Smoking Ban, 6 months on.

This week marks 6 months since the ban on smoking in public places in England. And who would want to go back? I’m instinctively a libertarian and dislike rules and regulations (at least that’s how I like to think of myself), but in the case of smoking, something went seriously wrong with human communication and consideration. Smokers used to ask “do you mind if I smoke?” with no intention of taking “yes I bloody well do” for an answer. Why did anyone ever expect it would be OK to fill the air of a room with foul smelling smoke just because they were addicted to a drug? Why have we put up with this for so long?
I don’t work in a bar, so I can’t speak for those who do, but I don’t think this was ever a health issue for anyone. It’s always been the case that non-smokers would return from an evening out with their clothes and hair stinking of stale smoke. It was disgusting. I’m glad it’s over, not because of the threat to my health or anyone else’s. Simply because inhabiting an indoor public space is now so much more relaxing. I was lucky over the last 10 years to travel from Liverpool Street Station, where smoking has been banned on “safety” grounds. Whenever I had to travel out of other mainline stations in the rush hour, I used to find it foul. Standing in a tightly packed crowd of people waiting for the train’s platform to be announced, and having to breathe other people’s smoke.
The only shame is that the current ban doesn’t cover the street. Walking down the road behind a smoker is just as unpleasant as it ever was. Outside a pub is now the least pleasant place to be on a summer afternoon, as it doubles for a smoking room. So next time someone comes and stands next to you and fills the air with acrid smoke, the correct and polite response is to say to them:
“Excuse me, do you mind, but I was breathing that air!”


I have no wish to see a ban on the consumption of tobacco for those who wish to continue to use it. But I don't think it unreasonable to ask people to keep it to their own private residence, and not inflict it on the rest of us.