No EU can not smoke outdoors!

As a young man I was exposed to smoking from every member of my family, and all the advertising, from TV radio bill boards, and media, all encouraged and indeed promoted the idea that smoking was good? The taxes over the years l paid on tobacco have been astronomical. They more than paid for the quadruple heart by-pass and the medication l have to have every day. What does that tell you? Ex smoker!!

By pete. Posted October 3 2009 at 2:25 AM.

Banning smoking doesn't make Great Britain a Dictatorship--what rubbish some people state.
In fact the ban makes our country responsible.
I would LOVE to see smoking banned OUTSIDE public places.
I would like to sit on a pavement cafe or in a pub. garden and NOT have smoke blowing over my food.
People who smoke in such places are selfish and irresponsible.
I would also like to see heavy fines on the dirty people who drop cigarette ends on our streets.

By J. Knight. Posted September 20 2009 at 7:37 AM.

I am a none smoker but of an age when I remember playing the trumpet as a young child, the filter was made of asbestos and I have had lung cancer in my right lung, thankfully caught quite early. However, I suffer from breathing difficulties and am prone to lung infections. There are risks in most things we do in life, and who would want to eliminate all risk, but to me I would live and live life as opposed to the only alternative.

By anne. Posted September 10 2009 at 4:32 PM.

What people need to realise is that Obesity, alcohol and down right laziness contributes to premature death, yet you dont see McDonalds or the Off Licenses being banned do you???
Almost as many deaths are supposedly caused by obesity and alcohol as smoking, but the media and gullible people only look at smoking as the bad 1!!
85% that get lung cancer are smokers, agreed. BUT 75% of them smoke 15 cigarettes or more a day, and 8% smoke 10 or more. That leaves 2% of lung cancer patients being smokers of 9 or less a day. More people get cancer that dont smoke than people who smoke 9 or less a day. I smoke roughly 3-5 a day, some days none, some days 10. I have constant check-ups, am fit and healthy and the docs see no issue with me enjoying the odd ciggie. Its about time the WHOLE truth was told about smoking, and people were left to make their own decisions and have a smoking room. SAVE THE BRITISH PUB!!!

By Me. Posted August 20 2009 at 1:44 PM.

Freedom2choose.info estimates that between four to six million people no longer go to the pub each evening because of the smoking ban. Pubs and clubs should be able to provide the choice of a well ventilated smoking room away from non smokers if its customers prefer it.

The dictators at the EU and the WHO seem quite happy for people that smoke to be excluded from society.This would be the result of such legislation for those that choose not to quit. Their arguments about SHS are becoming more and more ridiculous.

By James. Posted August 1 2009 at 11:56 PM.

Oh my God, I had no idea how much support there was in the United Kingdom for a totalitarian dictatorship.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!! SMOKING IS NOT EVEN THE ISSUE HERE!

The BIG issue is the fact that these, or indeed ANY laws can be brought in with NO PUBLIC REFERENDUM by UNELECTED BUREAUCRATS!

Does that not worry you? It scares the hell out of me!

Gordon Brown: UNELECTED.
The entire E.U. government: UNELECTED.

But hey, let's not worry about a little thing like democracy. There's some people smoking outside that pub!

WAKE UP!!!! WE ARE LIVING IN A DICTATORSHIP AND YOU ARE WELCOMING IT WITH OPEN ARMS!

By Owen. Posted July 7 2009 at 1:44 AM.

Roy Castle had his opinion about what caused his Cancer and that was all it was. Not one person has been proven to have died due to SHS.

The two longest studies by the WHO and the ACS came to the same conclusion. They found no connection of SHS to Cancer or Heart Disease and the WHO even stated tht children of smoking families were 22% less likely to have cancer. These findings also agree with at least 200+ othr studies.

By virgilk. Posted July 3 2009 at 9:35 PM.

so they band smoking in public places now they are gonner ban smoking in the street aswell so smokers will only be able to smoke in their owne home

By chris. Posted July 3 2009 at 9:16 AM.

