Smoking Bans

  In 2011 the government decided to ban smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants.  This law has been put in affect to protect non-smokers from second-hand-smoke.  This has led to some controversy between smokers and non-smokers.

  On one side, the smokers feel entitled to smoke where and when they want.  They spend a lot of money on cigarettes every week and they want to smoke them comfortably inside a bar, not outside.  Another argument is that some establishments are suffering because they now have less clients because they rather smoke than go inside and eat.

  On the other hand non-smokers don't want to have to breathe in the toxic fumes from the cigarette of someone else.  They made a conscious decision to not smoke and if they're breathing in the smoke from others, what's the point?

  In my opinion this law should have been passed a long time ago, other countries have had them for years and it's led to healthier work environments.  Smoking inside forces non-smokers to inhale smoke they don't want and can lead to diseases like lung cancer.  Smoking is a personal choice that shouldn't be forced onto others.

Alejandro Carbajal 2º A

Smoking ban

In January 2011 the government implanted a new law which bans smoking in public places like restaurants, schools, playgrounds, high schools, bars… and says that publicity or movies mustn’t show any scenes in which people are smoking. This law was implanted in order to reduce the number of diseases caused by smoking.

People who are in favor have lots of arguments to support the law. Firstly all the people, who before this law were affected by the smokers and consequently were passive smokers, can go to public places like restaurants or other places, without worrying to be passive smokers, as a result, not only people who go to the restaurants or other places but also the employers who work in public places, will decrease the risk of diseases produced by the smoke of tobacco. Secondly, everybody who smokes wants to stop smoking, because nobody in this planet likes to die, and this law helps people to stop smoking. Thirdly, the government will save money because of the decrease of diseases caused by the smoke, and maybe they will invest in other things like education, but now a day, this money would go to a secret count in Switzerland, but this is another topic. 


But some people are opposed to this law, because they think that this law restricts their freedom. Along with these people, are the industries which export, prepare and sell the tobacco. These industries are the real losers, because they will reduce a lot their profits, and consequently they  will be  angry and say to the smoker that “this law is banning their freedom”. 


Personally, I think that this law is good for everybody, because tobacco is a drug which kills you; and, smoking can’t be banned because people spend a lot of money on tobacco, the people who don’t smoke don’t have to suffer because of the smokers, because if you are a passive smoker, you have a lot of possibilities to have cancer or breathing problems.

Smoking ban (final version)

During January 2011, the government passed a new law to stop people from being able to smoke in any public place including parks, schools, shops, bars and restaurants. The law has caused a debate among people as some believe that it is a personal choice to smoke while others believe that the diseases caused by smoke, affect everyone and therefore should be banned.

Those who support the new law believe that smoking is a controversial habit that should not be displayed publicly as sets a bad example for the youth. It is a fact that smoking kills and many people especially children are vulnerable to second hand smoke when in public places as they cannot control others behavior but also cannot avoid the situation. Secondly the smoking ban prevents people from being stuck in situations where they have __ choose between their health or the people they socialize with. Most people start smoking because of social reasons trying to fit in , which is a serious problem. Also people believe that the law will greatly reduce the number of people to start smoking if it is seen by society to be negative or found upon. Reduced numbers of smokers will also have a positive effect on the economy as it will stop people from wasting their money. Most importantly banning smoking in public places will eventually cause less diseases  and create an overall healthier country.

Those who are against the law believe that as humans we should be able to make our own decisions in regards to our health and also our habits. Smoking is a personal choice and taking away this choice is taking away freedom from people Also the new law will directly effect thousands of people in the tobacco trade. Many companies will have to shut down and many people will lose their jobs, which will make their own as well as their family's lives very hard.

I personally agree with the new law as smoking cause diseases, kill_ thousands of smokers and non smokers each year. It can bring addiction and can also tear families and relationships apart. Although the law may seem tough at first, eventually it will greatly reduce the number of people taking up smoking, reduce thousands of avoidable deaths and also have a positive effect on the economy. I believe this a large step forward in our country and only good things will come from this law.

Smoking ban

The decision of banning smoking is being a subject of great controversy. Some people believe that smoking is bad for health and others think that if they want to, they have the right to smoke.

