[Ruth]

Originally posted by Lauren

And since when have either chocolate, alcohol, doughnuts, eggs, cheese or alcohol had life-threatening effects on passers-by?

I could name plenty of instances where people drinking too much has affected other people. As for fatty foods, well our taxes go the NHS don't they? And the NHS spends far more treating obesity related disease than it does treating smoking related disease. If the current rates of child obesity don't go down, in 20 or 30 years, the NHS will really struggle to cope.

Obviously I don't think fatty foods should be banned. I don't think smoking should be banned in public either.

The government taxes smokers plenty, and now they're saying where you can and can't smoke? Happy to take your money but not to let you smoke your taxed cigarettes where you want?

As I said before, I do believe in choice for EVERYONE, not just the ones who it suits me to agree with. If every landlord had the choice over whether or not to ban smoking, there would not be this issue. You could go to the non-smoking bars, and smokers could go to the smoking bars. I don't smoke, and I don't mind smoke either, so I could go to all the bars!!!

And what does everyone think about smoking being banned in private members clubs? What about if 90% of the members - who pay to be members there - smoke? Yet, currently, they are not allowed to by law. Where's the democracy in that?

This argument is all buzzwords and bandwagons.