Posted on 04/02/2006 12:28:18 PM PDT by SittinYonder
"KINDA cosmopolitan, eh?" says a rosy-cheeked punter as his female companion attempts to light her cigarette on a gas cylinder lamp used to heat an outdoor smoking area at a suburban pub.
Around them, ashtrays overflow, piled high, one on top of the other. Relative strangers shyly shimmy closer to one another, nestling up to the gas heaters hanging over their heads. Paris in the springtime this is not, but on the first weekend following Scotland's ban on smoking in public places, there is ample joie de vivre in residence.
It was a scene repeated across Scotland on Friday night, the first 'real' test of the smoking ban controversially imposed five days before. It was also payday for many and the freedoms of the Easter break were looming. So Scotland on Sunday decided to test adherence to the new law by dispatching reporters to more than 100 bars in every corner of the nation. And the result? A few, minor transgressions amid remarkably high levels of compliance.
Police forces reported they did not have to respond to any calls to deal with public order incidents in relation to the ban. Many CCTV cameras were directed on pub entrances in anticipation of trouble, but the footage only revealed a steady stream of customers popping out for a cigarette.
Bouncers in Edinburgh and Glasgow, on the frontline of the ban, also reported not having any problems. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was delivered yesterday morning when publicans finished counting their takings: several reported income steady or even substantially up.
In Edinburgh's Grassmarket on Friday night, the streets appeared busier than ever. Outside Bar Alba two men hovered, bottles in hand. One wandered over and offered a homeless man on the street a swig.
Down the street at The Last Drop watering hole, the only evidence of last weekend's smoking swan song was two cigarette butts engrained in the wooden floors, defiantly refusing to be swept away. In Maggie Dickson's a man propped up a heaving bar, pint in one hand, large flashy lighter in the other. But no cigarette was lit.
In the Canny Man's public house in Morningside, "no smoking" signs sat on each table, while signs obscured the decor on the wall. On the tables a message from the proprietor read: "Although smoking is no longer permitted anywhere in the house, you're welcome to smoke on the terrace or in the courtyard. My favourite brands of cigarettes and cigarillos are available at the bar. Please enjoy one with my compliments."
In a rain-drenched Glasgow, smokers sheltered beneath soggy umbrellas in dripping doorways.
In the Doublet, in the Woodlands area, four sullen drinkers crowded beneath a single broken beer garden umbrella. "My fag's drenched," moaned one man as he sucked heavily on a roll-up, before stubbing it out and ducking back inside the bar where large "no smoking" signs spelled out the new rules.
Outside the Old Govan Inn in the shadow of Ibrox Stadium, cigarette butts had piled up on a patch of grass in front of the pub where they had been discarded by smokers.
Inside the bar every available wall and doorway was plastered with "no smoking" signs of varying sizes. Bright orange signs adorned the bar while other red and white stickers were placed every two metres. The excessive display of almost 30 signs in the cosy living room-sized bar suggested a slight tongue in cheek approach.
"We felt it was important to make sure our customers were aware of the situation," explained barmaid Marie Grady.
As she spoke, one woman walked through the bar with her cigarette lit as she moved from one doorway to another where her friends were while trying to stay out of the rain. Shouts from staff and customers chased her outside.
Grady added: "So far it has gone far better than we were expecting - everyone seems to have accepted there is little they can do about it as it is not worth getting fined over."
At the Saracen Bar in the city's Possil area, the ban was already taking its toll. A man in a wheelchair complained he wanted a cigarette, but it was difficult for him to smoke outside and get shelter. Eventually a kind member of staff wheeled him out and held an umbrella over his head while he enjoyed his cigarette.
Extra bouncers had been put on the door at late-night bar and club Wigwam, where they asked smokers to move away from the doorway before escorting them back inside so they could avoid having to pay to enter again.
Across the Forth from Scotland's capital, the smokers also appeared to be sticking to the rules.
At the Yard in Rosyth, around 50 pool players competed in the weekly pool league, but the traditional haze of cigarette smoke hovering above the tables was missing.
Owner Karen Ferguson said: "We've not had any problems yet. Everyone has taken the ban to heart. We get quite a young crowd in here and most of them don't smoke."
In the former mining village of Limekilns, locals in the Ship Inn were also adhering to the ban. Around 15 customers had brought musical instruments to the pub with them and they struck up harmonised renditions of Bob Dylan tracks with their guitars and violins. When one of their number got up to go outside for a cigarette, the musicians struck up a version of 'Knocking On Heaven's Door'.
In Dundee, smokers were divided on the merits of the new law that saw them exiled from bars when they wanted a cigarette,
but officers occupying a police car outside Yates, a large 'superpub' in the city centre, said there had been no reports of trouble. "We haven't had a single call all night," a PC told Scotland on Sunday. "We had a few extra officers on shift just in case, but people seem to have accepted the law and the pubs are coping with it."
Further north, The Heathmount, in the Crown district of Inverness, was enjoying a roaring trade. It was by far the busiest bar and restaurant in town, and smokers weren't resentful about having to take regular trips outside.
John McColm, 34, said: "Within two months it will be considered the norm. No one will be complaining."
In Aberdeen, smokers and landlords appeared to be toeing the line. A trawl of the city showed up only one possible breach of the new rules.
