Smoking Ban
- Thread starter labrat
- Start date
IdleRich
IdleRich
OK - and I admit this is getting a bit stupid, what if there is a bar owner who runs his own bar single-handed, smokes a hundred cigarettes a day and wants people to smoke in his bar (if they like)?
What I'm saying is that there are people who want to smoke in bars and people who want to allow them to smoke in their bars, should the government be getting between them?
john eden
male pale and stale
IdleRich said:
errrrrrrr.... possibly not. He may also have super-babe robot staff like on Westworld? Or maybe even undead Zombie staff? That would be awesome!
I myself would have to think very hard about whether the risk of being exposed to cancerous smoke outdoes the sheer coolness of being served a pint by a robot version of one of Russ Meyer's vixens...
But there are also cleaners, people making deliveries, so I dunno.
The fact remains that in most pubs this isn't the case.
you all know exactly where this is headed: self-service pubs, pints, drinks and food doled out by vending machines, which will have retina scanners to verify age and breathilizers to check blood/alcohol levels...all music handled by jukeboxes, sprinkler system kicks in when fights break out...
(that Westworld comment got me thinking about this)...
(that Westworld comment got me thinking about this)...
Canada J Soup
Monkey Man
What amazed me about the smoking ban in Ireland was that it actually seemed to be happily observed by most smokers. I think I saw one person try to light up the last time I was home (and he got told to put it out in about two seconds). Wasn't there an incident where a pub was found to be serving after hours due to smokers congregating outside after last call?droid said:
It took about six months for enough bars and clubs in NYC to start ignoring the ban that it no longer made that much of an impact on going out. There are still plenty of places that are smoke free, but they tend to be the kinds of venues that have a large security staff and preppy / fratboy / B&T clientele. Anywhere small and even slightly divey with music worth hearing and anywhere with a door policy designed to make hipsters stand in line generally turns a blind eye after midnight.
bassnation
the abyss
henry s said:
and while we are at it, can we also ban pub djs playing deafeningly loud funky house drowning out any conversation other than the kind of red faced shouting that drunken people like to indulge in?
i'm totally opposed to the smoking bans -- and i only smoke socially
i actually have an entire (err, half-baked) theory on this subject
but i think that smoking has all kinds of cultural meanings -- and very much belongs to the night, to the culture of the night (and of modernity)
health is not the one and only consideration -- it's a philistine measure
and if you say the bans are "democracy in action" -- then whatever happened to protecting the right of the minority to do as they see fit at the margins, in their own corners, in their own bars and clubs
HOWEVER, the one benefit of smoking bans is that it allows a ready compass for determining the best bars and clubs = the places that defy the ban and allow smoking
i actually have an entire (err, half-baked) theory on this subject
but i think that smoking has all kinds of cultural meanings -- and very much belongs to the night, to the culture of the night (and of modernity)
health is not the one and only consideration -- it's a philistine measure
and if you say the bans are "democracy in action" -- then whatever happened to protecting the right of the minority to do as they see fit at the margins, in their own corners, in their own bars and clubs
HOWEVER, the one benefit of smoking bans is that it allows a ready compass for determining the best bars and clubs = the places that defy the ban and allow smoking
D
droid
Guest
dominic said:
But that right doesnt really exist in our societies does it? I cant go out to a crack club tonight and have a few pipes, or go to a brothel (legally at least). There are already restrictions to liberty when it comes to behaviour that is judged to harm others, and IMO smoking in enclosed public spaces crosses that line.
Smoking kills about 5 million a year... the only other drug that competes in terms of mortality is alcohol... its always struck me as strange that widespread use of such a dangerous substance is so widely accepted and vocally defended... ...almost a tyranny of addicts.
D
droid
Guest
Some of my best friends are sinners - I just dont think its fair to expect others to pay for those sins...
IdleRich
IdleRich
But you should be able to.
Thing is, people should be allowed to do what they like as long as it doesn't harm others. Smoking by itself does not intrinsically harm others although as John Eden pointed out it can harm people in the same environment. It seems to me that there ought to be some way to allow people to smoke without people who don't choose to breathe their smoke breathing it and a total ban on smoking in public is heavy-handed.
D
droid
Guest
Slothrop said:
Bingo!!
I'm just a lousy Australasian, so don't have any place in a bar but in NZ the smoking ban seems to have caused little stress.
The venue owners I have heard from who are finding it shit are not those who are running clubs for fringe dwelling extremists or something, but rather those who have old pubs where a middle aged drinking crowd have always met in the late afternoon to get pissed, smoke some ciggies and have a chat. Anyone under 40 doesn't seem to have got fucked off about it.
The big change I noticed is that you can smell a lot more, so if you're standing in a room full of predominantly men talking shit and drinking beer, you know all about it. Likewise if you're surrounded by people dancing near you, particularly anyone with their arms above their head, you know about that too.
I dunno, I've never been a smoker, so maybe I'm missing out on the culture nuances. I do find it funny that many of the same people who rave about the health benefits of it are the same who bitch about health being a lousy argument for the illegality of any other drug. I guess it's not making a substance illegal though; it's not supposed to be protecting the health of the user, but those around them.
but in NZ the smoking ban seems to have caused little stress. The venue owners I have heard from who are finding it shit are not those who are running clubs for fringe dwelling extremists or something, but rather those who have old pubs where a middle aged drinking crowd have always met in the late afternoon to get pissed, smoke some ciggies and have a chat. Anyone under 40 doesn't seem to have got fucked off about it.
The big change I noticed is that you can smell a lot more, so if you're standing in a room full of predominantly men talking shit and drinking beer, you know all about it. Likewise if you're surrounded by people dancing near you, particularly anyone with their arms above their head, you know about that too.
I dunno, I've never been a smoker, so maybe I'm missing out on the culture nuances. I do find it funny that many of the same people who rave about the health benefits of it are the same who bitch about health being a lousy argument for the illegality of any other drug. I guess it's not making a substance illegal though; it's not supposed to be protecting the health of the user, but those around them.