Smoking ban in England

[Julius Ratus]

A bar is NOT a public place unless it is owned by a government entity or by a collective community group. A private owner is a private owner. If you walk into my home it does not become a public place simply because of your presence. The same is true of any privately held establishment. An owner of any privately held business should maintain the right to manage it as he sees fit, provided he follows the law, avoids discriminatory practices, etc. Clearly they are subject to any number of safety/building codes, licensing, etc., but they should still maintain the right to the operation of their business. Any non smoker can enter that establishment any time they please (within business hours), but it is their choice whether or not they stay due to the selection of drinks, the clientell, the food, the atmosphere or what have you. Any smoker may also freely enter or leave under the same circumstances, but it is up to the bar owner to determine the best method for his business to prosper.

 

You damn well are telling people where they can or cannot exercise their rights. This is not about smoking but rather it is much more about free enterprise and the rights of property owners. Smoking is a nasty habit that many hate, and therefore the rights of the property owner get clouded under the veil of doing what may be good for public health, but this is simply a step in a wrong direction for a free society.

 

Thank You Primus.

 

Come on people, in a nation-state that values property rights, this should be common knollege. Unfortunately, too many people are willing to sell their essential freedoms for the illusion of security. I stand by Benjamin Franklin in saying those people deserve neither. You cannot be secure, you cannot be safe, YOU WILL DIE. Get over it and try to have a life and let others have theirs without harassment.

[Pertinax]

I think I might start smoking a pipe, now I have the gravitas of age upon me.Also if it annoys Blair, feminists and small animals I will feel contented.

[Gaius Octavius]

I think I might start smoking a pipe, now I have the gravitas of age upon me.Also if it annoys Blair, feminists and small animals I will feel contented.

 

Amen! Have to lose your drink and seat at the bar. Waiter wants to grab your plate. Have to gear up for the weather. Rain drowns your smoke. Have to fight with bait delivery boys. Tobacco tax down the tubes.

 

It's those bloody cell phones that have to go!

 

[Silentium]

As from 1st July 2007 smoking in England will be banned in all public places, this means you will be able to go into any bar in the U.K have afew drinks and not come out smelling like an ashtray

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...01/nsmoke01.xml

I agree, it was about time! This ban was introduced last year in Italy and things improved, although the passive smoke problem here was not so acute.

My boyfriend is English, we're both non-smokers and he definitely favoured this decision.

As Paulinus said earlier, there's nothing horrible about making people go outside to enjoy a fag.

Here we have non-smoking pubs with small smoking areas/corners, usually outside; it could avoid the "ghettoisation" of smokers in smoker-only pubs.

[Moonlapse]

You cannot be secure, you cannot be safe, YOU WILL DIE.

You can be a little bit securer and safer if you chose not to really live, or prevent others from really living.

 

"Nearly all creators of Utopia have resembled the man who has toothache, and therefore thinks happiness consists in not having toothache." - George Orwell

 

As Paulinus said earlier, there's nothing horrible about making people go outside to enjoy a fag.

Indeed, but thats not the point. The issue is using the governments monopoly of force to make an owner of private property do so whether or not he agrees to. Precedents always have a way of leading to more of the same. How do you think behaviorists train pigeons to bowl? They first teach them to do something vaguely similar, perhaps pecking at a ball. They don't just put a miniature bowling lane in front of them and expect that the pigeon will want to roll a ball down the lane in order to knock over pins. If you teach society that private property rights are really not rights, then whats the next 'harmless' step? What's the eventual result? According to whom?

 

A lot can be accomplished through cooperation and without the use of legal force. It should always be an absolute last resort to make a law.