One designated indoor smoking area has returned to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv with more to come. The move has infuriated some In Israel, but I think it is great news.
Tel Aviv Airport Brings Back Smoking Rooms
Whenever I write about smoking, I always begin with this disclaimer: I don’t smoke, have never smoked, and never plan on smoking. Rather, I consider it is an expensive and counterproductive habit. Even so, I believe that blanket smoking bans rarely represent the best public policy and concerning airports, indoor smoking bans ultimately lead to more harmful secondhand smoke exposure.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport eliminated smoking rooms, but the move backfired: travelers just lit up in bathroom stalls instead.
The government is not happy. Israel’s smoking rate has recently risen to 20% and the Health Ministry has condemned the move. Meanwhile, the Israel Cancer Association minced no words:
“This destructive decision will take Israel back to the 1950s, when smoking was permitted at the back of buses and there were smoking areas in planes. We are smarter today and aim to raise a generation of children clean of active and passive smoking. Have we not learned anything in the last decades? While other nations are moving forward and passing legislation prohibiting smoking and airports around the world are closing smoking areas and rooms, Israel is taking a step backward.”
And part of me wishes that were true…I pray my kids never smoke even once. But I think this makes a lot of sense, especially with the heavy-handed security at TLV.
Why Indoor Smoking May Be Better Than Outdoor
When people cannot smoke inside, they smoke outside. Then I have to smell it when I walk into a terminal. And I do. It’s unpleasant, though you can hardly blame a smoker when they are all herded outside to do it.
Noting the problem of secondhand smoke routinely experienced at all the major airports, I would much rather see an outdoor ban than prohibiting small indoor smoking chambers or outdoor terraces on the secure side.
First, separately-ventilated indoor smoking rooms or outdoor patios expose less people to second-hand smoke. Creating an area people must seek out inherently limits exposure. The common objection to this is that airport workers must clean this area and be involuntarily exposed to second-hand smoke. But installing ashtrays receptacles that automatically empty (sort of like a trash chute in an apartment building) greatly reduces the incidence of lingering smoke. Pollution from automobile exhaust is far worse. These lounges could be closed for cleaning (like the former smoking rooms in the KLM Crown Lounge in Amsterdam) to further reduce second-hand smoke.
Second, indoor smoking represents a tremendous revenue opportunity. Tobacco companies spend millions on indoor smoking rooms around the world and are eager to work with airports to accommodate their customers. Noting that indoor smoking may actually reduce the incidence of second-hand smoke, why not take advantage of a win-win situation? Use steep rental fees to fund other airport projects. The result: less smoke, happier travelers, more airport amenities.
Finally, forcing smokers to exit the secure area of the airport every time they need a smoke during a layover or before a flight clogs security for all of us. We see that airport security lines often are burdensome. Adding smokers into the mix further snarls these lines. The lack of secure-side smoking areas also increases air rage…just talk to a smoker who has not had a fix and doesn’t have time for a smoke between flights.
CONCLUSION
Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv is bringing back indoor smoking rooms, much to the chagrin of many public health officials in Israel. While I would love to see a day in which people no longer smoked, I’d rather people smoked inside cubicles away from me instead of on the sidewalk as I pass by with my kids.
> Read More: Why I Mourn the Loss of Airport Smoking Lounges
> Read More: We Need More Airport Smoking Lounges, Not Fewer
I also think it is good. Let Darwin take care of those who smoke.
People have been smoking for millennia and Darwin himself was a smoker. Try again.
May have been true about Darwin, but you could not possibly suggest that smoking is not bad? May not have gotten Darwin, but cancer has gotten a ton of people. Darwin theories at work.
Smokers have been dying for millennia. According to Mayo Clinic and other research papers have reported that a 30-year-old smoker can expect to live about 35 more years, whereas a 30-year-old non-smoker can expect to live 53 more years. Thus, smokers are more likely to die before non smokers. Try again.
Agree 100%. Provide smoking rooms for those who do and smoke-free areas for everyone else. If you pin smokers into a tight n smoking zone for hours at a time, you’re asking for trouble. If people want to smoke, give them a reasonable (and controlled) place to do it. The fact is, most people make some truly bad choices in life no matter how much data you provide them with. At least this is a legal product.
I smoke. Never indoors, never in a vehicle, and never in an outdoor area around others, including animals. It stinks. The odor clings to fabrics and hair and is disgusting. When I smoke I cover myself with a blanket wrap and hold the cigarette at arms length downwind. I look like a witch hag from Macbeth, but it helps with the smell. Because of the clingy odor I never smoke once I leave my property. I don’t want to smell it myself, let alone subject someone else to it.
They should get rid of those hideous smoking lounges everywhere. If you can’t go a few days without smoking you should stay home.
You may do all those things…. but you know what? You still will stink of cigarettes…. Your breath (and no it cannot be covered up – no matter what your close ones say) and body will still smell…. As far as wrapping yourself in a blanket whenever you smoke, I don’t believe you.
@ Mike
Well gee thanks mike, I have commented about my bizarre relationship with tobacco in the past. And yes, with chronic hand washing, toothbrushing, (which I do because I hate the smell). And yes I can still detect it. Duh. And yes the blanket wrap is true. And yes I look like a witch but with a better nose. ; )
“Heavy handed security at TLV”? Makes it sound like you think it is unwarranted?
I agree. Smokers are going to smoke so a blanket ban just forces them “underground” to stink up the bathrooms and elsewhere. Not only that, but letting them puff before getting on a plane reduces the chance they might tamper with a smoke detector in a plane WC and result in a hassle as they’re confronted.
Regarding Matt’s commentary as a father: I intend to educate my daughter on it this way: She should ask herself how many people out there would refuse to be her friend if she didn’t smoke, or have tattoos/piercings, and such and if her life would be less if those people were not in it.
You bring some very great points that I also discuss with my kids. This summer, while at a meeting in Switzerland, a Swiss businessman shared something fascinating. He said that the latest generation of early 20’s adults are smoking and drinking way less than other generations at least in Switzerland. I asked why and he shared that when teens are between 17 and 20, they start to go out and the peer pressure around them makes them feel they need to smoke and drink to be included. That applies when they go to bars, discos, parties, etc… Well, with a pandemic that last almost 3 years, these young adults were not having a normal social life of going out so that pressure to follow others so they would feel included never happened. Thus, according to him, there are several of these people that simply never went through this pressure to follow others at an age that you are still trying to find your own place in society. Now, they are older and never had to drink or smoke because of peer pressure. Fascinating!!!
While Tiger parents tend to focus on academics and even athletics, I’m doing something most of those parents (I think) have neglected: social skills. I take her to the playground and then show her how to approach kids and ask to play with them (and then handle rejection) and having a wide social circle net so if one kid tries to pressure her into something, it’s no big deal since she has a host of “cliques” she’s in. I also encouraged her to reach out to quiet kids and include them and the teachers pointed this out.
I had a parent teacher conference and they said that they were worried about her catching up in Russian language and then when she did, the teacher sighed “Now she’s the ringleader.”
I used to agree with this philosophy, but I’ve changed my views a bit. Smoking is anti-social and I think smokers should be ostracized. You can’t hide the stench of cigarette smoke, and I’m not sympathetic to their addiction while traveling. There is no cultural value to modern day smoking. It’s a life-altering addiction enabled by corrupt politicians turning a blind eye to public wellness in exchange for campaign contributions.
It’s not cigarettes now, it’s weed and the stench is pretty bad. It is everywhere.