[canucklad]

I also don’t smoke butt I do have many friends that do….although I do feel a bit sorry for them, standing out in the wind and rain, overall it’s the best piece of legislation the Scottish Parliament has implemented!

I do remember travelling with my work companions on our Sunday commute, last puff outside the departures at EDI, causing that annoying haze and fag butt ambience!

Then as the evening wore on, so did their nerves, becoming more and more tetchy and cantankerous……the only thing saving my sanity being the adult juice in the BD lounge followed by more on the flight to LHR!!

What amazed me was the remarkable morphazition of character from the people who I know well as work colleagues, to as soon as the aircraft doors opened at T1 …to a famous Jamaican athlete……..

Doors to manual and then it was the Usain BOLT to the Belfast Lounge, cigarette doubling as racing baton, lit within a micro-second of arriving in the strange contraption that was the smoke room !…Then it was Puff the Magic Dragon time.

I felt more sorry for the chap who I was chatting too in the T1 bar…..Already 1 hour through security he was finishing his pint before heading to the gate to board his Air New Zealand flight to Auckland……..My ears where left ringing with his contempt for LAX, and not being able to go landside for a fag due to California’s strict no smoking laws during his transit ……He left me a broken man !!

[AnthonyDunn]

@ DavidGordon10 – 07/06/2013 08:52 GMT

+1

At least cigarette or cigar butts don’t stick to the bottom of your shoes, can be swept up easily and are not a semi-permanent literal “blot on the landscape”. This is in contrast to the detritus of inconsiderate, ignorant and anti-social gum chewers who think it reasonable to eject the contents of their mouth over pavements, benches, carpets and to stick lumps of their gunk to walls, under desks etc. Cleaning the bl***y stuff off is worse than dog pooh. At least the latter is biodegradable.

If tobacco products can attract serious taxation, it’s well overdue that we had a £10 a pack “clean up levy” on chewing gum.

Rant over – and I will now return to my darkened room.

[MartynSinclair]

millionsofmiles – I have no problem if you wish to comment directly to me via martynsinclair @ Hotmail .c o m

“live and let live” beautifully summarises the message I am putting across.

Have a great weekend – had plenty of hugs today in Berlin… a trip walking in the footsteps of my late Father circa 1938…. and nobody was smoking when visiting my late father’s school!!!

[LuganoPirate]

I confess to being an avid cigar smoker, though I never inhale. I have my gob and throat checked annually and so far nothing to worry about I’m pleased to say.

However I also hate going through a fog filled haze, and in this regard I think MXP is the worse. I’ll also never use the smoking rooms, for much the same reason, but I do enjoy a cigar in the long bar at T.A. in ZRH (and it was me Simon that mentioned it) though you can no longer smoke at the bar, you have to sit at the tables, where they used to have some very nice Davidoff ashtrays. Alas no more as they were most likely all half inched – much to my chagrin as the one time I remembered to take my bag, they’d gone!!!

[VintageKrug]

Smoking is a disgusting and harmful pastime, both to those foolish enough to indulge and also invasive and costly to the rest of us who end up picking up the bill in lost productivity, increased healthcare costs and last but certainly not least the emotional impact of those who die too young from smoking related cancer.

I’m pleased LHR has a restrictive airside policy; long may it continue.

[LuganoPirate]

True VK, but then alcohol is also responsible for a good chunk of the NHS budget, as anyone whose had the misfortune to sit in Casualty at Watford General on a Friday night will testify – myself included!