Supporters of  the smoking ban present four main arguments. Firstly, they say smoking is bad for health and it can make you be more likely to have some kind of disease, such as lung cancer. Secondly, people who have chosen not to smoke are passive smokers if there’s people smoking near them, affecting their health. Thirdly, it has nicotine, a very addictive organic compound that makes you smoke more and more. Finally, it’s been demonstrated that CO intoxicates people who breathe that chemical substance.

Opponents of the smoking ban offer four counterarguments. Firstly, they claim their freedom of choice, they think that if they want to smoke, they have the right to. Secondly, smoking generates many working places that may disappear, such as tobacco farmers. Thirdly,  the high taxes on cigarettes wouldn't be paid if smoking was banned. Finally, there’s a big business around cigarettes that moves a lot of money and if banned, the cigarettes industry will disappear.

In my opinion, I’m in favour of the smoking ban, because it’s very unhealthy and it affects not only those who smoke but also the people around them. However, I believe that tobacco farmers are going to lose their jobs , a thing that nowadays it’s tragic, and they don’t even have any responsibility of what cigarette industries add to tobacco in order to make it more addictive or gain higher profits. 

Leo González 2A

FORBIDDEN TO SMOKE

Spain has suffered the consequences of the smoking ban. It has been forbidden to smoke in restaurants and outside some public areas like hospitals or schools. In my opinion, it will make smokers become angry because there’s no reason not to let them smoke in the street.

The way I see it, smokers should be allowed to smoke outside all the public establishments as the new law doesn’t let them smoking in bars. I think the government should have imposed the law in parts in order to help people to get used to it. In my view, if the government had first only banned smoking in bars, people wouldn’t have reacted in that way. What’s more, if people were able to smoke anywhere in the street, they wouldn’t be so angry. The problem is that in many cities or small towns there are lots of schools, hospitals and parks. As a result, it has become a problem for smokers to find a place where to smoke without breaking the law and in peace. It’s seems like some day people will only be able to smoke in their houses.

To sum up, I think that the biggest mistake made by the government has been forbid people to smoke in the street. The citizens must be able to choose if they want to smoke in an open area and I am sure that the tobacco effects are not worse than the pollution from cars.

              Elisabet Carbó 2A

SHOULD THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT REMOVE THE BAN ON SMOKING?

Since the Spanish government passed the law that prohibits smoking in public areas like bars, restaurants and some other places, there are many criticisms and complaints about the issue, nevertheless, many people are also in favour of the law.

Some consumers say that it should be a personal choice and business owners are really affected by the law. But in my opinion, there is something more important than economic losses and personal pleasure, it is the right of non-smokers, for instance, babies, children, pregnant woman, older people…

The OMS says that peoples who live with a smoker have a 35 times higher risk of suffering lung cancer than those who do not. And do you know that 42 per cent of children with chronic respiratory disease are caused by tobacco fumes? So I think that even though this ban could be too tough and difficult to obey, it is absolutely necessary and fair, since in my view, people who smoke are not only killing themselves, but also killing others.

To conclude, I want to tell all smokers, please think about their sons, daughters, parents, husband, wives, friends and everyone who loves you and live with you, stop killing them!

Mengjun Lin 2n BTX A

SMOKING BAN

Some people think that the new smoking ban will decrease the number of smokers in Spain. Other people consider that it will be a complete disaster for restaurants and pub owners. In my opinion, people will get used to it and nobody will talk about it.

For one thing is clear, smoking is bad for our health; experts think that if people don’t smoke in public places there will be a reduction in lung cancers, especially when we talk about people such as waiters, who work in places where smoking is something natural. This is one of the reasons why the government has decided to go on with the prohibition despite the criticism of smokers in general.

However, in my opinion, this law should have been passed before. We must not forget that this same government allowed pubs and restaurants to create special rooms for smokers. Consequently they spent a lot of money just two or three years ago and now they are not allowed to use those spaces.

In short, there will always be different opinions and points of view about smoking but I honestly think that everybody will be pretty happy about the new legislation in the future.

José Mª Morillas Jiménez 2n Batx. C

THE SMOKING BAN IN SPAIN

The new law against smoking in Spain has been quite discussed. Some people think that it is excessive and other people say it’s OK. Obviously, people who are against the law smoke. I don’t smoke, but I think that the smoking ban is too tough.

I don’t like people who smoke and throw you the polluted air but I also think that the decision of smoking should be voluntary. It’s also a contradiction because, for example: smoking is not allowed in bars but you can buy cigarettes there. Moreover, it seems to me that banning smoking in bars, restaurants and other places like parks and the surroundings of schools are too many places to prohibit smoking. Despite the fact that not many years ago bars were forced to have isolated areas in order not to annoy non-smokers, now all the money they had spent has been wasted with no profit.

