Smoking Ban

I thought it was an outright ban across the EU in public areas (inside), bars and eating establishment..

seems this is not the case..

I wonder if the UK will start to allow smoking "areas"

Well I was smoking in a few bars somewhere in Europe last week. I thought the same thing at the time.

I thought it was an outright ban across the EU in public areas (inside), bars and eating establishment..

 

seems this is not the case..

 

I wonder if the UK will start to allow smoking "areas"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Act_2006

ah....so it is not really an EU thing...

No, it's not EU wide. Individual countries implemented their own legislation effecting a ban. Hence Ireland were, I think, at least a couple of years before us.

And, no, I don't see any possibility of "smoking areas" being introduced. The next measures to be implemented are a ban on tobacco products being displayed in places like newsagents and an outlawing of ciggie vending machines.

This might also help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Smoking_bans.png

I wonder if anyone could challenge the law at the European supreme court (if they were sad enough)

I wonder if anyone could challenge the law at the European supreme court (if they were sad enough)

http://www.freedom2choose.info/

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/1482703.nonsmoking_landlord_braced_for_high_court_ban_battle/

Yeah it's not EU wide, I know it was still legal in the Netherlands not long ago, it might still be

Yeah it's not EU wide, I know it was still legal in the Netherlands not long ago, it might still be

Would be odd if when smoking a joint in a cafe in Amsterdam, the dope was legal but the tobacco wasnt.

Would be odd if when smoking a joint in a cafe in Amsterdam, the dope was legal but the tobacco wasnt.

That's actually the case! You can smoke tobacco in the street (but not dope), and you can smoke dope in the hash cafes (but not tobacco)...

"Odd" is a bit of an understatement!!

There's a cafe in Bruges that is also a tobacconist. So you can sit in the cafe and smoke.

Civilised IMO

There's a cafe in Bruges that is also a tobacconist. So you can sit in the cafe and smoke.

 

Civilised IMO

Not very civilised for other non smoking cafe users

Not very civilised for other non smoking cafe users

I'm not a smoker, but the blanket ban hasnt been a runaway success imho. Its hit pubs very hard indeed, I really cant see why there shouldnt have been a beefed up version of smoking rooms, maybe reversing the no-smoking areas idea so that there would be just a few well ventilated smoking areas instead, in pubs that chose to provide them.

And yes, the netherlands situation does seem farcical.

Pubs are rubbish now thanks to the smoking ban, full of families and kids.

Not very civilised for other non smoking cafe users

There are other cafes nearby. If people don't like the smoke, then they should know not to go there. Why would non-smokers want to go to a tobacconist's shop anyway?

I thought the main driver in getting the ban was the health and safety of pub workers, struggle to see how smoking rooms could be introduce if that was the case. Not a smoker myself but never had a problem with it in pubs in contrast to restaurants and other public areas.

Used to go to a hot, sweaty and very smokey comedy club in Brighton. Even as a smoker your eyes would stream by the end of the night. Then they put in good ventilation in the roof, the smoke went directly upwards away from everybody else, and transformed the place. We didnt need a blanket ban imo.

Plenty of smoking places in Amsterdam. These coffee shops would not be the same without the smoking!! It would be 'coffee house'.

I'm a non smoker, I was all for the smoking ban when it came in but would love for it to be legal in bars and pubs again. Maybe have some sort of ventilation law?

It's a stupid law. A pub should have the option.

This would suit everyone. A pub would have to (by law) either have a 'Smoking Allowed' or 'Smoking Not Allowed' sign. Pubs would soon find out what sort of pub they are and increase business because of it. It would also be nice if they had to have a 'Kids allowed' or 'Kids not allowed' sign.

I guess the 'powers that be' won't be happy until every non-chain shop and non-chain pub are closed down. That's the way things are heading...

I love how people thought it was something to do with the EU. Typical, absolutely typical.

Not surprising though seeing as a lot of daft rules start there.

I see that they still haven't given up on the 6% budget increase. They are threatening to give themselves tax raising powers if they don't get their way in direct contravention to the Lisbon Treaty which they fought so hard to get (according to the press yesterday)

I love how people thought it was something to do with the EU. Typical, absolutely typical.

Aha, now dont think that just because it isnt an official EU policy it has nothing to do with the EU. It seems like too much of a coincidence that smoking bans are busting out all over, I smell conspiracy amongst the burghers and mandarins

It's a stupid law. A pub should have the option.

 

This would suit everyone. A pub would have to (by law) either have a 'Smoking Allowed' or 'Smoking Not Allowed' sign. Pubs would soon find out what sort of pub they are and increase business because of it. It would also be nice if they had to have a 'Kids allowed' or 'Kids not allowed' sign.

 

I guess the 'powers that be' won't be happy until every non-chain shop and non-chain pub are closed down. That's the way things are heading...

Couldn't agree more, however common sense rarely succeeds when faced with political interference.