[Andrew66]

I think when the smoking ban was bought in , it’s impact was badly thought out , because at pubs , hotels and airports smoking is no longer allowed indoors , no problem there in fact a good idea because although not all the majority disliked it many did and so the minority had to smoke outdoors . The problem is the rules and regs about outside shelters and positioning of the smoking areas , they seem to positioned where everyone has to walk by and be affected also the shelters are so stupidly designed that they do not protect smokers from the elements of the typical British weather . Neither smokers or non smokers are happy or content with the current situation .
I can’t see why purpose built facilities can’t be available airside for those who wish to smoke , this would take away part of the problem of areas just outside buildings etc , these could be provided or sponsored / paid for by cigarette manafacturers . I don’t think smokers should be alienated and non smokers are no longer exposed except in these problem areas .
I thought about 20% of the population still smoked but this is decreasing , in 20 to 30 years it will probably be unheard of , so no longer a drain on healthcare costs , whilst in news today it reports that cancers are increasing and will burden the health service in a severe way , perhaps FREE alcohol will be banned from the lounges as alcohol is an even more dangerous drug than tobacco , perhaps people will be more heavily policed and restricted at what unhealthy foods they consume , these will be the major concerns in the future as regards healthcare costs .

[VintageKrug]

The solution is to keep well away from Watford!

[LuganoPirate]

I was staying at the Grove VK, hit by a kidney stone, in agony and Watford General was the nearest hospital. Unfortunately the BUPA just opposite will not accept E&A cases but will only admit after Watford has first seen you. Ridiculous but there we are.

[VintageKrug]

How awful for you. And the kidney stone must have been painful, too.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Andrew66 – 07/06/2013 21:10 GMT

Actually Andrew, I think that the smoking ban was rather well thought through; it had certainly been debated long enough before it was adopted.

One of the consequences is that smoking across all social strata in the UK is starting to fall, even amongst the DE demographics. Interestingly, it is also dropping amongst the young leading the French Health Minister recently to ask what the UK was doing right that the French were not.

A large part of it is that it is no longer acceptable to smoke and impose the noxious fumes on others and it is now entirely acceptable to comment to someone if their clothes reek of tobacco smoke.

I’ve no idea off the top of my head how much disease and death is alcohol rather than tobacco related – and their respective costs to the NHS – but if you can’t do everything, you should at least try to do something – and that is what the smoking ban is all about.

I seem to recall an uproar when I was young about the compulsory wearing of seat-belts and motorcyclists having to wear helmets. Beyond a very few, who seriously argues about those issues these days? Society moves on, social mores adapt and was acceptable becomes unacceptable and vice versa.

[Andrew66]

To be fair Anthony , I did say its impact was badly thought through rather than the policy of the ban itself . It’s impact led to smokers areas being created which didn’t really solve everyone’s problem , I don’t think smokers like standing near doorways to buildings with poor facilities and non smokers still are subjected to a haze of smoke they have to walk through , which almost defeats the point of the exercise .
I think many places didn’t really have a plan of how to deal with the situation .
I agree with your point of society moving on and accepting new issues and I do think that smoking tobacco will carry on declining , it seems many people now are smoking these e cigs ,
At least now people aren’t subjected to the effects of passive smoking which is what the ban is really about

[MartynSinclair]

Andrew66 – “At least now people aren’t subjected to the effects of passive smoking” – Andrew, this is why I started the thread, because people are still suffering the effects of passive smoking. It was not my intention to OUTLAW smoking – merely for the rules to be enforced (if indeed they exist) outside the airport Terminals.

Being forced to walk through a haze of smoke fumes equates to passive smoking. If this is allowed, then there is nothing that needs to be done. If however, smokers can only smoke in designated areas that do not affect the non smokers, then BAA need to ensure a smoking area is made available.

This afternoon (Sunday 9th) outside T5 it was as bad as Thursday.

[FirstClassWannabe]

Yes Martyn, as a smoker I do actually agree with you. Unfortunately, there will always be inconsiderate people who are not at all concerned about others.

[Andrew66]

Martyn , I agree with what you are saying , but the rules of the smoking ban were clearly no smoking in enclosed public places or substantially enclosed places , so outside is not covered by the ban , but local bye laws can prevent smoking in all of the grounds ( many , if not all hospitals have done this) I’m not sure if T5 or BAA have this , or they might have specific designated areas / shelters where only smoking is permitted . I’m trying to remember what it was like when I was at T5 last year , I think it was a long stretched out area along the drop off with ashtrays / bins placed about 100m apart ?? I usually use LGW and they have specific shelters well away from the entrance doors ,
.

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