Should smoking be banned in all public places?

Ahhh smoking.....for some people it's a choice (yeah right) and for others it's an addiction...

It's fairly easy to say what I think on this one, but the intricacies make it so much more difficult when you factor human rights into the equation.

Firstly, my person opinion is yes, ban smoking in public places, it smells, it's downright rude, it's not nice seeing fag butts littering the streets and it's plain not fair.

You may think I'm being a bit of a hypocrite, seeing as I've just become a non smoker (week and a half without a cigarette -yay!) but even whe I did smoke, I didn't really feel comfortable doing it in public, as I was always aware that there were non smokers around, and not only that, but children, who really should have the right to clean fresh air.

Smokers however do have an inalienable right (unfortunately) to smoke in public, and I find this hypocritical also, I mean, drinking alcohol, though socially acceptable, is banned on our streets, so why not smoking? I'm not entirely sure of the facts, but I believe no one ever died of passive drinking did they?

I'm not going to get all evangelical about it (like most newly stopped ex smokers) because I believe in a persons right to choose, but choose to do it in your own home, or in designated areas, because non smokers on the street don't seem to have the choice do they? Did anybody ask them if they minded breathing in those toxic, cancer causing, smelly, antisocial fumes? No, I didn't think so.

I live in Manchester, where a ban on smoking in public is being seriously considered, now a couple of weeks ago, I'd have been up in arms...'What a cheek!' I'd have thought, but now I don't think it's such a bad idea.

I don't want to take the right to smoke away from those who wish to continue, but why should they take the right to fresh air away from those who *don't*? You may argue that with all the exhaust fumes in the air, what's the point, but I don't ever remember seeing anyone with their lips wrapped round an exhaust pipe, did you?

There should be designated areas for people who choose to smoke, away from the rest of the population, because smoking *is* an addiction, and not one that just goes away unfortunately, (mind you, if *I* can stop smoking....)

I fully agree with a blanket ban in public restaurants and pubs however, even when I smoked, the thought of cigarettes in a restaurant horrified me, and I would never dream of lighting up in a place where people eat.

So, I hope I didn't sound like ranting there, but separate the two factions and you've got the best solution we could have (until *all* people become non smokers that is)