ajGoes

I just entered and quickly left a men's room at DIA, my departure provoked by someone smoking while ensconced in a stall. Not seeing a security guard or a white phone in the vicinity, I didn't report the scofflaw, though I'd have been thrilled to see him getting a serious talking-to, hopefully accompanied with a hefty fine. Ideally, the procedure would take long enough for him to miss his flight.

I got to wondering whether anyone here knows how DIA and other airports deal with these incidents.

RoyalFlush

I doubt they'd more than ticket the smoker.

There is a smoking lounge at DIA, albeit only on one concourse. Last time I was there, they were charging $3 cover (amount good towards a drink).

ajGoes

That would be good enough for me. If the miscreant had to accompany the guard to a distant office and pay a large fine, it would be a bonus.

Gringa

Since it's Denver, what was he smoking?

Cat Man Do

If there is something on fire in the men's room, is it not every traveller's duty to put the fire out post-haste? One fire extinguisher, problem solved.

ajGoes

^

ajGoes

Delete

invisible

There is collection of clips on youtube, called 'bad day in office'. That exact scenario is shown.

Annalisa12

As I was exiting I would of yelled out "hey mate the police are outside". At least he'd panic a bit and it would destroy his enjoyment of that illegal cigarette!

Proudelitist

In the US, this tends to get security around fast, but in some places in Europe and elsewhere it is common and ignorned. I was in BCN a few weeks ago and someone had done the same thing.

Point is, why do you care so much? Just because it's a rule? It's not like the smoker is a terrorist threat. Aren't there bigger things to worry about?

ajGoes

The smoke was a direct threat to me. I have asthma. Even a small exposure to cigarette smoke can trigger an attack. The widespread prohibition of public smoking has made my life vastly more comfortable. I'm happy to do my bit, within reason, to promote its enforcement.

celle

My husband has smoked in airport bathrooms occasionally, but he's always careful to check that he will not be impacting anyone else . Not all airports have smoking rooms.
It was during journeys that involved two back-to-back flights, each of about 13 hours.

He does use patches while travelling, but even so the journey takes about 30+ hours. He has been a smoker for 57 years and made numerous unsuccessful attempts to give up.

So, before anyone gets all righteous about how evil smokers are a menace, please consider that occasionally there may be some extenuating circumstances.

Loren Pechtel

Yeah--that's what the law should do. Treat smoking a no-smoking area as a fire, anyone is free to take reasonable firefighting steps against such a fire.

ajGoes

Smokers are unfortunate addicts, presumably with the same distribution of good and bad character as those who have escaped addiction. However, it's not possible for someone to smoke in a restroom without affecting others. The smoke remains in the air for some length of time, and the tobacco residue remains on surfaces until they are thoroughly cleaned.

Smokers should endure their withdrawal symptoms, ameliorated by nicotine delivered through patches or gum, until they can relieve them where it's legal to do so by smoking.

Choosing to smoke where it's prohibited means your husband is valuing his discomfort from withdrawal above that of people who can suffer significantly from his second-hand smoke.

It's not a trivial complaint; sometimes an asthma attack can set off a weeks-long bronchitis episode. Asthma attacks are even occasionally fatal.

duchy

Whilst I have no time for the dramatics and hysteria of the anti smoking mob (drama llamas drive me insane in any part of life) in this instance the smoker was totally in the wrong as DIA does have a smoking lounge . I've endured a delay of 12 hours at Denver myself. Walking to and from the UA lounge to the smoking lounge was inconvenient -but necessary so that's what I did. And that's what any smoking traveller should do too.

As for the poster whose husband insists of smoking in airport bathrooms -That's just plain selfish. Nothing to stop him leaving you airside with the bags and going out through security and outside for a cigarette if he's desperate . Takes time but if he wants to smoke enroute that's what he should do. I've done exactly the same myself coming off a transatlantic flight with a connection onwards so if I can do it- so can he !

If I have an especially tight connection -I go without although if coming off a long flight I try to schedule in time to flit out of security and back - sometimes it's a pain - but it's my choice to smoke so I take that consequence.

It always surprises me which airports have smoking lounges and which don't ....... and it always amuses me for some reason that SLC is so smoker friendly