The smoking ban in Germany is simply pathetic

That place is always roasting, quite a few of the acts have commented on it before, they need a bit of vent-e-lation!

Never said they were, just my observations on my journey through life.

In Germany:


In the UK:




Nothing like an interferring nanny state to keep the economy booming...

Source

Of course the anti-smoking radicals (as opposed to non-smokers) can always find a plethora of statistics to prove that they are right...

Of course the smoking lobby can also find statistics to back up their case. That's the beauty of statistics. It's all bollocks.

I would imagine the advent of online Bingo playing has had quite an impact on Bingo halls as well. If the adds on TV are anything to go by it seems to be a major growth area.
As I've said before, the places I've been too since they ban came into effect don't seem to have been affected at all, they all seem as full as ever, with the added bonus they no longer stink of fag ash and I don't stink of smoke when I leave, it's great.

Nope - both of Allershausen's statements are totally my opinion as well.

Smokers simply need to learn to grow up and shut up. Its that simple. And it they can't shut up because they have drunk too much then they simply need to drink less.

Stop whining you big babies.

Eggsackally!

If you told people that they could no longer drink their beer inside and have to drink it in the street, or told people that they had to eat in the street, then there would be a similar increase in noise complaints. Has nothing to do with smoking and everything with people being told to go outside in the street in the middle of the night.

No it has everything to do with people not keeping the noise down.

Either way...people on the street make noise.

Something that didn't seem to be considered at all when the law was passed.

Well of course there would, that's called a Beer Garden, they're pretty noisy, but nobody goes to a pub or restaurant to smoke, they go there to drink/eat and some of them also smoke, which they can no longer do inside, so they either stay away or they smoke quietly outside. I see no reason why they can't do this.

No inconsiderate people make noise on the street.

Yeah, whatever.

No point discussing this if you can't come up with sensible comments.

If ju arr noht wiz us ju arr ageinscht usch. AI KILL U!


I actually believe that the moon-landing had quite an impact on the increase of nutters!

That sucks. Things like that are not allowed here in Vancouver too. I mean personally, the whole smoking in public thing doesn't bother me (call me a freak but I kinda like the smell haha I don't smoke though) but I think it's dumb when they smoke around little kids. Some smokers are just too damn irresponsible.

Watch your language young man or mom will hear about this

I make a point of only smoking around kids whose parents quite clearly feed them solely on a diet of pure fat. Obesity related shit will kill them ages before a bit of slipstream smoke will.

I'm an ex-smoker - and it seems to me that I understand both sides of the argument.

As a smoker - I could never really understand or accept how absolutely unpleasant it is to be shrouded in cig smoke when you're not used to it (ie a non-smoker). It was like "What's the fuss all about? Its just some ciggie. Oh DO be quiet."
Now I really do understand.

One tiny example:
I was skiing in Austria after New Year - and one evening in a bar - one of the chaps was puffing away on his Marlboro Lights. I was watching him he must have got through 15 cigs over the long evening. The smoke from these cigs was very dry and scratchy.
To me it was extremely unpleasant to have to breathe this in and I had to keep going outside for breaths of fresh air. I didn't say anything - it was his "right" to smoke & I didn't want to cause any unpleasantness.
The next morning I awoke with a sore throat and a bad headache. And my clothes were absolutely stinking.

So its easy to understand why non-smokers hate smokers and get angry too.

But in the end - I think smokers need our pity as well.
Because whilst they assert their right to pollute themselves and call it pleasure - deep down inside they know that its just a personal road to destruction - which will bring them down in the end - usually in a very nasty way.
And the reason they can't get off that road is because they're addicted and afraid.
There's nothing clever or cool about this whatsoever.
Any other point of view - is simply Untruth.

Most smokers know this.
They just haven't gotten around to admitting it to themselves.

So pity the poor smoker.
Stuck out in the snow or the rain.
He's caught in a trap.

And there we have it. ZSharp's point of view is it, everyone else has it wrong. You remind me of Jebus.

It's not the smokers who need to pipe down (sic) but the anti smokers who need to put their bloody money where their mouth is.
The massive expansion of smoking clubs, including in establishments that originally welcomed the ban, was due to the fact that pubs lost a LOT of trade that wasn't made up by non smokers flocking into the pubs as the anti-smokers had claimed would happen.

Use legislation to make restuarants non smoking and multi roomed venues at least partially non smoking.
And encourage the social trend against smoking that was already happening.

The Bavarian law is bad law and is shaking the society to its foundations.
That the rule is so blatently circumvented and that the CSU may fall under 50% in the state elections.

I guess you're right - not least in that I probably need to lighten up a little ...

But ask any hardened smoker if they'd like to stop - and the vast majority of them will say Yes.
Ask any smoker if they wish they'd never started - and the vast majority of them will say Yes.
Ask any smoker - if they'd want their kids to smoke - and they'll say No.

