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In Britain the idea of segregating smokers and non-smokers was tried in a few pubs without much success.
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The smokers complained about discrimination and finally won the fight
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to allow them to blow smoke over whomever they pleased.
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Although, it's not the active exerting smoke in crowds which really concerns pollution busts;
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it's the sidestream from the end of the cigarette which concerns non-smokers.
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But would smokers here support the idea of having rooms or bars to themselves?
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No, I would not.
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I would say that two thirds of people smoke and my wife doesn't smoke.
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It'd be a pretty poor show if she had to go into a separate bar to me to have a drink.
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As a non-smoker do you support the idea of separate bars for smokers, and people like yourself?
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No, not really.
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It doesn't worry me provided, sort of, it's a big enough room that you're in, at the time.
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Already buses and other forms of public transport carry smokers and non-smokers in separate spaces
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so segregation supporters can't see any reason why this idea should not be extended to include other public areas,
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such as restaurants and hotels.
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I agree with those who say there are four great epidemics in the Western world today,
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one is tobacco addiction, another is obesity,
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another is unwanted pregnancy, and a fourth is road accidents.
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Dr. Earle Hackett is Chairman of the Anticancer Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee.
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Does he think legislation would help control where and when people smoked?
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You can't legislate for good manners.
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You could only bring this about, I suppose,
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by being well-managed yourself in the first place because you can't beat people into good manners, either.
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But insofar as on the Anticancer Foundation we're concerned about smoking
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we certainly support the views of non-smokers who don't like people smoking
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right close to them in an ill-considered way
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but you couldn't possibly legislate to change.
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People's habits—
Well, you could suggest, you could suggest, though,
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do you think are smokers the sort of people who would follow that suggestion
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if a sign said in a bar, 'No smoking in this bar'?
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Well, I think smokers pay less and less attention to non-smoking signs.
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I see people in public transport in non-smoking seats or non-smoking carriages,
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smoking - they pay no attention to it.
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I think smokers should realize that non-smokers hope
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that that convention will be obeyed when they go and sit in a non-smoking area.
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You can ask in an airplane these days whether you can have a seat in a non-smoking area
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and I often do that but inevitably someone sits down beside me and smokes.
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So really the system isn't working all that effectively and ideas to extend the scheme
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are probably nothing more then a pipe dream.
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But smokers could help with a little consideration.
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As Dr. Hackett says, you can't legislate for good manners.
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[bell ringing]
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In five minutes, we'll no longer be able to smoke cigarettes
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[crowd booing]
in a licensed area in Victoria!
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City revelers had mixed emotions about the end of going out for a drink and a social smoke.
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BAR PATRON: Now we are ostracizing people.
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Now, I think that's discrimination, absolutely,
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It's discrimin—
- because now we can't smoke anywhere.
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No, I think that like for one month everyone is going to be in shock
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and then we're all gonna rejoice in smoke-free areas.
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There was a particularly nostalgic atmosphere at Baranows Cigar Lounge in Hawthorn.
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At midnight everyone butts out,
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and the government decided that even in a cigar lounge we can't smoke.
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Bar managers now have a nervous wait before them to see how the ban affects business
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but venues with outdoor areas for smokers are focusing on the positive side.
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BAR STAFF: We have fourteen staff here and only one staff member smokes, so
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I think they gonna be really, really, really happy.
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Bar staff reported a good level of awareness among patrons about the change,
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however, some say it's unclear how councils plan to enforce the new law.
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It's really vague, we don't know what we're doing,
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we don't know what kind of subsidies we're getting for our ashtrays and for our outdoor renovations.
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All we know is that we have to stop people from smoking—
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Those who break the law face a $110 fine.
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The Department of Human Services says there were no reports of fines being issued overnight.
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Emma O'Sullivan, ABC News, Melbourne.