In the popular Revolution bar and club on Belmont Street, a hastily extinguished cigarette was lying on the floor in the ladies' loos.
Yesterday morning, Jim Hughes, owner of Black Bull Hotel and Railway Bar in Moffat, was among those totting up the takings. Hughes is also president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, which is planning legal action for compensation against the Scottish Executive over lost earnings. But on the first night he admitted his takings had gone up by 30% compared with the previous weekend.
He said: "It is the last Friday of the month, which is always busier than normal, but this goes beyond even that. I would guess there is a bit of a novelty factor here and perhaps some non-smokers who previously avoided bars came out to see what it would be like."
Lynn Adams from the George Bar in Hamilton said takings were up 14% on Friday night, in comparison with the previous week. She said: "It was our best Friday for the month of March. There were external factors such as payday and two of the other bars in the area being closed for renovation, but either way it is very positive."
The good news is, governments everywhere can overextend their authority, force private property owners to bend to the government's will - all in the name of "IT'S GOOD FOR YOU" - and the people will accept it.
This is a follow-up to a story I posted a few days ago.
Scotland has adopted a national smoking ban in "public places" which, as one of my Republican state legislators pointed out to me now means "publicly accessible places." I remember the good ol' days when public places used to mean government-owned property.
Governments everywhere now view all property as their own.
Remember, in Scotland, if you have a government worker coming to your private home you cannot smoke for an hour before they arrive.
Follow up to a thread you were all on a week or so ago.
No.
That sort of language is uncalled for, and if your children hear it you can blame the government ;-)
Or: "I'm going outside for a puff." LOL
"So Scotland on Sunday decided to test adherence to the new law by dispatching reporters to more than 100 bars in every corner of the nation. And the result? A few, minor transgressions amid remarkably high levels of compliance."
What? The government can dispatch reporters....
LOL ... precisely
That struck me as odd, too. I assume when they say Scotland dispatched reporters they mean there were lots of reporters from differnet news agencies at the bars. I don't think the government told them to send reporters, but I don't know.
A cigarette is placed in one's mouth... so why did such slang emerge? I'm glad I stick to cigars....
Here's more:
Glasgow,Scotland,UK
Smoking ban hotline gets 28 callers
29 March, 2006
A HOTLINE for the public to report smokers who light up in enclosed public places has received almost 30 complaints.
There were 87 calls to the Scottish Executive's national smoking ban hotline up until midnight on Monday.
And it was revealed today 28 of these calls were complaints of individuals allegedly ignoring the ban.
As the Evening Times reported last night, Scotland's first two smoking ban offenders have been identified as a pub and a bookies.
The premises - both in Renfrewshire - will be given warning letters for flouting the law on smoking which started on Sunday.
However, the introduction of the legislation has proved much smoother than expected in Scotland.
But yesterday's public sector strike meant council enforcement officers were not out patrolling pubs.
Meanwhile, it was reported that a woman was removed from a jury at Glasgow High Court after she was allegedly overheard saying she would take a harsher view of the accused, if there was nowhere in the court for her to smoke.
The court's smoke room has been closed. The woman could now be charged with contempt of court.
Publication date 29/03/06 A HOTLINE for the public to report smokers who light up in enclosed public places has received almost 30 complaints.
There were 87 calls to the Scottish Executive's national smoking ban hotline up until midnight on Monday.
And it was revealed today 28 of these calls were complaints of individuals allegedly ignoring the ban.
As the Evening Times reported last night, Scotland's first two smoking ban offenders have been identified as a pub and a bookies.
The premises - both in Renfrewshire - will be given warning letters for flouting the law on smoking which started on Sunday.
However, the introduction of the legislation has proved much smoother than expected in Scotland.
But yesterday's public sector strike meant council enforcement officers were not out patrolling pubs.
Meanwhile, it was reported that a woman was removed from a jury at Glasgow High Court after she was allegedly overheard saying she would take a harsher view of the accused, if there was nowhere in the court for her to smoke.
The court's smoke room has been closed. The woman could could now be contempt of court.
Read
These laws force lewd drunks out onto public sidewalks for children to see and hear. Some areas in New York state have a real problem with this. You have to steer your children around smelly, cursing, groping drunks just to walk down the sidewalk.
Contempt of court for telling the truth? Figures.
I hadn't realized the Scots had become so devoid of spirit.
FREEEEEEEDOMMM!!!!!!
FMCDH(BITS)
That ban on smoking the hour before a government worker comes is the funniest thing I have ever heard.
How on earth can you enforce something like this? It's a classic "He said,she said" situation.
I love Scotland but will never visit it again. I'm too old to be standing around outside smoking cigarettes.
My fellow statesman have accepted our smoking ban like a bunch of sheep, too. Personal liberty and private property are dissolving throughout the western world.
I agree. Sad, isn't it!
At the Saracen Bar in the city's Possil area, the ban was already taking its toll. A man in a wheelchair complained he wanted a cigarette, but it was difficult for him to smoke outside and get shelter. Eventually a kind member of staff wheeled him out and held an umbrella over his head while he enjoyed his cigarette.
What remarkably sheep-like acceptance.
I hadn't realized the Scots had become so devoid of spirit.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.