Smokers will be followed home
Scottish smokers who flout the ban in pubs next weekend could be followed home by 'smoking spies' so legal action can be taken later.
Smokers in Edinburgh who ignore the ban and refuse to give their details to the city council's 'smoke police' could find themselves being tailed home.
Smoking densEdinburgh City Council also said its enforcement officers would be targeting pubs with no smokers outside - a sure sign they must be lurking inside in cloudy smoking dens.
However, Gordon Greenhill, head of service for the city's environmental health department, told the Scotsman newspaper enforcers were aiming to win "the hearts and minds" of smokers and would not use heavy-handed tactics.
"What we want to see is a cultural change policed by the public, the majority of whom are non-smokers. We want to achieve compliance by education and co-operation wherever possible with the aim of protecting customers and staff from passive smoking. In the first instance we will ask a pub manager if they are aware that smoking is going on in their premisesGordon Greenhill, Edinburgh City Council
Fixed penalty notices"In the first instance we will ask a pub manager if they are aware that smoking is going on in their premises and give them the opportunity to advise us how they will be compliant with the legislation. After that warning if they continue to serve smokers they will be issued with a fixed-penalty notice.
"If from the very beginning they are actively colluding with smokers and we see ashtrays and people being allowed to smoke openly, owners may be reported straight to the procurator-fiscal."
Police stateSimon Clark, director of the smokers' rights group Forest, said enforcement officers would be better employed catching "real criminals".
"Scotland is in danger of creating a police state which must be very worrying to the majority of sane-minded people.
"The whole smoking ban is more about self-promotion for the Scottish Parliament and very little to do with the welfare of people in Scotland."Your commentsDonal McCarthy via email".....enforcement officers would be targeting pubs with no smokers outside - a sure sign they must be lurking inside in cloudy smoking dens"
How democratic it is to see the [temporary] powers-that-be uphold the rights of some, by quashing the rights of others. Clearly paranoia and guilt are plaguing those who had to smother their consciences to force these fascist measures on ordinary law-abiding people.
Scotland, you have a choice here. Put em out. At the next election."Liz Barber via email 21/03/2006 "I seem to recall a film where one Braveheart said 'THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM!!' They were talking about the English then, but I suspect William Wallace will be spinning in his grave seeing what the SE has done to its own countrymen. I have family in Scotland who I will be visiting shortly. I can only say that I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing that on crossing the border, I go from law abiding citizen to a potential criminal and target of the snoop police. Never in my worst nightmares did I ever believe I would feel a sense of menace and threat against me because I choose to use a product whose supply distribution sale is entirely legal, and the taxation of which boosts the coffers of the exchequer by the billions. I wonder how many non-smokers are comfortable with what is happening in this free country of ours in the name of 'Health and Safety' and how concerned thay are that they could be the next target - for whatever reason.Alastair Elliott via email 20/03/2006"Its a sad week for Scotland, my heart goes out to the Scottish people who are going to have this draconian law forced upon them and place a division between freinds, however the fight has not finished infact far from it and the campaign for Freedom of Choice is also gathering momentum in Scotland also aswell as South of the border. Join the Big debate via the Morning Advertiser NOW."Robert Feal-Martinez via email 20/03/2006 "This truly is a dangerous decision for so many reasons. The potential for harm is untold. Females being followed will create anxiety leading to obvious conflicts and worse. The consumption of alcohol can fuel agression, added to the fact that SE have removed someones democratic right to use a legal product and you have recipe for disaster. One has to ask the obvious question, if the population of Scotland is so in favour of this ban, why is the Executive spending millions enforcing it?. Join Freedom to Choose via Morning Advertiser Online. Get your voice heard. Tell the Scottish Executive what you think of thie fascist legislation. Fight for freedom and democracy. Politicians have little regard for the truth over Passive Smoking, Ventilation/filtration is the answer. They are liars tell them so.To comment on this or any other story email us by clicking this link
