Oh, I'm going to love this...

First they stopped me except in designated areas,

Then they stopped me smoking inside,

Now they're stopping me smoking outside!

Is smoking bad for you or something? I view it as a public service, because smoking helps me avoid killing people.

While I respect College for trying to squeeze their assets in the holiday periods attracting conference trades, I think a smoking ban is pointless and stupid.

Conference delegates are often the biggest smokers in the place anyway.

Personally I think it's a great idea - the thing that annoys me the most is people who smoke outside Huxley. There are usually loads of 'em puffing away every time I go past and I don't see why I should have to passively kill myself.

I have to agree with Neil on this one - it's nasty to walk out of Huxley into a cloud of smoke.

If people want to kill themselves, they can do it in private.

Careful, they're circling for the kill. Soon, they'll create a 'designated college smoking zone' which will consist of a small unlit room somewhere on level 0.

Seriously though, there's more danger to my lungs from the unwashed bodies in the DoC main computing lab than from people walking and smoking. If we've got 'No Smoking' areas, can we have 'enforced daily shower' areas? Lest you forget, we live in London - you're far more at risk from car pollution than any smokers.

Very true- people act like passing a smoker will kill them and yet have no problem with walking along Cromwell Road.

A good rule is smoking outside:ok. Smoking inside (except in the bar): bad. Chain smoking on a Wednesday night: absolutely fine.

Smokers of the world- ignite!

I have to agree with Neil and Ashley. While Steve makes a good point about car emissions, I think he stretches it a little far by implying that college designated the walkway smoke free to cure London's pollution problem. Every little helps at the end of the day.

I really haven't got a problem with people smoking outside, but as long as it's in a reasonably open space and therefore has minimal impact on non-smokers. The problem occurs when you get a whole crowd of smokers together, as you do outside Huxley at most times of the day. Perhaps we should have a smoking room in all buildings - that's if College can find the space! Then anyone who wants to kill themselves slowly (sorry, I mean smoke) can do so conveniently and without annoying others.

Pollution: I don't ever stick my mouth over exhaust pipes but regularly get smoke blown at my face from several directions.

Smoking Outside: The main walkway (particularly by Huxley) is an enclosed space. If people blew the smoke over the side then it would be less of a problem, but they don't - they blow it inwards towards people walking past. Smoking in *open* spaces is something I accept as a way to raise money (through taxes).

Death: There are far cheaper ways to kill yourself - windows/cars/tube stations. The cost of a TravelCard or Single to get into a tube station is probably less than most people spend on cigarettes a week. And scraping up the body would cost less than endless medical treatment... (I doubt commuters would notice *another* delay).

There are large areas near the main walkway that make perfectly good smoking areas without needing to do it on that narrow stretch outside Huxley where it does become a pain.

And Ash, I have nothing against people killing themselves, but under trains is debatably worse than smoking, some of the worst delays are from bodies on the line!

Car emissions in London are unavoidable, or at least it takes some hefty bouts of selflessness to fix it, cigarette smoke pollution is easily solved by the smokers having the decency to move somewhere else.

At least the walkway is relatively open. I've seen members of college catering staff (I think from QT's) smoking in the toilets off the walkway near STA travel. Now that is really antisocial. But according to one inside source I mentioned this to, toilets *are* designated smoking areas! Walkway - outside, open area you spend a few seconds walking through, but where conference types will see it - NO. Toilets - inside, cofined space, poor ventilation, where nature demands you remain for rather longer, but *out of sight* - YES. Hypocracy and illogical regulations from College? Surely not! ;o)

Does this mean college are removing the "smoking bins" from along the walkway then?

Personally, I think it is a bit insane of college to go this far. I would agree with Sam that the majority of smokers I see tend to come from Sherfield or the conferences anyway. No doubt delegates will be turned the blind eye if they decide to light up alon the walkway.

And who ever heard of a student bar where smoking was banned. We are all perfectly aware that Medics are the most persistent abusers of the tabs. Jesus!

I can think of one successful non-smoking student bar - Linstead Hall... with it's trendy refurbishment and everything. Cheaper than the union and southside. And the smokers can go out to the balcony. The result? a nice clean environment in the bar for the majority of the hall who don't smoke, and the smokers go to an open area where it doesn't affect everyone... now just imagine if southside or the inion went non-smoking...

The levels of toxins you receive walking through a cloud of cigarette smoke is miniscule compared to car pollution in London. Los Angeles pollution levels are equivalent to smoking half a packet of cigarettes a day. Passive smoking cannot even approach that.

The simple fact is that smoking is visible, and it's high profile. No doubt Imperial want to increase the revenue they get from conferences, but at the same time they have a responsibility to respect the wishes of a proportion of their students. Smoking is, in my opinion, merely an 'easy target' for the reinforcement of authority.

I'd suggest that Imperial look at the smoking policies of businesses in London. Most of them operate a strict no smoking policy inside - sensible, as smoking can utterly destroy a room without adequate ventilation. However, the majority of companies have no issue with their employees using their breaks to smoke outside. I can't see how the situation is that different for us.

I don't smoke, but I intensely dislike people having their rights curtailed for ridiculous reasons.

Well people will have to nip over to Chemistry and get two large coffees and a breakfast special from Margaret in Mr T's (or whatever it is now called) and sit on the ("our") benches outside - my, that brings back many happy memories :)

Steve - you have to look at the rights of those people with respiratory problems though. I know many people who aren't seriously affected by the general pollution, but walking through a cloud of smoke can cause (sometimes severe) breathing problems.

I'd rate the right to breathe above the right to kill yourself slowly by smoking an addictive drug.

Relax...

breathe out... (unless there are any non-smokers around!)

it's only the bit of the walkway outside the JCR that has gone non-smoking.

Sorry all you Huxley-ites, but you're going to have to passively kill yourselves for a bit longer!

Arg! Have to get one of those hats with the fans on them ... but switch the fan to blow outwards...

Or perhaps you could just hold your breath for long enough to get to the other side of the cloud?

Adrian, you must've missed my post from several months ago where I indicated that sentences ending ... weren't supposed to be taken seriously. Clearly some people have no sense of humour...

On a more serious note, on of the reasons I'm so anti-smoking is that I've had 2 family members die as a result of it (one only smoked for 2 years - but the passive smoking due to someone else in the family got him in the end).

I would like to append ... to my last posting.

I too have had lost grandparents and godparents as a result of smoking. However the NHS is almost completely funded by the duty paid on tobacco, this has been the case for a very long time. And so I'm guessing that smoking has probably saved and helped more lives than it has actually claimed in a peverse kind of way.

I don't really see the argument. Presumably you spend most of your day inside a building in college somewhere and not hanging around on the walkway. So walking breifly (no more than 5 seconds or so) through a cloud of smoke in a usually reaonsably vented area (this is britain and the weather speaks for itself) is a small inconvenience as you spend the rest of the time in a smoke free environment.

Oh for the record, I don't smoke either.

Just spotted this old article. It's a shame those no-smoking signs didn't make any difference!