Smokin' Ban on Dartmoor

SX any enclosed or substantially enclosed public place.

This is not so much an aspect of Dartmoor but more of the end of an aspect of Dartmoor, well for me it is anyway. It is also a personal rant at the ridiculous way this country is being run. At precisely 6.00am on Sunday the 1st July 2007 all the enclosed and substantially enclosed spaces on Dartmoor and the rest of England become smoke free zones. Anybody caught committing such a heinous crime as smoking within these places will be liable for a fine ranging from £30 to £200. Well whoopee-do, there goes another 'right' of the poor beleaguered Englishman along with hunting and numerous other 'anti-social' activities. If you visit an old inn such as the Castle at Lydford and see the patina of tobacco staining on the ceiling and then imagine telling the old miners and farmers of the moor that they couldn't smoke there I wonder what the reaction might be. Actually it doesn't take a lot of imagining it would be two words, the first beginning with 'F' and the last ending with 'F'.

Why bother writing a webpage on the smoking ban? Personally, this is to act as a memorial to lost civil rights and the end of an era. Why? Well, I have smoked since the age of about 11 which means a total of 39 years, most of which involved 20 Marlboro a day, this means approximately 284,701 cigarettes and I can honestly say I have enjoyed everyone of them. Allowing for 1 minute to smoke a cigarette it means that I have devoted 197.7 days to smoking. For me there in nothing more relaxing than having climbed a tor etc being able to sit on top of it and enjoy a cigarette whilst drinking in the view. Similarly after a long days walk it is nice to sit in a moorland pub and have a pint of Guinness and a cigarette. However, I will not be told that if I want a cigarette I must go outside to have one, therefore 26 days, 4 hours and 43 minutes ago I stopped smoking. Some could say that this is simply doing what the Government intended and is no protest whatsoever. But as I regularly stay in hotels and all such buildings can be classed as enclosed spaces (although I can think of a few places where through lack of maintenance this would be questionable) it now means the following:

Despite paying between £70 -£150 a night for a room you can't have a cigarette in it.

Despite paying between £2.50 - £4 for a pint of Guinness you can't have a cigarette with it.

Despite paying between £15 - £30 for a meal you can't have a cigarette after it.

This means that every time I would like a smoke I have to go outdoors which is not very pleasant if it's 3.00am in the morning, ergo it's easier to simply give up. So in the case of bars and restaurants it now means they are smoke free and healthy places to be because such selfish people as myself have to partake in our filthy habits outside. This now means that non smokers can enjoy a drink and a meal without having to suffer the effects of smokers. Ok, fine, having been denied the right to smoke why should I have to endure noisy and badly behaved children whilst I am trying to enjoy a drink or a meal? Why should I have to endure the stench of some woman's over powering perfume wafting across the room whilst I am trying to enjoy a drink or a meal. Similarly why should I have to endure the endless cacophony of inane mobile ring tones and conversations whilst I am trying to enjoy a drink or a meal. All of those examples send my blood pressure sky high which is much more dangerous than passive smoking. If I could have one wish it would be that every smoker could give up on the 1st of July. It would probably take a couple of months for the loss in tax revenue to bite but then there would be a massive hole in the Governments income. This would mean that new or higher taxes would have to be introduced which would then affect those whinging bastards who wanted smoking banned in the first place. Yeah, within six months people would be begging smokers to start puffing again.

Ok, I can understand that many people don't enjoy sitting in smoky rooms or even eating meals engulfed in a haze of cigarette smoke. But come on, there are plenty of public places with separate smoking areas, most restaurants are already non smoking and I am sure it is no hardship not to smoke at a bar so where's the give and take?

Having said that, how have I managed to stop smoking for about 4 weeks, well I used patches for two weeks and then simply will power ever since. Do I feel healthier, richer, better or happier. No, the cigarettes I smoked were from Rumania and cost 80p a packet so I am not really saving that much. Health-wise I feel no different whatsoever and can see no benefits, food tastes the same, breathings the same, my blood pressure has actually risen and everything's the same. I am certainly no happier, spitting cobra probably is a good analogy. So basically I have not yet experienced one single benefit, people say that I should feel proud of myself for kicking the habit, but why? surely if you decide to do something then you just do it, there is no option. Actually I have just thought of one 'benefit' and that is an improved sense of smell, I noticed it a couple of days ago whilst sat in a line of traffic. I could smell the cigarette smoke of a man sat three cars infront of me which kicked in the craving to have a cigarette, that was really beneficial that was. Oh and here's another tip for anyone who is going to give up, don't sign up for a stop smoking help plan. I signed up with the Nicorette action plan which meant I got numerous supportive emails and texts. Every night smack on the strike of 8.00pm a text arrives asking you to reply whether or not you have had a smoke free day. A week ago I was staying in a hotel where the phone signal was weak and it took an age to get enough signal to reply 'yes'. But eventually the affirmative went winging its way through the ether, at 3.45am I am woken up by the phone ringing to say a text message had arrived. I presume this must have been when there was a sudden increase in the phone signal, regardless, it was a text from Nicorette congratulating me on a smoke free day. Having woken up at that ungodly hour the only thing I wanted was a cigarette. However, as a postscript to this I am now smoking again so it was all for nothing - I actually gave up for 9 weeks, 5 of them without patches.

Question - the new no-smoking law in England states:

"From 1 July 2007 it will be against the law to smoke in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and workplaces".

"No-smoking signs will have to be displayed in all smokefree premises and vehicles".

The smokefree website even gives a pretty picture of what constitutes both an enclosed public space and a substantially enclosed public place, as can be seen below:

Very helpful, but bearing in mind that the law now states that every public place which is an enclosed premises (as depicted above) must have a no-smoking sign displayed, does it mean that the pound keepers shelter at Dunnabridge has comply with this edict?

Should anybody want a huge collection of lighters, cigarette cases, and ashtrays then simply email me, I sadly have a mountain of such unwanted items - postscript: as I am now smoking again the previously mentioned are now back in full use.