Social Pressure

[justontime]

In my area there are now laws to ban smoking in the workplace, people can no longer smoke in pubs or in public buildings. Smokers are more or less banished to the street or to their own homes. As a non smoker it has obvious advantages for me, but I wonder if it helps smokers to give up or reduce their dependence on cigarettes? How do smokers feel about it?

[Kitten]

For some people, it does. My area put in gradual bans over the last few years so that smoking is only allowed in bars whereas before, there was still even an area *inside* the hospital that people could smoke. Some employees ended up quitting smoking, and others are just still bitter that they have to walk a block away to have a smoke break (because they put in parameters around the area outside that are smoke-free as well).

[justjoy]

we too are part of the no smoking in public ban. I'm a smoker and while I'm trying to quit (not because of the new bans), i've not noticed any sort of social pressure on smokers to give up just because of the laws.

Some of my friends initially quit in response to the bans, but the majority have gone back to smoking. In general, I think those of us who smoke just realize that, if we're going to continue, we're going to be inconvenienced when we're in public.

[Jewel]

When my step-dad's work banned smoking on the job, he quit because that would mean he would be having cigarette withdrawals at work, and that would effect his work. I think that in cases such as these, it does work. I guess it all depends on what the person is willing to give up, and for what.

[Green-Moo]

Although I welcome smoking bans in public places where passive smoking can affect others, I don't welcome the idea of pushing smokers further away from their workplace. When I was a non smoker in an office full of smokers, I always seemed to behind the times in terms of news because the smokers would discuss stuff whilst they were on smoke breaks.