But some of the government legislation has been "good" for our health.  When seat belts became mandatory the outcry from the public was huge initially here in Ontario.  And any outcry from a Canadian should be taken seriously as we often passively sit back and let things happen without voicing our outrage.  If banning smoking in public areas has any affect on the decline of smoking, I see it as a good thing.  Normally, I don’t care what people do to themselves, however, with our healthcare costs way way out of control, I support non-smoking initiatives.  I expect I’m not the only one here in Ontario because a "Smoke Free Ontario" passed through without hardly a whimper.

 Though Vivian Stanshall often smoked and drank in bed and even set fire to his long ginger beard, to the frequent concern of his friends, the coroner found that the fire was caused by faulty wiring.  I guess even he proves your point then.

Oh – I was not trying to imply that the opposite was not true. Tobacco interests are just as sneaky at publishing ‘reports’ and funding ’studies’ as the anti-smoking lobbies. I’ll happily take the stance that the jury is out because for every ’study’ that states one thing there is also one that contradicts it.

On the subject of health costs this is not the case here in the UK. I really can’t just pop up with the relevant figures but the last time I heard them it was estimated that the tax collected on cigarettes and tobacco is enough to build about 8 hospitals a year. It more than offsets the costs of healthcare plus smokers are quite often put to the bottom of the list when it comes to health – maybe not routinely but it happens.

Also last time I heard, smoking is on the increase here in the UK amongst the young – especially girls. That, I think, is a sad statistic and I wonder if some of this might just be down to rebellion simply because it is getting to be a banned activity!

As to restaurants and pubs – it is perhaps too early to tell whether business has gone down or up. I suspect that restaurants may well be up in sales but some pubs may suffer. There has been a drive to create outside environments for smokers (which has caused the anti-smoking brigade to cry foul). As for me – I just don’t visit pubs that often and will only sit outside when I do.

I personally take my ‘responsibility’ as a smoker seriously. Dewey was a good example. If I had not been invited to smoke out on the deck I would not have done so. I do not want my choosing to smoke to effect others. But in places like parks or the streets there is NO danger to anyone else from my smoking and, as said, I strongly support peoples freedom of choice.

As for drinking it is quite hard to find stats (here in the UK anyway). I have looked. We have a serious binge drinking culture developing. This causes massive problems. Ask the police, for example. We are now spending a small fortune policing the streets overnight on Fridays and Saturdays (but not just the weekend) to stop fights and accidents caused by drinking. Emergency and Accident rooms are filled with abusive drunks at night and ordinary people are scared to veture out because the city streets are getting dangerous or, at the very least, unpleasant. Nobody ends up in the hospital from a smoking accident! Well unless they set themselves on fire of course!

Now I am starting to ramble!

http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/270503smoke.html

I disagree…there are many independent studies.  And your right to smoke really affects others, e.g. healthcare costs.  Here in Canada, smoking costs us $ billions while cigarette taxes collected are in the $ millions.  You do the math.

However, I still struggle with "restrictions" as well…we all expect and demand "the right to choose, speak, do, etc."  I know…just don’t go near someone smoking.  But I enjoyed sitting on the deck conversing with you guys at Dewey so I made the choice the sit in the presence of second-hand smoke.

I looked for information about 24 hour pubs and the dangers that were greater than passive smoking.  I’d be interested in reading it if you found something.  Now I’m not saying that alcohol abuse isn’t as bad as cigarette abuse.  And I’m also aware that all the effects can’t be quantified, e.g. affects on the family, affects on victims of drunk drivers, etc.

I’m wondering how many non-smokers support your view plus how boycotting places will make an impact.  I read an article in our local newspaper that some businesses were up in sales (restaurants) when the smoking areas where eliminated.  Our region had a no-smoking bylaw implemented years ago, long before the province took action.

If the number of smokers continues to decline you may need to look at another form of protest if the trend towards non-smoking as the norm continues.  I doubt I will see this in my lifetime though.

Well of course as I AM a smoker it is hard to say but I rather suspect and hope that my basic respect for peoples freedom would still win out. Also, as a smoker I  respect some of the restrictions (let’s say here in  England). No smoking in public buildings/restaurants/pubs I can accept. But when this was then extended to include private clubs for which I CHOOSE and PAY to be a member then I am outraged. The current calls to ban me smoking in my car is even more outrageous.

ATM lines I can understand. But parks? Golf courses?

There are two reasons given. One is the effect of passive smoking. There is NO legitimate and INDEPENDENT evidence that so-called ‘passive smoking’ is harmful. ALL the evidence used by the anti-smoking lobby was paid for by the anti-smoking lobby. The other reason given is that ‘it is for my own good’. And that, in my opinion, is nobody’s business but mine. I support my own freedom to choose on whether I indulge is pursuits that are dangerous to my health. And I have not noticed many other such pursuits getting banned for this reason. Our beloved government has even introduced 24 hour opening of pubs allowing an already drink-soaked young generation to binge even more. And this is far nore dangerous than smoking and exponetially more dangerous than passive smoking.

Anyway – smoking is just the tip of the iceberg. The UK, Europe, the USA and maybe Canada (I don’t know for sure?) seem to be in the grip of more and more restrictions on what we can and cannot do. What medications I can buy over the counter for example. When I can and cannot use a ladder! What food I can or cannot buy. The list is endless and growing. Smoking is just an easy target with a very well funded ‘anti’ lobby.

I’m curious…would you feel that way if you were a non-smoker.  Here in Ontario, we now have a smoke-free Ontario which prohits smoking in public buildings, i.e. banks which could include line-ups for ATM machines.  This also includes restaurants and workplaces.

I don’t know the stats for smoking in England (I know…England no longer exists!), but the majority of Ontarians are non-smokers so perhaps this is why we haven’t made a lot of fuss about the restrictions.  And it hasn’t hurt business financially either…majority rules…who knows??

Perhaps this is the case in California??