Soon there will be a smoking ban on the top of Snowden and Ben Nevis and you will not be allowed a referendum on in or out of EUrope either. Do not let this stop you voting LibLabCon however, you know it makes sense to keep voting for the thieving crooks that have a stranglehold on our Parliament
PS, I do not smoke and I am also not a fascist.

By adams. Posted July 1 2009 at 9:16 AM.

Some of the people on this page are paid by big pharma to make their comments (this practise is far more common that you might think), and to pretend to be more than 1 person. Please just ignore them, they're trying desperately to give the impression that the smoking ban isn't as deeply unpopular as it obviously is. Just ignore them, I recognise some of the names here and there's not need to take them seriously.

By Phil T. . Posted June 30 2009 at 11:38 AM.

Sorry, but third hand smoke is a danger. You dont actually need a study to prove the fact that you can smell smoke on a person that has recently smoked. Therefore substances are entering your body for you to sense this. To quote one website: "Very good studies show that tiny levels of exposure are associated with diminished IQ" (It can only be assumed that anyone that instantly dismisses these facts is a smoker with smokers delusions.)

By Stephen Murray. Posted June 30 2009 at 8:18 AM.

instead these non smoking zealots join the fight to allow smokers to have there own smoking premises or seperate smoking areas, so outside what is left of the countries pubs are not full of smokers they are now trying to destroy human rights and pubs some more. well all i have to say to them is hi hitler!

By clif e. Posted June 30 2009 at 6:58 AM.

For goodness sake Stephen - 3rd hand smoke has been ridiculed all over - no scientific study whatsoever. Just randon phone-calls to members of the public that the anti-smoking zealots decided to do. They're running out of ideas now!

Unfortunately the gullables of this world buy into it. Wake up and see what is actually going on.

By Helen. Posted June 30 2009 at 12:46 AM.

"Third hand smoking related studies have only recently been publisesd. The fact that you can smell smoke on a person, means you are inhaling toxic fumes."
Stephen Murray, with the greatest respect, look into things before you make statements like that. There has never been any scientific research into third hand smoke because any research that was started ended almost immediately because there is no such thing.
You are referring to a telephone survey in the USA where they asked people if they thought there was such a thing. The answer was yes or no and 60% said yes. Some, not all, of the British media made a mistake, one word, instead of survey they said research.

By Tim. Posted June 29 2009 at 10:48 PM.

Yes, BAN smoking. Several diseases not just lung cancer are related to smoking. Third hand smoking related studies have only recently been publisesd. The fact that you can smell smoke on a person, means you are inhaling toxic fumes. Health problems related to smoking should be payed for by the patient.

By Stephen Murray. Posted June 29 2009 at 4:05 PM.

about time too! our offices are always filled with smoke from inconsiderate smokers gathering outside with no regard for anyone. they leave their smoking debris all over the place and dont give a damn. why should pub gardens be out of bounds to non smokers just to satisfy the addiction of those smokers! its about time smoking was outlawed entirely

By Steve. Posted June 29 2009 at 10:31 AM.

"For years and years non-smokers have had to put up with the arrogance of smokers who think it is their right to pollute the air. Well for once this is a great idea from the EU. And for all smokers who don't like it. TOUGH!

By David M. Posted June 28 2009 at 8:40 AM."

Hey David.
I suppose you are an individual that use's no car and no public transport also you don't use Gas or Electricity. All these pollute the air.... do you really, honestly think thats clean air your breathing right now? even in the comfort of your own home?
as mentioned above. stick myself and my fellow smokers in a sealed room with nothing but smoke, you in trun sit in a room with excaust fumes, power station fumes and burning gas fumes. lets see who walks out after 20 minutes.

By Thomas. Posted June 29 2009 at 12:07 AM.

So Claire who lives in Sweden (or was that a typing error and she meant to say 'Swindon'?) has to hold her breath as she passes the smokers outside the hospital does she!? Well, if Claire ever comes to London to 'do the sights' I hope, for her sake, she brings an oxygen mask because what she'll breathe in during 2 hours in London will make her 'cough' & 'hurt her eyes' a damn site more than a million visits to the hospital where she has to walk past the smokers. If patients/visitors were allowed to smoke in a designated area INSIDE the hospital, a room that she would not have to enter then the problem of all that 'disgusting' smoke would not have arisen. Why have the 'Claires' of this world come out of the woodwork since the smoking ban?

