I was for the full ban but now want it reviewed!

As a former smoker who quit almost 20 years ago because 1) I did not want to become a statistic and 2) I didn’t see the sense in paying almost £2.00 for a 20 pack – they went up to £1.88 per pack – and that was it for me – for something that could damage my health but, 3) and most of all because I did not want to be that kind of parent “do as I say but not as I do”.

Quitting has empowered me, and until this day, I use my going cold turkey half way through a 20 pack as the strength and resolve of my determination – whenever something looks impossible I cast my mind to that day when I stubbed my cigarette half way and never looked back!

Since the smoking ban I have enjoyed hanging around pubs and public establishments without my eyes burning or coming home smelling like a day old ash tray.

However, living close to a pub became noisier; walking outside a pub during opening hours became a real chore, not to mention the littering, all the cigarette buds and the occasional broken glass on the street.

But in the scheme of things, all of that is nothing compared to the financial devastation the ban had on some businesses, that, plus the current economic difficulties saw many establishments go under because a lot of people opted to hang out with friends at home where the drinks will be cheaper and they can smoke indoors hassle free.

I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but in the 90s I used to work for M&S – they had a glass front smoking room with turbo ventilation – it was air tight like a humidor. People outside the smoking room never felt or smelt the smoke. Why can’t business be allowed to 1) do something similar, and have smoking rooms where punters take their drinks and bring back their empties, this way the health and wellbeing of the worker is protected or 2) allow some establishments to become smoking only just as some are non – smoking only therefore giving people and businesses a choice! By doing that the streets become buds free and we all can enjoy walking on our pavements again but mostly it gives businesses a choice.

Liberty is about educating people and arming them with all the information they need to decide and trusting them with making the choices that suits them.

We had the ban, we tried the ban, and now we can see that the ban with its current restrictions is not perfect, amending the ban to suite most people and businesses is the logical thing to do and what common sense expects from us to do!