The way I see it, this law won’t stop the increasing number of smokers; if the government really wants to stop smoking it should make Spaniards aware of the risks of smoking or prohibit the sale of tobacco. But I don’t think that the government wants to stop the number of smokers in Spain because it has great benefits from cigarettes’ taxes. Finally, I think that this law is nonsense and the number of smokers in Spain won’t decrease because of it.

Sara Ortego Huguet 2ºA

SMOKING BAN

Nowadays the new smoking law is being mentioned by everyone.  This law is causing a lot of headaches because neither all smokers nor some non-smokers like it.

In my opinion I’m one of those who think that this new law is stupid because the only thing that the government will achieve with it is  to harm bar as well as disco owners,  and all those who own places where you can’t smoke now. One of the reasons is that they are losing a lot of clients because if they can’t smoke inside a bar they won’t probably go to that bar. Another reason is that some years ago the Government passed a law with which bars had to prepare a special zone for smokers if they wanted to have smokers in their establishments. Therefore a lot of restaurants had to pay a lot of money to separate their restaurants into smokers or none smokers’ zones and now they see that all the money that they had spend has been wasted.

In conclusion, for me, this law is a law that threatens freedom and an insult to the business.

Ignasi Rovellada 2n BTX C

SMOKING BAN

A new law came into force in Spain on the 2nd January prohibiting to smoke in some public places, such as bars, restaurants, schools, hospitals and so on. Another law, which was implanted a few years before, wasn’t successful, because the number of smokers increased instead of going down (the law made restaurants and bars have a specific area for smokers and another one for the non-smokers… it was a foolish idea, because the smoke could be breathed everywhere). Experts think that this new law will have better results.

On the one hand, I think it’s a good idea to ban smoking in some places because for those who don’t smoke (like me, for example) smoke is something that bothers. When you are in touch with it (for example while you’re eating in a restaurant), then clothes smell really bad. On the other hand, I can understand the smokers (and how difficult it is to stop smoking, because I have some examples in my family, some of them have been able to stop, while others have such a big habit that they can’t stop smoking) and the owners of the establishments where now it’s prohibited to smoke, because there’s a large number of customers who visit their business and meanwhile they have a cigarette, and as now it isn’t possible to have a cigarette, they won’t go there. This will harm bars, pubs, restaurants, discos etc. because if people don’t go there, the sale of tobacco and the benefits and income of the owners will decrease.

Can this law lower the consumption of tobacco? Yes, it’s possible, but I disagree with this idea, in my opinion, if people want to continue smoking they will, even though they have to stay at home or outside where they are. I also think that the law is too strict. There are too many places where it’s forbidden to smoke. It’s a great idea not to smoke in hospitals or schools (as a respect to the patients and the children) because it’s a good way of being healthy and for children it’s also good to grow up happily and breathing pure air.

In conclusion, I want to emphasize that for me (and I’m sorry for the smokers) it’s a really good idea to ban smoking in public places, I’m really happy because of this… because I can’t stand smoke’s smell.

Cristina Melià 2nd Batxillerat B

SMOKING BAN

As the government has imposed a new law recently which forbids the sale of tabacco, I am going to talk about this smoking ban, because as far as I’m aware, this issue has been discussed all over the country. What is more, due to the tough law, people have wrangled about this topic. Therefore, I will give my view.

As far as I’m concerned, I’m for it, so I will argue it reasonably. First of all, I think that this idea is great, because It’s not that the government want to bother us, but they try to encourage people to give up smoking as well as banning to smoke in establishments in order not to annoy the people who aren’t smokers. Furthermore, It’s seems to me that the latter could diminish the smoky atmosphere in bars or pubs, where you can’t cope with that.

Otherwise, the owners of establishments could be ruined owing to the new ban. Moreover, it is believed that the costumers, who used to go for a coffee, let their coffee go as they can’t do their diary cigarette. So, the owners are worried. For this reason, the people who run a bar have been claiming for altering what could be the cause of being broke.

To sum up, on one hand, I’m for the law because it could be the point which ends with diseases. On the other hand, I’m against because lots of workers depend on these people who used to go to the bar in order to have a coffee as well as smoking their diary cigarette.

Salomé Mir Sánchez