By Sandra. Posted June 28 2009 at 10:46 PM.

I see that you mention "EU Zealots", but you do not explain firstly, who they are and, secondly, why they see fit to dictate how we live, what we do, what we think and how we organise our society.
Take a long, hard and informed look at the EU, where it came from, where it is going and why we should run away from it as fats as we can.
The first "coining" of the term was at a meeting, in Germany, in 1942. Since it's inception, it has been governed in policy by a German "secret" society that existed before the end of the last war. Is this ringing any bells folks?
They now talk openly about the "post democratic era", as if it is an inevitable thing (so democracy has run it's course then? - no-one told me). Before the last "treaty", our balance of payments with our European partners was about balanced. Since then, it has been slipping into the red to the tune of around £300Billion a year today (that is enough to run our entire Health Service). Yet, the EU cannot "account" for 95% of its budget (yes, for ever £100 we pay them, they "lose" £95), yet we all sit and pontificate about smoking.
When the latest treaty is "ratified", we lose control of our police, our councils and our laws. Our constitution (yes we DO have one), will be torn up and replaced with a dictatorship.
Still worried about smoking - it is a symptom not the disease. For God's sake (in a year I will not be allowed to say that) - WAKE UP.

By Nannyknowsbest. Posted June 28 2009 at 8:47 PM.

i'm not a smoker, i'm a free man!

By John Waring Chapman. Posted June 28 2009 at 8:19 PM.

Smokers on average die 10 years earlier than non-smokers. This means they use less of the resources of the earth, and cost the pension fund less.
Non-smokers should pay an extra tax to fund their longer wasteful years.

In fact there is a good case for giving people over [say]70 free ciggies, chips and chocolate.


Barry

By Barry Walters. Posted June 28 2009 at 8:33 PM.

I've got a better idea...why don't we ban the EU. it's unelected/illegal and ruining all of our countries in one way or another. Let's get rid of that first before we ban anything else.

By Samantha Jones. Posted June 28 2009 at 7:46 PM.

I am a life long never smoker and do not advocate smoking. However I grew up in a family where 8 people smoked. I am 58 years old, and aside from the National Health Service trying to kill me lasy year, I have always been healthy.

I played top class amateur football until I was 42 and still walk miles.

So my challenge to the rabid anti smoking brigade who contend passive smoking kills is this:

I will sit in a sealed room with ETS pumped in and they sit in a room with exhaust fumes pumped. After 15 minutes lets see who walks out. Any takers?

By Robert Feal-Martinez. Posted June 28 2009 at 8:02 PM.

Another display of "do as I say, not what I do".

I have no respect for hypocrites. They're still smoking away in the EU Parliament Buildings, and yet they're wanting us to buy into no smoking in certain outside areas!

This has nothing to do with health as any reasoned individual can see. These anti-smokers are fanatical.

By Helen. Posted June 28 2009 at 7:00 PM.

A few facts:

Roy Castle died of lung cancer, his death certificate does not say passive smoking.

RC was not a non smoker, he smoked cigars.

In his early career RC did a comedy act in variety shows, his props were made from asbestos.

RC only spent a few years in smoky clubs, he moved on to films and TV, unlike thousands of club acts, many of whom are still going strong.

Lung Cancer did not appear with smoking, in 1900 before smoking was a widespread social activity, 10% of cancers were of the lung. Everyone dies of cancer if heart failure does not get them first.

Roy Castle did not die from passive smoking, he died from lung cancer.

By Tim. Posted June 28 2009 at 6:07 PM.

The EU are even more brazen than that, they have even set a date when smoking tobacco is to be made illegal, 2025. I sure it will be just as successful as heroin and cocaine bans.


"MEP calls for EU ban on cigarettes by 2025
LEIGH PHILLIPS

18.07.2008 @ 19:31 CET

An Irish MEP has called for a total ban on tobacco products across the European Union within 15 years.

