I'm a smoker, have been since the age of 14, and I agree with the indoors ban.
But to try and ban it outdoors is just ludicrous. As has been said, yes there's no safe limit, but is there really a safe limit for alcohol?
Some people can drink pints and pints of ale, others half a bottle of spirits and others a bottle or two of decent wine and it doesn't 'seem' to affect them. Health wise it probably is but violence wise they don't show any tendencies towards this behavior. On the other hand, you can get a lot of people who will turn aggressive at the mere sniff of a barmaids apron! Their drinking has an effect on others, a drink driver can have devastating effects on a number of people, both directly and indirectly. When a new restaurant/pub is being built one of the first things to be done is lay the car park out!
Yes, smoking is a dirty habit. It does do you harm, it does make your clothes smell, it does turn your paintwork yellow if you smoke indoors and people can die of passive smoking. Smokers don't deny any of this. However, it's been proved that passive smoking outdoors does not exist unless people are standing within a number of people who are smoking, for a considerable time each day, and where there is no air movement. If there is a slight breeze blowing it will quickly dissipate any smoke and people passing by will not suffer any effects. They are much more likely to inhale more noxious fumes from passing traffic even with the Clean Air Act in place.
When they banned smoking indoors the Inland Revenue saw a massive drop in taxes to their coffers. This was rectified by simply increasing the cost of tobacco products. The same drop will happen if the stop people going to what few pubs there are by banning smoking outside. Sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it when it comes to wanting money from the electorate or trying to oppose a section of them by punishing a sizeable section of them who consider it their right to find lawful pleasure the way they see fit.
But to try and ban it outdoors is just ludicrous. As has been said, yes there's no safe limit, but is there really a safe limit for alcohol?
Some people can drink pints and pints of ale, others half a bottle of spirits and others a bottle or two of decent wine and it doesn't 'seem' to affect them. Health wise it probably is but violence wise they don't show any tendencies towards this behavior. On the other hand, you can get a lot of people who will turn aggressive at the mere sniff of a barmaids apron! Their drinking has an effect on others, a drink driver can have devastating effects on a number of people, both directly and indirectly. When a new restaurant/pub is being built one of the first things to be done is lay the car park out!
Yes, smoking is a dirty habit. It does do you harm, it does make your clothes smell, it does turn your paintwork yellow if you smoke indoors and people can die of passive smoking. Smokers don't deny any of this. However, it's been proved that passive smoking outdoors does not exist unless people are standing within a number of people who are smoking, for a considerable time each day, and where there is no air movement. If there is a slight breeze blowing it will quickly dissipate any smoke and people passing by will not suffer any effects. They are much more likely to inhale more noxious fumes from passing traffic even with the Clean Air Act in place.
When they banned smoking indoors the Inland Revenue saw a massive drop in taxes to their coffers. This was rectified by simply increasing the cost of tobacco products. The same drop will happen if the stop people going to what few pubs there are by banning smoking outside. Sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it when it comes to wanting money from the electorate or trying to oppose a section of them by punishing a sizeable section of them who consider it their right to find lawful pleasure the way they see fit.
