and then have a WELL-established non-smoking section.

Im not a big nazi about smoking except when I'm trying to eat in a restaurant and someone next to me lights up. Rude

	29-03-2004 00:50									#12
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Well, I can only speak from personal experience, but it can benefit business. There's one restaurant I frequent where the non-smoking section gets more business than the smoking section. So I might have to wait to get a table in the non-smoking section, while there would be a free table in the smoking section. My solution: I take my money elsewhere. I certainly frequent places that are smoke-free more often. I'm not alone in this view.

Business owners aren't always as savvy as they'd like to believe. The Irish government introduced new regulations at the beginning of the 90's that weren't always popular, yet they transformed our economy to one of the strongest in Europe.

But seriously, the hospitality industry predicted that the smoking ban would cost Ireland 50,000 jobs. In a country of 4,000,000 people. I certainly can't see where these figures came from, except perhaps their asses.

	29-03-2004 00:52									#13
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quote: Originally posted by our_man Harry, really? The spin I heard on the NY law was exactly the opposite - that it was increasing the revenue generated in pubs and resteraunts. I guess we'll find out for ourselves which argument is true in time... Surveys in Ireland indicate that a large majority support the ban, so I don't believe it'll have a negative impact on the hospitality industry or other businesses.

That's what I heard from some friends in govt and the restaurant biz. I think that a large amount of people who go out drinking expect to smoke during the night.

I support banning smoking in places like stadiums and the workplace, but placing the ban on bars is to much.

	29-03-2004 00:56									#14
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Now that I read back up on it, I see that most of the articles I saw were referring to just restaurants/bars and not ordinary bars.

	29-03-2004 01:05									#15
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Bar owners are in business to make money. You may not think they are very savy yet I would suspect they know how to make a buck better than the gov does.

Non-smoking bars by choice (owners choice) are very few and far between.

	29-03-2004 01:30									#16
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Let's hope they follow this up by banning Body Odour, farting and talking too loud in a braying voice.

	29-03-2004 01:32									#17
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I wouldn't mind allowing smoking in Bars if they had REALLY GOOD vents there.

	29-03-2004 01:34									#18
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Or if it was a designated "Smoking bar".

	29-03-2004 01:36									#19
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I always viewed it as a fair trade in bars, anyway. Non-smokers share my smoke, while I share their ostentatious and theatrical coughing, and self-righteous little homilies delivered at a volume designed to ensure that every person in a 50-foor radius is aware of the fact that I'm being lectured like a naughty little schoolboy.

	29-03-2004 01:45									#20
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quote: Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp Let's hope they follow this up by banning Body Odour, farting and talking too loud in a braying voice.

Nobody ever died from secondhand farting.

	29-03-2004 01:45									#21
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

up here in Barrow theres been a smoking ban in public places for a little less than a year now. not that it matters though since every public building was the typical smoke free environment from the start. hospital, store, bank, court house, school, etc. They even put a ban on smoking in cabs, but the cab drivers still allow people to smoke if they want.
My mom has told me that all around the country there are bars that will still let you smoke, even though its illegal.

	29-03-2004 01:48									#22
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quote: Originally posted by Jac de Molay Nobody ever died from secondhand farting.

Ever seen what methane does to the Greenhouse effect?

	29-03-2004 01:51									#23
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This is a great idea

But I don't know if it's the strictest in the world, we've been doing this in Cali for years now

It is really nice to not have to worry about the smoke, getting smelly clothes, etc.

Props to Ireland

Smoking

	29-03-2004 01:52									#24
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I'd like to say this is a bad thing, but the way smokers already act, both in bars and in general, makes me say they're getting what they deserve. Most times I go to the non-smoking area of a pub there's people smoking in the area, and because non-smoking areas don't have ash-trays, they just flick the ash onto the carpets. Such disrespect means they sure as hell don't get my respect.

	29-03-2004 01:55									#25
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What I can't stand are all the smokers that throw cigarette butts on the ground instead of in the damn ash tray.

Trust me when I say that really adds up and contributes to an insane amount of pollution.

	29-03-2004 02:12									#26
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This is a ludicrous law. No one is forced to walk into a pub.

	29-03-2004 02:14									#27
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Most of these laws are actually directed toward the employees Oncle (health and safety in the workplace).

	29-03-2004 02:14									#28
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Ted, we're following in the footsteps in California and New York no doubt, but this is the first time that a smoking ban has been introduced nationwide.

So, let's get this straight Laz. You object to us non-smoker's theatrical coughing and self-righteous little homilies, while I object to smokers putting my health at risk because they have complete disregard for their own.

I guess I'm going out on a limb by saying that non-smokers concerns are more valid than yours.

	29-03-2004 02:16									#29
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Wezil. Yes, the law is designed to protect bar staff from the dangers of second-hand smoke.

	29-03-2004 02:20									#30
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quote: Originally posted by Wezil Most of these laws are actually directed toward the employees Oncle (health and safety in the workplace).

Well, if you were a libertarian, you sure would answer that no one is forced to work in a pub?