I doubt that will stop the do-gooders from trying it on again. No democracy ever stopped that lot..

Cancer wins at the end of the day I think you’ll find, nobody should be happy about this

AMEN

The Amen was in response of@Gene.

Very good. I like use of plain English, it ensures the gombeens will get the message !!!! :-)

Well said M O.
After ninety years of gombeens and their gimps running this country into the ground, it’s time Ireland adopted direct democracy as described in the 1922 constitution.
It should be clear to everyone, by now, where we end up- when we allow our elected “representatives” to treat the populace as dependent children.

Well said.

If you could confine the ill effects to smokers themselves, I might agree but smokers adversely affect the health of others which is not the case with alcohol abuse. That’s why the government should act in the interests of the people! I also believe smoking related diseases should not be treated unless the patient pays for it!

No one is stopping you to choose but a smoker is fouling the air that i need to breathe in

come back to us when you’re dying of lung cancer

Agreed, expect some court cases to be brought against employers for health issues…… All they have to prove is lack of proper ventilation which as we know the vast majority of places in Ireland were more then quilty of

Get off your pulpit and get the facts before you pontificate. Second hand smoke most certainly wreck as many lives as the results from abuse of alcohol in this country. More people also die directly and indirectly from alcohol abuse in this world and yet we promote alcohol abuse.
Smoking is dangerous, unhealthy and disgusting and yes im a smoker before you ask but I have reduced to a level of social smoker but to make wide sweeping statements that support the rubbish put out by governments around the world to justify taxes.
Last year it was said that 65% of people with lung cancer were smokers. There’s a surprise considering that over 70% of the population 20 years ago were smokers. I actually imagined it would be higher. Did it mention that 80% of them drove cars, 65% eat pizza, 70% had an ice cream on a Sunday.
Once again I’m not denying that smoking is unhealthy and certainly causes and aggravates major terminal illness but to vilify one habit whilst ignoring the other allowing others such as drinking , driving , sky diving , cycling , breathing in day to day pollutants is bizarre to say the least. It has become socially acceptable to use your argument about health care all the time. So will charge drivers extra in health care if they get involved in car accidents, will we penalize people who have heart attacks whilst jogging and straining their hearts, put people who overeat at the end of the health care list.
Where so we stop when it comes to wrapping society in a bubble and then castigate those who won’t live in that perfect bubble.

How about freedom of CHOICE????Our lifestyles areOUR CHOICE.

What about people with breathing difficulties already? People with asthma , or children etc? Not fair that smokers can ruin others health, it’s a smokers choice but every one around gets deprived of that choice!

How about if I choose to come up and slap you in the face Caroline? My life, my choice. Is the government being a nanny state to tell me I can’t do it, if that’s my free choice?
The fact that smoking harms others apart from the smokers themselves is what sets it apart from all other potentially harmful social activities.

Patitas
Where did you get the idea that second hand smoke causes cancer? No study in the world has ever been conducted to show that. Even the World Health Organisation now admit that the biggest ever population study shows that over a forty year period there is no evidence of increased cancer rates in the spouses of smokers. What we have to do is separate propaganda from science and then but only then establish reasonable a public Policy. I commend the Swiss people for their decision today.

Absolute nonsense Paddy, there have been numerous scientific studies conducted all over the world which have found evidence of a link between passive smoking and health issues including lung cancer etc..

The tobacco industry has been very active in trying to provide its own science to contradict this – after all it has a lot to lose – but the overall scientific consensus is clear. Don’t fall for tobacco industry BS.

You could start by viewing the following wiki page and following the references from there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking#Evidence

As you said yourself, we have to separate propaganda from science…

Can you provide a source for your claim about the WHO admitting that there is no evidence of a link??

Here is a recent WHO report clearly acknowledging the link between passive smoking and negative health effects:
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol83/index.php

Finally, in case you missed it, here is some information about how the tobacco industry have abused science to push their own propaganda and con people like you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking#Industry-funded_studies_and_critiques

Who decides what is better?

I’m sure Adolf Hitler made a similar point once!

Sean, you know you are right, its insane that the government decides health stuff

It was silly for any government to outlaw cocaine use, outlaw use of radioactive material in food and food packaging (yes it happened!), outlawed paint and lead in petrol etc etc etc

How dare the government decide what’s best for people, how dare they base these decisions on hard scientific facts!

Yup kevin, gotta agree. It’s amazing that despite all the evidence regarding the damage that 2nd hand cigarette smoke does, people would are still willing to put other individuals health at risk. And I don’t buy the alcohol argument, as alcohol in moderation, taken responsibly, does not have the same health effects as smoking in moderation or passive smoking

“Sometimes people need to forced into something that is better for people as a whole, better healthy decisions” – The definition of friendly fascism, ladies and gentlemen.

Dont be ignorant. There other fumes that cause cancer and should be addressed also.

But by smoking next to other people you become one pf them.

Would you be smoking during a pregnancy also???

Gav
You’re talking about and at the same time confusing two different things. The State banned smoking in public places on the basis of fraudulent or spurious health claims not on social argumentation.

Amen.

Caroline – the point is I wouldn’t dream of slapping you in the face, as it would be an infringement of your personal rights, however every time you spark up in a public place you are infringing the personal rights of non-smokers by forcing them to inhale your carcinogens. Is it that hard to get?

You do not seem to get it…by smoking in front of other people you are spreading cancer. You are are spreading the disease to your loved ones and those around you.