Avril Doyle, head of the Irish faction within the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), on Tuesday told a Brussels conference on how to prevent the tobacco industry from lobbying EU politicians that she wants cigarettes and cigars illegal in Europe by 2025."

http://euobserver.com/9/26515

By Dave Atherton. Posted June 28 2009 at 3:43 PM.

Claire, I am old enough to remember Roy Castle and in fact have seen him perform and very good he was too but the fact is that as you said " He blamed working in smoky jazz clubs " He was not a doctor but his belief has been pounced on by the anti-smoking zealots. Incidentally besides playing the trumpet ,he also made music from a selection of old kettles and different things which most people would not put into their mouths. There are many reasons for contracting lung cancer but in every debate about it somehow Roy Castles name always comes up. From all the entertainers in the world who have worked in similar situations this appears a little odd does,nt it?

By sheila. Posted June 28 2009 at 1:16 PM.

Here where i live in Sweden, the hospital banned smoking inside the hospital, so now all the smokers congregate outside of the main entrance to smoke and every time i go to the hospital, just walking past i have to take a deep breath before getting near and hold it going in through the door , the smoke hurts my eyes and makes me cough, its disgusting!!!

By Claire. Posted June 28 2009 at 1:10 PM.

no-one thinks about the tonnes of pollution that come from all the cars buses etc.. thats the real pollution that is everywhere and is invisible. Whos to say that the rise of cancer isnt the cars fault as every building next a road is probly full of car fumes and gases, yet someone with a 4 inch ciggy is treated like a killer. what i say is let us smoke we have smoked for thousands of years and if they ban it how long till they ban beer cos it is harmful and then anything harmful they are jumped up busy bodies that havnt lived one single day as a real person yet think they can tell us all what to do and when.

By bruce. Posted June 28 2009 at 12:45 PM.

Why should people have t oput up with smelly smoke entering and leaving the pub! Ban smoking end of!

By MK. Posted June 28 2009 at 12:34 PM.

Rebecca, so you either are too young or so old and senile to remember Roy Castle who died in 1994 from lung cancer. He was a non-smoker and blamed his illness on years of playing the trumpet in smoky jazz clubs. Passive smoking and the relation to lung cancer is real.

By Claire. Posted June 28 2009 at 11:02 AM.

More of the "I dont do it so lets ban it" attitude from David M below.
I wonder what his pleasures are and how he'd feel if they were banned. Still more pubs to close then!

By steve. Posted June 28 2009 at 10:36 AM.

Absolutely absurd, how many pubs have been hit by smoking bans in loss of profits so far, some even having to close. In the current climate and the UK highest rate of unemployment do they really want it higher?

Plus has anyone had a coughing fit whenever a car/bus /lorry has gone past due to the pollution coming out of them? (especially old buses with black smoke coming out of them). As a smoker it sure as hell has affected me.

Do you see these ''NON'' smokers complain about that NO! We pay alot of tax on our cigarettes do these ''NON'' smokers want the government to start putting everything else up tax wise to compensate????? I think not!!!

By Emma. Posted June 28 2009 at 10:25 AM.

Another reason to distance ourselves from the insidious claws of the EU. This country is being bullied into submission. Wake up people.

By sheila. Posted June 28 2009 at 10:14 AM.

For years and years non-smokers have had to put up with the arrogance of smokers who think it is their right to pollute the air. Well for once this is a great idea from the EU. And for all smokers who don't like it. TOUGH!

By David M. Posted June 28 2009 at 8:40 AM.

just one message for the E U
Foxtrot Oscar

By mark bailiff. Posted June 28 2009 at 8:06 AM.

Funny how there are still smoking areas in Parliament, isn't it? And I travelled through Washington last week, there's still a smoking lounge in the airport -- of course, it serves the politicians. Hypocrites and liars wherever politicians are involved.

By paul. Posted June 28 2009 at 2:38 AM.

Give me a break! Anti smokers will never be content. If they ban smoking outside they will want to ban it in your homes next. Just absurd! I don't believe anyone has died from second hand smoke and have family in the funeral business for more than 55 years. This nonsense needs to stop!

By Rebecca. Posted June 28 2009 at 1:23 AM.