In the meantime - I guess we have to deal with the practicalities of the situation ...
Which is that huge numbers of people DO smoke ... and will continue to do so ... especially with beers etc.

BTW - does anyone know what is going on with respect to smoking at the Bierfest?
I see the Frühlingsfest is on now?

Maybe being stuck out in the snow or rain will bring them to their senses!

The smoking ban should be enforced everywhere, allowing smoking clubs is ridiculous. Once again I was out in Munich last night and the place we were in was full and the smokers were popping out for a quick drag, no problems, everything is just dandy.

The law as it is allows smoking clubs. If they need to be closed it needs new tighter legislation and I laid a virtual tenner down several weeks ago that they weren't going to do it. If you want to put the screws on smoking clubs, the councils could be sending inspectors round to make sure they really are operating as clubs. Munich City Council already said they won't be especially enforcing the legislation.

Some pubs are still operating as no smoking.
IF they can, fair play to them. Perhaps they have a special selling point.
Perhaps they are operating in the niche market that was already opening up to provide non smoking venues.

But that doesn't apply everywhere, the place where I work is losing a turnover of about EUR 18 000 / year since the smoking ban.

Blah, blah, blah.

You do realise with every post you are supporting the OP's point of view that the Germans should just grow up and get over it the same as the bulk of Europe and North America.

Errrrrm, you do realise that the UK pub trade is on its knees in the sectors that particuarly rely on beer sales, don't offer food and serve a regular lower income clientele?

Saxony-Anhalt the home of the smoker

When I went to my local ice-cream parlour today at 11.00am. It was full of fucking smokers. In fact, everywhere I go they're buffing smoke all over me and my family. To be honest, I don't mind smoke in drinking dens but when I go for a family meal or cup of coffee I don't really need F6 smoke blown across my table.

Looks like I'm going to have to take the law into my own hands. (starts loading shootgun)

EDIT :

Excellent all naff working class pubs to close.

TV, that is the kind of place that SHOULD be legislated as non smoking.

Bloody isn't at the moment, here at least

Tell me about it!!! It's Saturday night and I'm at home on the internet. Why? Because I can't stand cigarette smoke so have to go out during the week when its not quite so bad. I mean smoking in clubs and pubs I can kind of understand, even though I detest it, but cafes and restaurants!!! Nobody physically needs more than 1 cigarette per hour and they can go outside for that.

Although saying that, I once saw a colleague in the break room (could just about tolerate fag smoke before I got pregnant) smoke 3 malboro reds in 15 mins. He's got smokers skin and teeth, minging.

Smoking in restaurants, no way.

However I think people should be able to smoke in bars, as long as the bars who choose to allow smoking could be required to have industrial strength ventilation systems. Which of course they don't.

I stopped smoking about 2 months ago, and now cigarette smoke really gets on my nerves. Probably because of the addiction as well, but after about 2 days of not smoking I noticed the smell of stale cigarettes is pretty gross. But I will try to not ever be an militant anti-smoker...

The federal politicians got cold feet over it and shoved it onto the Länder.
And Bayern has fucked it up big time.

If I may draw together the comments and opinions from the NON SMOKING TTers in Munich who work in the trade:

BAN smoking in at least one room in multi roomed pubs
BAN smoking in establishmnets that sell preises cooked food

There would then be NO flouting of the law and the post 1945 establishment in Bavaria would not be further under attack.

Or just evolve and move on with life. I don't like cigarette smoke. In a restauraunt I find it offensive, that I am paying money to enjoy a meal, and someone next to me believes that it is their inherent right to smoke. The smell of the smoke bothers me and ruins the flavor of my meal. In a bar, that may be another issue, but I also don't see why it is such a problem to step outdoors and light one up. If you can't keep your mouth shut outside, I think that you probably are not old enough to be out that late in the evening.

I have been in bars which have a smoking room and a non-smoking room. If the ventilation is perfect then this wouldn't be such a problem. But in a less perfectly ventilated bar, it does not help at all.

If you want to see a good example of why you should quit smoking head on up to Barschwein by Muenchener Freiheit. There te upstairs is a smoking room and the downstairs is for everyone else or smokers sans coffin nail. Unfortunately the toilets are upstairs. It really is an eye opener on how horrible the smoking room looks. I believe this alone will cause many people to stop smoking. But Germany has changed its laws and now, it's time that everyone stops complaining and moves on.

The only exception is that weed should be allowed to be smoked everywhere, by everyone unless it is mixed with nicotine.

So what exactly is the law regarding smoking here? I am in brandenburg and when I go out for meals there is usually one or two smoking in the restaurant. It really stops me from enjoying my food. I want to know have I the right to complain and/or demand that the smoking cease?

