Smoking Should Be Banned in Public Places

Do you mind people smoking around you in public places? According to the pro-smoking group Air Initiative 7 in 10 of you do. Do you think it is fair to discriminate against smokers, forcing them to stand outside and smoke? On the other hand is it fair that non-smokers should have to inhale second hand smoke which can dame their health? (Do you support this ban or do you oppose it?) Personally I oppose it as I believe that non-smokers shouldn't be subjected to a smoky environment on a night out. I am a non-smoker which would undoubtedly be the reason behind me supporting the ban however if I was a smoker I would probably view the ban in a completely different light. If there was a ban it would affect my social life as smoking is being frowned upon and has been since the 17th Century. In this essay I will examine both sides of this controversial issue.

Smoking has been a controversial issue since as far back as 1604 when Scotland's James III wrote "A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain and dangerous to the lungs." Recently an advertisement campaign has been launched by the Health Promotion Agency which urges people to vote for the ban. It shows smoking in a bar as unacceptable. It also compares passive smoking to someone sitting in front of you coughing into your face. Personally I wouldn't like someone coughing in my face and I don't particularly enjoy sitting in a bar inhaling second hand smoke which is damaging my health.

A Welsh newspaper, Wales on Sunday claimed that if non-smokers spent 20hours per week in a pub they would have only inhaled the equivalent of 19 cigarettes. 19 may not seem that much but it is 19 cigarettes more than what they choose to smoke. I think that this is unacceptable as non-smokers are forced to inhale harmful smoke while on a night out. So in order to have fun they have to suffer the consequences of the smokers' addiction.

This is one of the main reasons why smokers are turning into social outcasts. They believe that they have the right to smoke wherever they choose while smokers feel that their rights have been violated and their health damaged.

In a recent survey 28% of employed people said that they would like their employer to ban smoking completely at work. Bar staff in particular are greatly affected as smoking in bars is seen as normal. However when you apply for a job you aren't

Vivienne Nathanson, B.M.A Head of Science and Ethics said 'After smoke free laws came into effect in Montana, heart attacks fell by 40%. This statistic is appalling and clearly illustrates the number of heart