• March 28, 2024

Business wants smokers moved on, along with their antisocial entourage

A Facebook campaign to extend a tobacco smoking ban in the central business district of an Australian town is said not to be about smoking but about antisocial behavior, according to a story by Patrick Billings for the Examiner.

The campaign, launched by Watson’s Showcase Jewellers in Launceston, Tasmania, is said to have garnered thousands of supporters.

Store owner, Neil Watson, said smoking bans in local malls had pushed groups engaged in antisocial behavior to congregate outside his store, where there were several public benches.

Watson said his staff had been threatened when asking groups to move on and the environment had left customers intimidated.

In a posting on Facebook, the business said the campaign was not directed at youth or smokers, but the behavior associated with the smoking area outside its shop.

Although Watson wants the smoking ban extended, he concedes that this will move the problem rather than solve it.