If this is indeed the case ..., then I wasn't aware that their status had changed from business to charity. Should we start sending care packages back to blighty?

Last Saturday I wanted to eat at a quaint cafe in the P'Berg district of Berlin and had to leave because people were smoking in the cafe.

I recommend this product for all smokers who need their nicotine fix and want to smoke in public.

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/gamucci-...-cigarette.html

Well here in BaWu we are allowed separate smoking rooms, if it is completely closed off, and the access to the toilet must be completely smoke free.

What is making me wonder are the amount of people now posting about having to leave restaurants, cafes etc because someone lights up! What did you do before the ban, not go out or just put up with it? And why don't you check beforehand if the establishment is smoke free or not? or do you just like to have a whinge. Also some states have a leeway before they start fineing places, so really then it is up to the owner if they allow smoking and it seems that as many of them still allow smoking they must get a lot of business from smokers. So to all the non and anti smokers, it will only be a few months more before the ban is more or less in place throught Germany, can't you just give it a rest until then!

On another note 3 more local pubs in my home town have just closed down and all claim it is because of the smoking ban.

i went to krakow, and the restaurants there were so full of smoke that i realized how truly disgusting a room full of stale cigarette smoke can be. there was actually one place i went to, where the menu looked fabulous, but after sitting there for three minutes i had no choice but to leave because of the smoke. having recently quit, i can sympathize with the non-smokers' right to fresh air while eating.

in the us, people just go outside to smoke. no big deal. most smokers don't even smoke inside their homes anyway. so why should it be expected that they can smoke in a restaurant.

Ã?t appears to me there's just total confusion about the law. I thought anti-smoking laws were in place. It's seem they aren't. Until then please feel free to blow smoke over my kids.

I have a hard time with people using the excuse that a smoking ban should be in place because they find the smell of smoke "offensive". I find whining, misbehaved children offensive when I'm trying to enjoy a meal in a restaurant. They should be banned also. But being the open-minded, tolerant person that I am, I'd be ok with confining them to a separate room if the restaurant provided one.

Exactly that's why you should go outside to smoke a fag in an ice-cream parlour/restaurant.


Ha!


Let me guess you haven't had any kids yet? I bet your views change in a few years after the first born.

I started frequenting restaurants and pubs most often when they brought in the smoking ban in Ireland. Then again in Ireland they brought in the smoking ban properly unlike the England and Germany. It is even more obvious to me when I come from Ireland to Germany how disgusting it is - it really ruins a night out in a restaurant here when someone lights up - your clothes and hair smell disgusting when you leave too.


Pubs were saying that in Ireland too. Tis an easy excuse for running a business badly.


Come on, children misbehaving in a restaurant is not the same an ingesting cancer causing agents besides, even if forget about non-smoking customers - what about the non-smoking staff in those establishments having to put up with 8/9+ hours of passive smoking everyday? Do you not think it is a little unfair to expose them to this health hazard all day everyday?

Smoking bans are not the only reason that pubs are going under in Ireland and the UK and are threatened in Germany too.
But it is a contributory factor.

Just exactly how is the pub trade meant to run its business better to avoid the loss of trade due to the smoking ban?
Contributions welcome as we need a way to save the place I am involved in running.

Being around other people's children makes my blood pressure skyrocket... which is most certainly damaging to my health.

I think you'll find that's because you're a selfish person who hasn't discovered the joys of squeezing one out.

I like my own kid just fine, it's just everyone else's... I'm just saying the line of reasoning is weak.

You squeezed one out, vic? I bet it does make the blood pressure skyrocket, though some joys do have this effect.

Even though I have yet to squeeze out any offspring, smokers should have the consideration to go outside if it bothers anyone, laws or no laws. And who cares if some grubby pub goes out of business because the owner is too lazy to run his or her business creatively and keep up with changes. That's such a stupid cop-out.

That's like saying, "Oh, but all the poor tobacco farmers will be laid off if we stop smoking!" scheeize

And kids are kids for christ sake. Let 'em run wild! Wild!!

Whoops, sorry I get confused with the names. I know who you are now.

Ok, let's put it this way. I would never blow smoke over your kid.


I had to sit and watch while different partners have gone through the process. Very boring apart from the last 30 minutes which were action packed. I needed a cigar after all that. Needed a cup of tea and sit down. I'm sure my blood pressure was sky high.


Fancy baby sitting this coming Friday, Marty?

I suggest that you invest in a time machine and go back five years or so. Then you would have time to create and impliment a sustainable business model which would factor in the inevitability of a smoking ban (based on modern attitudes to health and global trends). Then you would have a customer base that was more inclusive and not so fickle.

Or you could just stick your head in the sand, hoping it will all go away, and then see what happens.