j00ni said:
Oh no the rolleyes, how can i possibly counter such a strong arguement as that?
Sarcasm doesn't slay me I'm afraid, at least when it's done as poorly as that.
j00ni said:
Surely you must appreciate that there is a difference between dictating the rules by which employees of a company should behave and how the customers of a particular service should behave.
A bar/pub/club is a place of work. An office is a place of work. Not spotting a difference here. It's not about dictating the behaviour of customers, its about making the workplace as safe as it can sensibly be for the people who
have to be there. You can say "it's their choice to work there" until you're blue in the face but it doesn't change the fact that people do have to work there and they don't deserve to have to put up with the health problems that smoke can cause.
And yes, it does cause health problems. I've lost track of the number of times I've come home coughing up **** out of my lungs from a 6 hour stint behind the bar. But thats okay - I mean, I was getting paid a whole £35 for that shift.....that obviously makes the lung damage worthwhile.
j00ni said:
Where do you draw the line? Once you have this, do you go on to say no smoking in any public place (you are after all risking your health by walking along the street near a smoker), so that smokers are confined to their homes if they want to smoke (and what if these smokers, as many will be, are parents - forced to smoke around their kids because they are not allowed to smoke elsewhere - a bit of conjecture I know, but where does it end)
This is not combatting the problem, it is simply ignoring it. Resources and legislation should be put to stopping people taking up smoking, and helping smokers to quit - rather than gradually shunning these people from socitey.
Quite true. But the governments of the world don't want people to stop smoking entirely - think of all the tax £s, $s and whatever elses that they'd miss out on! They'd have to raise the duty on alcohol and fuel to compensate, and no-one wants that. Alright, they'll make it very difficult and expensive to smoke, but they've gone with that plan regarding driving and are still able to make money out of the British public for that.