h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

what got yikesed?

If it was ferretbadgers comment on my post, I object !! The post was addressed at me and I didn't take offence.

Come on mods, it'd be a bit ironic if you removed that post given the subject matter

Goes to prove what a joke tony blair is i will not stop smokeing in public if i want to smoke i will Its my choise to smoke i made the choise to smoke i will stop when i want to

And i hope to god they dont get in again Time to get a back bone blair

There is a social club I like but the smoke is so bad I sit outside in summer and don't go there in winter.
There is to be a £2500 fine for allowing smokers to smoke, I will not hesitate to tell those who will be in charge if they allow smoking there....apart from the health issues I don't see why I should have to sit in a stinking room.
....if someone started to burn paper in a pub they would be stopped, I can't see the differnce.

I don't believe that you can't see the difference. Surely there are enough pubs to have smoking and non-smoking establishments? And, if they hate it so much, why don't non-smokers just drink at home?

*mutter* *mutter* fascist *mutter*!

on the subject of passive smoking: if people dont like it, why dont they just move?

cleaner healthier scotland my ass, say that when confronted with congestion on the M5!

TDOR

I can't believe the number of comments I've seen elsewhere calling for the smoking ban to be extended to cover outside the entrances to pubs as well.

I suppose they'd better ban cars,lorries & buses near public places too.

I never thought I'd say it, but moving to France looks attractive.

dont you think that the government is campaigning to push smokers onto the edges of society by reinforcing the idea that smoking is an even mor disgusting than venereal disease? give it a couple of years and we'll be treated like lepers!

Sir, with the greatest respect, why the hell don't smokers smoke at home!!!...why should non-smokers have to go home!
...why should I have to go home stinking of someone elses second hand smoke and have to wash what were clean clothes?

ah, welcome to the land of the free strangely strange (or not so free anymore)

basically smokers should be able to smoke whateverthehell they like whereverthehell they like!

oops, i think i hear a thought crime...argh, here come the pc police!

Now you know how it feels.

The death of rats

here here i couldent agree more

Now, now you will know how I have felt for years....I have been unable to go where I wanted 'cause of smoke.
How would you like it if I urinated over your clothes and made them stink, disgusting thought isn't it!
....well having my clothes stink of second hand smoke is the same to me.....

Strangely,

What's wrong with allowing people choice? You have free will. You can choose not to go into a smoking establishment. You can choose to go somewhere else. Indeed, you can ignore the smell and go into an area where there are smokers. You have a choice. That choice has been removed from a massive section of society.

If this continues, tax revenue from tobacco sales will inevitably fall. Tax revenue which we are told goes into paying for Hospitals and Schools. When they start to be cut back further, your choice of healthcare and education will be limited. Of course, they could raise income tax to cover the estimated £4bn shortfall each year and you will have no choice in that. Are you willing to pay more income tax so that your choice of entertainment venue is as varied as possible?

I honestly understand people who find smoking foul and disgusting. I smoke myself and wish I didn't. I smell it in my clothes too. But it is my choice. It is your choice to keep 30 feet away from me at all times

Shouldn't be difficult, should it ?

SS - choice is what smokers would like, and what we're being deprived of. As I said, there are enough establishments to please smokers & non-smokers, and enough smoking and non-smoking people to staff them.

On the contary, I had no choice as I could not go into social club, now I do have a choice.
And actually, 75% of people don't smoke....so the majority are better off.
....yes there will less revenue, but since less people will die of cancer the less people smoke, the less money will be spent on cancer treatment.... it isn't just about less revenue.

Oops, and less money spent on heart problems...smoking deposits fat in arteries of heart and elsewhere.
It causes throat/mouth cancer.
Strokes, my father smoked 60 cigarettes a day and had 3 strokes,

£6bn raised on taxation of tobacco
£2bn spent on smoking-related diseases.

And the shear heartache of watching someone you love die early due to smoking, and the lost earnings, hence tax payed lost in revenue.

So, the argument isn't really about the smell is it?

It's about dictating to grown adults what they do with their own bodies.

Well, it is being dictated to me at moment....to go in social club I have to get stinky and risk passive smoking cancer.
......if I had a portable cooker and wanted a BBQ I would not go in a pub as the smoke would affect others.....