More Than 1 1/2 Years Since Smoking Ban In England

[ejaycat]

I remember the stink some people raised when the smoking ban in England was about to go into effect. Now that's it's been in place for a more than a year and a half, is it now a non-issue? Have people adjusted? Do people actually enjoy the smoke-free environments? Please share some thoughts...

[Faster]

Not English, but Ontario has had a smoking ban for about 5 years, its not a big deal anymore.

[cfm Jeremie]

France public areas have been smoke free for more than a year now: it's a blessing for non-smokers. Smokers can still smoke outside : many cafés, in Paris, offer shelters outside for people to be able to smoke in adverse weather conditions (cold, rain).

All in all, certainly not the end of the world as some had predicted.

[Stu]

There's no great difference. Some commentators have stated that some pubs/bars have gone out of business as a result of the ban - but there is very little evidence of this particularly in the present economic climate.

As a smoker, I don't mind stepping outside - it's actually where you get most of the best conversations and meet the most interesting people.

Non-smokers have started complaining that they often are left guarding tables while everyone else is outside -

Relatively very few people complained about the smoking ban even back then - it's just one of those things.

[Rob2012]

So much better as a non-smoker, although there were a few pubs where you could smell the toilets after the smoke went away

[jim jones]

Smoking bans are ok for public buildings but when it gets to be open air ? People are more likely to get second smoke from Automobiles out doors then smokers. It is a criminalization of an activity that Governments world wide get a great deal of revenue from . Have they made a smoking ban in Amsterdam ? That would be totally ironic

Jim jones

[NYCD 2012]

Singapore has a smoking bans in indoor buildings, markets and other public places. Still doesn't work , I see no difference unless you got downtown or the shopping district, Orchard road.

[Mainad]

So much better as a non-smoker, although there were a few pubs where you could smell the toilets after the smoke went away

Stu said: "As a smoker, I don't mind stepping outside - it's actually where you get most of the best conversations and meet the most interesting people."

That's the one thing I've always envied about smokers,their smoking breaks! Non-smokers' breaks never took off!!

I remember asking a barman at my local a few weeks after the ban went into effect what affects it was having and he replied that it had made no great difference to trade but he did now notice other smells more particularly the body odour of the customers (especially when it was packed) which the cigarette smoke had previously masked!

I think people have adjusted to the ban quite well.A year on and there is hardly any mention of it anymore after all the initial fuss about assaults on people's liberties etc.One notices smokers standing outside pubs and offices much more to indulge their favourite pastime and I do notice more cigarette butts left outside which I find quite annoying (it's just the same as dropping litter after all)!!

[ejaycat]

I somehow thought it would be a non-issue.

Living in California I really take it for granted that I will just assume that when I go into an enclosed public space, there will be no smoking... to the point that when I do smell cigarette smoke, it's actually very jarring. I usually avoid sitting near restaurant or bar entrances because of course that's where the smokers all congregate; it wouldn't surprise me if laws are passed where one cannot smoke within a certain distance from all building entrances; that's already the case with government-owned buildings in California.

[KRATK]

In my country, smoking in closed public places has been banned since 2 years... and I see the difference... its great for non-smokers and in fact nobody has been really worried about it. The only problem I've still seen is in concerts... last time I went to Arena Santiago, I called twice to one of the guards because the girl next to me was smoking and after that, she was taken outside her place, ha-ha.

[Alexjc]

New Zealand band smoking in bars way back in 2002...One thing it DID create was Alfresco Dining and an outdoor and kerbside cafe society!! So it wasn't all that bad in the end.

[arwebb]

There's no great difference. Some commentators have stated that some pubs/bars have gone out of business as a result of the ban - but there is very little evidence of this particularly in the present economic climate.

The licenced trade was hard enough even before the smoking ban was introduced. Its introduction was yet another blow to an industry already squeezed by companies who strangle tenants for as much as they can get and supermarkets who could afford to massively undercut landlords on prices which pubs have little or no control over.

I know one or two landlords who are doing quite nicely, but most of the ones I know are finding it very tough and were doing even before the current recession. My brother got out of the pub trade altogether not long after the smoking ban came in and I don't think he regrets it at all.

[Rob2012]

The licenced trade was hard enough even before the smoking ban was introduced. Its introduction was yet another blow to an industry already squeezed by companies who strangle tenants for as much as they can get and supermarkets who could afford to massively undercut landlords on prices which pubs have little or no control over.

As you know I'm fully behind the smoking ban and think it's been a success but I agree with you about supermarkets.

[stevie]

totally agree, it's a much more lively atmosphere now that the bars occupy the streets.

[Kenadian]

...it wouldn't surprise me if laws are passed where one cannot smoke within a certain distance from all building entrances; that's already the case with government-owned buildings in California.

That currently exists in Vancouver (not sure if it covers all of British Columbia). You can't smoke within 6 meters of a building entrance (about 18-20 feet). I've often been curious to know what the zoning would look like if the put it on a map. I'm sure there would be strange little pockets where if you smoked it would be perfectly legal but if you took a step in any direction, you'd be in violation of the law.

[arwebb]

As you know I'm fully behind the smoking ban and think it's been a success but I agree with you about supermarkets.

The thing that gets me is that we bemoan the apparent demise of the great British pub and yet we do bugger all about it. If anything, we accelerate its decline.

[Rob2012]

Back in 1950 in his essay on the British pub, George Orwell listed his reasons for visiting his favourite local. They included such things as a good fire burning; it must be quiet enough to talk; pub games only in the public bar; barmaid knows most customers by name; besides cigarettes and pipe tobacco, the pub sells stamps and aspirin; draught stout on tap; beer served in glass or pewter tankards.

The aspirin and stamps may be a little excessive. But apart from that, pub owners could do worse than study Orwell's list. With news that four pubs a day are closing nationally, and of an increasing number of villages without a pub, it is too simplistic to point to the smoking ban as the main reason why more and more people are losing the pub-going habit. The causes for this worrying decline are surely more "Orwellian".

Pubs are not for clubbers. They are places to chat. High-decibel music that makes conversation impossible is illogical as well as annoying. Screens for big sporting events seemed like a good idea at the time, but as there are big sporting events most nights now, these screens also serve to prevent human interaction. The perception that these distractions are cynical attempts to make people drink more may have contributed to the collapse in the use of pubs. The variable quality of beer, and its often excessive cost, is contributing to the decline.

The much-vaunted adoption of the Continental custom of families gathering over food and drink has been a desperately slow one, but it remains not just a desirable development for British society; it could also be the saviour of pubs. First, though, they will have to make the quality of drink, service and ambience the priorities, and stop trying to be alternative venues for sport or drum'n'bass.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leadi...ime-920831.html

^ I think there's something in that