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| The death of the smoking room | The death of the smoking room |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The atmosphere of the smoking room is 'unique' | The atmosphere of the smoking room is 'unique' |
| By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine | By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine |
| The smoking ban in England on 1 July will spell the final demise of the smoking room, a most curious of social institutions. But will smokers still bond outside in pursuit of their habit, or will they just stop? | The smoking ban in England on 1 July will spell the final demise of the smoking room, a most curious of social institutions. But will smokers still bond outside in pursuit of their habit, or will they just stop? |
| It is either eternally gloomy or lit by eye-watering fluorescent tubes. The carpet appears to be woven from armpit hair and doesn't quite reach the walls. | It is either eternally gloomy or lit by eye-watering fluorescent tubes. The carpet appears to be woven from armpit hair and doesn't quite reach the walls. |
| Frayed by the ravages of time, the 1970s furniture is orange and lumpy with burn holes marked by hard, black, plasticky fringes. A brown cylindrical ashtray overflows, with a trail of butts towards the door, as if trying to make their escape. | Frayed by the ravages of time, the 1970s furniture is orange and lumpy with burn holes marked by hard, black, plasticky fringes. A brown cylindrical ashtray overflows, with a trail of butts towards the door, as if trying to make their escape. |
| Welcome to the smoking room. | Welcome to the smoking room. |
| Meet our panel of quitters | Meet our panel of quitters |
| Once upon a time, when a tobacco advert could say "More Doctors Smoke Camels than any other Cigarette", the average office would be filled with billowing clouds of smoke. | Once upon a time, when a tobacco advert could say "More Doctors Smoke Camels than any other Cigarette", the average office would be filled with billowing clouds of smoke. |
| But after years of a turning cultural and legal tide, the endangered smoker has been driven panda-like to its last ragged patches of habitat. | But after years of a turning cultural and legal tide, the endangered smoker has been driven panda-like to its last ragged patches of habitat. |
| And now the game is up, with England's ban on smoking in enclosed public places on 1 July spelling the end for the smoking room. | And now the game is up, with England's ban on smoking in enclosed public places on 1 July spelling the end for the smoking room. |
| The BBC comedy, Smoking Room, attempted to capture the spirit of the places where disparate workers gathered to pursue mutual pleasure and enjoy miscellaneous conversation, in a place where the usual hierarchy and social mores of the office are suspended. | The BBC comedy, Smoking Room, attempted to capture the spirit of the places where disparate workers gathered to pursue mutual pleasure and enjoy miscellaneous conversation, in a place where the usual hierarchy and social mores of the office are suspended. |
| Send us a picture of your smoking area | Send us a picture of your smoking area |
| Writer Brian Dooley said the atmosphere of the smoking room is unique, with those present united only by their love of nicotine. | Writer Brian Dooley said the atmosphere of the smoking room is unique, with those present united only by their love of nicotine. |
| "People are bound together by the fact they are smoking, talking nonsense to pass the time, generally just talking rubbish. They tend to attract more rebellious people. | "People are bound together by the fact they are smoking, talking nonsense to pass the time, generally just talking rubbish. They tend to attract more rebellious people. |
| "They are always the dingiest places going. Any old furniture headed for the bin. You get management and the post boy in there at the same time." | "They are always the dingiest places going. Any old furniture headed for the bin. You get management and the post boy in there at the same time." |
| The modern spot for workplace conversation, the water-cooler with its fleeting chats, cannot be compared to the complex long-term relationships of the smoking room. | The modern spot for workplace conversation, the water-cooler with its fleeting chats, cannot be compared to the complex long-term relationships of the smoking room. |
| Smoking shelters must not be completely enclosedEnlarge Image | Smoking shelters must not be completely enclosedEnlarge Image |
| But as one institution makes its exit, another is rising. On industrial estates all over the UK, bus stop manufacturers are having a field day offering "smoking shelters" to businesses. | But as one institution makes its exit, another is rising. On industrial estates all over the UK, bus stop manufacturers are having a field day offering "smoking shelters" to businesses. |
| Essentially bus shelters with no more than two walls, these glass and metal creations are popping up outside offices all over the country. | Essentially bus shelters with no more than two walls, these glass and metal creations are popping up outside offices all over the country. |
| Dooley, who admits he is still trying to give up, says the smoking shelters may never capture the camaraderie of the smoking room. | Dooley, who admits he is still trying to give up, says the smoking shelters may never capture the camaraderie of the smoking room. |
| "In smoking rooms you doss around a bit more. When people are outside you are just going to have a quick cigarette and go back." | "In smoking rooms you doss around a bit more. When people are outside you are just going to have a quick cigarette and go back." |
| Oliver Griffiths, head of tobacco industry-funded consultancy Air Initiatives, is advising pubs on how to cope with the ban. | Oliver Griffiths, head of tobacco industry-funded consultancy Air Initiatives, is advising pubs on how to cope with the ban. |
| He says many face a costly, lengthy planning application and even licensing changes to get permission for an outside smoking area. | He says many face a costly, lengthy planning application and even licensing changes to get permission for an outside smoking area. |
| Alienating | Alienating |
| "For the smokers it is a real change. They are not supposed to smoke in doorways. Instead they have kids going past on the bus and pointing at them and saying look at those sad losers, and the rain blowing in." | "For the smokers it is a real change. They are not supposed to smoke in doorways. Instead they have kids going past on the bus and pointing at them and saying look at those sad losers, and the rain blowing in." |
