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Should smoking be allowed in public places?

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Results so far:

Yes
39% 2232 votes Total: 5734 votes
No
61% 3502 votes
Yes

Smoking should be allowed in certain public areas. For example, smoking should be allowed in open aired places such as sidewalks, parks, neighborhoods, and beaches. Places where someone who is not a smoker has area that is not affected by the smoker smoking.

Smoking inside buildings such as schools, groceries, department stores, and restaurants should not be allowed, but having smoking sections in bars, restaurants, or airports would be a good idea.

Smoking is not good. It has many health risks attached to it. Certainly nonsmokers should not have to endure the smoke in cramped, airless places. However, the smoker has certain rights as well. The smoker should be able to partake in their bad habit while at work, waiting for a plane, and walking their pet down the ocean side.

Health risks are not debatable when speaking on smoking. There are serious and real negative side effects in dealing with smoking. These factors should be considered when placing limits on where one can and cannot smoke.

The line is crossed when there is demand for the smoker not being able to smoke in their own privately owned vehicle. This form of control is truly foolish. If a smoker wants to smoke in the privacy of his or her automobile, they should be allowed to do so.

There are many who feel inclined to tell a smoker where they can and cannot smoke. Sometimes it crosses the line of reason and into the field of personal freedom. I cannot agree that if a smoker wants to have a cigarette as they depart a mall, walking toward their car, for such activities to be illegal.

There is a fine line between the need for government to tell someone what to do on their own time acting like a person's mother and a helpful force making air cleaner for those who do not smoke.

Smokers understand the habit is costly, may and will cause certain health issues, and that nonsmokers do not like it. Most go out of their way, avoiding smoking where the smoke might bother someone~ be it someone they know or a stranger.

Smokers are not inconsiderate as a whole. They DO try to go to a space without children and without people in order to light up. It would be nice if nonsmokers were more considerate as well. Rude remarks and snide comments often cause the smoker an inclination to "rebel".

The addiction of smoking has a firm gripe on many people, me included. I do not believe that smoking in certain public places should cause any harm to anyone except me in most situations. The temperament of those who smoke that are refused a space to do it can be ugly and unhappy.

Smoking SHOULD be allowed in some public forums because it is the public that smoke! Common sense and logic should factor into where would and could be proper places for the smokers to smoke. It should not be blown into a greater pretence than it already is.

This can be a healthy transition for all involved when this logic is applied. It can reduce the smokers' count of a cigarette which improve their health, but allows the addiction to be fed so that the smoker remains productive and contented. The nonsmoker can enjoy air quality, avoiding the sections where smoking is allowed, and not worry if the smoking interferes with their productivity.

A simple balance, somewhere in the middle, where both sides are sated and satisfied, should be the goal of finding a solution.

Learn more about this author, J.R. Lewis.
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No

Should smoking be allowed in public places? If its places like restaurants, pubs, airports, airplanes, etc. No. If its outdoor places then yes, because it's airy.

I live in England and they've banned smoking in public places throughout - even in pubs and for me, I'm glad! And honestly, it hasn't brought down the number of customers either! In fact, I'd say that even more customers come into pubs and clubs because it's non smoking. There's a local pub that my husband and I go to and I used to dread going there because it allowed smoking inside - I'd get the smell in my hair, in my clothes, and it started to make my eyes water after awhile. Now that it's illegal to smoke in public buildings/areas it's much easier, relaxed, and enjoyable for me, a non smoker.

For those who say that smoking shouldn't be banned, here's a tip: kick the habit, it's turning your lungs black and possibly giving you cancer such as lung, throat or gum cancer.

Smoking in general is bad for you and to me, it's a slow way of committing suicide. If a person doesn't like themselves then they should just kill themselves fast; stop pulling the band-aid off so slowly!

Most of my family smokes and I've had to deal with second hand smoking and I never enjoyed that. I'd smell of smoke when I'd get to school, and I'd have to come home to a smoke house it was disgusting. My parents are smokers, my father's sister is a smoker, my aunts, and my Grandfather was one and so forth. Only my sister and I aren't smokers and that's a good thing because it shows that you can be an adult and NOT smoke.

Smoking in public places such as restaurants and such regardless of having a smoking and non-smoking area, means that there's still a risk of second hand smoke. It's a disgusting habit and it makes someone very unattractive.

In the U.S., the label on the side of cigarette packs is a message from the Surgeon General speaking nicely to the smokers. The cigarette packs in Europe and the UK say this and in big bold letters: Smoking Kills. There are advertisements stating that if a woman with a baby smokes, then the baby smokes as well.

Does letting people smoke in pubs, restaurants, etc bring in more revenue?: No. Is smoking disgusting? Yes. Is it healthy? No. Should it be stopped all together? No because some people still like to commit suicide.

Learn more about this author, Themis Libra.
Contact this writer Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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