Ever since the smoking ban last year I’ve often thought about how you define an enclosed area. I remember that a nearby pub built an outdoor smoking area, but made the mistake of putting a small roof over it, which made it an enclosed area and therefore they had to remove it, much to the smokers’ chagrin.
The reason that I ask this is not because I’m a smoker or just someone looking to exploit loopholes, but because on two occasions I’ve been in bars (which shall remain nameless) where the designated outside smoking area has been covered somehow and no action has been taken to enforce the law. This brings me swiftly onto my next question: as a patron what right do I have to ask/demand that the management enforces the law and stop people from smoking?
On both occasions I would’ve just asked the management to open the overhead shutters, but then I would’ve got complaints that it was cold/raining. But isn’t that the point? By that I don’t mean that smokers should be rained on, but that it should be outside.
These don’t seem like questions that are gonna answer themselves, so in the meantime I’m gonna air out my clothes. It’s the first time they’ve smelled like smoke in ages!
