[Imprecate]

Is smoking (outdoors) really that offensive? I agree that stale smoky clothes smell gross, but I'm never bothered by a crowd smoking outside a bar or club, or people doing it while they walk through the city. It's just a neutral city smell to me.

[JulianMorrison]

Yes. With the UK's "no smoking indoors in public" laws, you get a ton of smokers emitting a choking cloud under the awning outside train stations, etc. I hold my breath to walk through it.

Plus just plain walking closely downwind of a smoker on the street is nasty. I have to pay visual attention to avoid getting a lungful of breathed-out smoke. Not fun.

[dmix]

In Toronto you can't smoke under large umbrellas or any partially roofed areas on patios/bus stations.

[borism]

How is that enforced?

[whatusername]

Try a city that has tougher anti-smoking laws. All of our bars/clubs (except the casino high-roller room) are non-smoking. It is much nicer for those of us who don't smoke. (Most have some form of al-fresco area / patio / etc where smoking is allowed. While it once felt part of the experience - I've grown to love it's absence. //Melbourne Australia

[Imprecate]

I live in a city with extremely tough anti-smoking laws. I came here from a city where smoking indoors was also illegal, but many bars found ways around it or disobeyed the law.

I think it's more fair for the employees, which is why I support it; I don't find cigarettes to smell particularly bad. The only places where I miss it are little dives where cigarettes smell nicer than stale beer.

Anyway, to each his own. I do think smokers should be courteous in public even if most people don't find the smell offensive; waving a flaming stick around carelessly in a crowded place is dangerous.

[axod]

Yes. Especially when you have kids. It's horrible.