| There is often confusion over the law, and some urban pubs are left facing an impossible task. Many smokers will be faced with an alleyway by the pub covered with a corrugated plastic roof. | There is often confusion over the law, and some urban pubs are left facing an impossible task. Many smokers will be faced with an alleyway by the pub covered with a corrugated plastic roof. |
| But for pubs with money to spend and outside space to use there is money in the ban, picking up trade from other pubs. | But for pubs with money to spend and outside space to use there is money in the ban, picking up trade from other pubs. |
| Rupert Clevely, of Geronimo Inns, a London-based "gastropub" chain, is spending a lot of money to make their outdoor smoking areas "nice, interesting and cosy" with television screens, dartboards and space heaters. | Rupert Clevely, of Geronimo Inns, a London-based "gastropub" chain, is spending a lot of money to make their outdoor smoking areas "nice, interesting and cosy" with television screens, dartboards and space heaters. |
| Smokers as a whole are going to get this message that smoking is unacceptable socially Professor Martin Jarvis "If we don't spend the money on our smokers they will see that we are alienating them." | Smokers as a whole are going to get this message that smoking is unacceptable socially Professor Martin Jarvis "If we don't spend the money on our smokers they will see that we are alienating them." |
| The officials and the anti-smoking campaigners who support the ban want to create alienation. Alienation that will drive a smoker to their local NHS stop smoking clinic. | The officials and the anti-smoking campaigners who support the ban want to create alienation. Alienation that will drive a smoker to their local NHS stop smoking clinic. |
| A recent advert shows a smoker hooked like a fish and dragged to his usual smoking spot, a dank alleyway that looks like it might be the service entrance for Stasi HQ. The message is clear - indulging your filthy habit is going to get harder and harder. | A recent advert shows a smoker hooked like a fish and dragged to his usual smoking spot, a dank alleyway that looks like it might be the service entrance for Stasi HQ. The message is clear - indulging your filthy habit is going to get harder and harder. |
| But it was the sense of alienation and persecution that brought together the occupants of the smoking room. Some may worry that forcing smokers into a corner could have the potential to reinforce their behaviour - not stop it. | But it was the sense of alienation and persecution that brought together the occupants of the smoking room. Some may worry that forcing smokers into a corner could have the potential to reinforce their behaviour - not stop it. |
| Routine and ritual | Routine and ritual |
| Martin Jarvis, emeritus professor of health psychology at University College London, admits there is a possibility that some smokers could become recalcitrant after being forced outdoors. | Martin Jarvis, emeritus professor of health psychology at University College London, admits there is a possibility that some smokers could become recalcitrant after being forced outdoors. |
| "There may be an element of that. It could potentially become part of the whole routine and ritual surrounding smoking. | "There may be an element of that. It could potentially become part of the whole routine and ritual surrounding smoking. |
| "But the main effect will be as smoking is increasingly denormalised, smokers as a whole are going to get this message that smoking is unacceptable socially." | "But the main effect will be as smoking is increasingly denormalised, smokers as a whole are going to get this message that smoking is unacceptable socially." |
| Much of Europe has wrestled with the issue of smoking | Much of Europe has wrestled with the issue of smoking |
| In many ways smoking may become as socially particular as it was among genteel Victorians. | In many ways smoking may become as socially particular as it was among genteel Victorians. |
| "One imagines you had to put on some plum velvet waistcoat and go into a special room with ladies not present," says Mr Jarvis. | "One imagines you had to put on some plum velvet waistcoat and go into a special room with ladies not present," says Mr Jarvis. |
| The issue of smokers being driven outdoors certainly raises strong emotions. Smokers' rights group Forest headlines one part of the ban as "Northern Ireland Falls To Tobacco Taliban". | The issue of smokers being driven outdoors certainly raises strong emotions. Smokers' rights group Forest headlines one part of the ban as "Northern Ireland Falls To Tobacco Taliban". |
| Smokers are still fighting. But it's a desperate rearguard action. | Smokers are still fighting. But it's a desperate rearguard action. |
| Send us your comments on the demise of the smoking room using the form below. Or send us a picture of a particularly gruesome smoking room or area using the instructions at the bottom of the page. | Send us your comments on the demise of the smoking room using the form below. Or send us a picture of a particularly gruesome smoking room or area using the instructions at the bottom of the page. |
| Before anyone gets dewy-eyed about the "dear old smoking room", spare a thought for the non-smokers back in the office. We were the ones who were asked about 20 times a day to "just cover for me for 15 mins" while the ciggy-skivers toddled off to gossip, relax, network, plot, but above all NOT WORK for as long as they could drag it out for.Peter Marcus, Manchester | |
| If the Scottish ban is anything to go by, English pub visitors (and in fact it's the same for any type of public building) can expect to have to run the gauntlet of smokers surrounding the entrance, as most places don't have the scope to provide dedicated facilities beyond an ashtray and perhaps a parasol outside.Ian, Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| The smoking rooms? demise is a real shame. It was the only place where there was seating in doors that was not at a PC terminal and now it has gone.Peter, London | |
| I found the comment in the article about smokers becoming more determined to continue to rebel interesting. I myself had planned to quit smoking last year when i changed jobs, fresh start and all that, but decided that if i did i might become one of those stats the government use to show how wonderful they are.David Smith, Glasgow, Scotland | |