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Smoking.
It's almost incredible the lengths governments will go to add tax, camouflage the packets with disease and hide them away, while not actually limiting the sale, or banning them.
I wonder how high the prices will go.. Will people keep buying?
I've got my fingers crossed for a public smoking ban - Taking in an unavoidable deep breath of second hand smoke at the end of a sprint always makes my runs nicer.
I wonder how high the prices will go.. Will people keep buying?
I've got my fingers crossed for a public smoking ban - Taking in an unavoidable deep breath of second hand smoke at the end of a sprint always makes my runs nicer.
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Comments
The amount of tax that smokers pay is rather more than what is spent on curing their smokers' diseases.
They don't tend to live as long as non-smokers so they don't take as much in pension payments, or healthcare which becomes more likely when people are old (broken hips, dementia, etc.).
All in all, they contribute more, financially, than they receive. If they all stopped smoking and lived longer, then you and I would have to come up with more tax.
So let's hope they keep buying.
What about a lungfull of blow?
Happened a couple of times to me...float down the road
I am happy for a smoker to smoke - just so long as it doesn't influence me and I don't have to breathe it in
Of course, this means that most places out here in SA mean you can't go to bars (there is a smoking law, but everyone ignores it) and you can walk up to a restaurant and get BLASTED by a wall of smoke coming from INSIDE the restaurant
With a smoking law.
Pathetic.
Interesting slant on things Wilkie. I have no idea whether that is true or not, but I am willing to accept it for the purposes of discussion.
I too would like to see a smoking ban. Smoke sets my asthma off. For years I couldn't go into pubs or restaurants, but now they have sorted that out and I have rediscovered a social life. Now I sometimes find it difficult to go shopping as I have to walk through the cloud of smoke outside the shopping centres. Luckily there is internet shopping so I'm not completely cut off.
I am a reformed smoker; nearly 14 years now and will never go back. But I actually feel a bit sorry for smokers these days. It's not illegal to buy the product yet it's becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to use their genuine purchase.
I think an outright public ban would be wrong, but I would like to encourage more considerate behaviour.
While it's not pleasant to get a waft of smoke when out and about, it's not going to do you any harm. Not like spending several hours in smoked filled pubs used to.
x-post with Caz above. That's where considerate behaviour and suitable facilities come in. An outright ban would lead to more behaviour here like Plod says happens in SA and I certainly don't want smoke returning to pubs etc.
I guess I don't have a problem with people smoking, as long as its not near me. I'm a NIMBY. I do think that it is a shame that so much of the NHS is taken up with smoking related illnesses, but on the other hand I believe in people having the right (with a small r) to make their own decisions and to enjoy their lives as they see fit.
If we ban smoking on health grounds then what else do we ban? Alcohol? Caffeine? Cycling? Sports? Watching TV? All can cause harm to people in different ways.
To return to the original post; smoking won't be banned because we live in a liberal democracy and very little is banned in this country, unless it causes harm to others, e.g. prostitution is not a criminal offence, but living off immoral earnings is, taking drugs is not a criminal offence, but supplying them is. What is going on at the moment is called 'denormalisation' so people view smoking in the same way they view drugs or prostitution. I'm not sure it will work, smokers tend to be a belligerent lot, probably because their habit provides the Govt with around £8bn per annum.
For info, ASH, the anti-smoking lobby group is almost completely funded by the NHS. Personally, I object to my taxes (when I pay them) funding this bunch, I'd prefer to see Sure Start being funded instead.
Out of interest, does anyone know whether alcohol actually costs the NHS more than smoking? Wasn't there was some data published last year, showing that alcohol is actually more harmful than smoking...... and yet alcohol is still socially acceptable
I should add that I'm an ex-smoker, but not one of the many holier than thou ones
There is also quite a bit of money spent of medical interventions for the many health problems caused by excessive drinking. Due to the nature of smoking related illnesses, they're isn't much the medical profession can do to help those who's health is affected by smoking. Stopping is pretty much the best thing they can do.
I've never been a proper smoker. I did, however, work for a tobacco company a long time ago. I'm quite anti-smoking, not because of my time with the tobacco company, but because I find it dramatically affects my health. I lived with a heavy smoker for three years, and I think that's where my dislike stemmed from. Also, my mother had throat cancer in her late 30s, an illness directly caused by mixing heavy smoking with drinking. She's fine now, apart from her holier-than-thou attitude towards smokers.
The problem comparing alcohol with smoking is that drinking is far more socially acceptable than smoking. Millions use it in moderation every day and have no impact on their health or on others. By comparison smoking is physically unpleasant for many non-smokers, and it seemingly does more damage and is more addictive than alcohol in smaller volumes. Having said that of course, alcohol addiction is actually worse because alcohol causes a loss of control that smoking never does. Personally I'd be happy to see both banned tomorrw, but it's never going to happen with alcohol because it is so ingrained in so many societies around the globe.
What I've never understood is why any children at all think smoking is cool.
I used to smoke - stopped more than 25 years ago though.
I hate the smell, and I'm really glad that it's not allowed in bars and restaurants. Even the French are obeying the ban over there!
As FB says, the cost is astronomical now. I don't remember what a packet of fags cost twenty five years ago though, but I think the tax element has gone up a huge amount over the years.
It probably ought to be illegal to smoke in a car with children in the car, if it isn't already.
On the other hand, I think they should bring back smoking compartments on long distance trains.
I object to having smoke blown in my face when walking/running around, as much as I would object to a drunk person taking a leak in my garden... Its not so much the products as the use of them. People can smoke themselves silly and drink themselves into a coma every Fri and Sat if they wish. Start charging for people who arrive hammered drunk in A&E. its not an accident and its not an emergency, they are just lacking self discipline and control. Smoking is a personal choice, if someone is stupid enough to do it then that is fine by me just don't be an ignorant pr*ck and stand in places where there is high foot traffic like right outside a busy doorway and why is a cigarette end not considered litter? put it out properly and get rid of it properly, many people manage to do similar with drinks bottles and food wrappers. There is no need to ban it, its a choice after all, but I do wish they would be a little more considerate. I liek to run but I don't go sticking my sweaty socks in peoples faces! Ok, rant over... thats better!
hmmmm....
Firstly a lot of people who think they are social drinkers actually drink heavily without realising that they do... rather a lot of people drink way over the recommended unit guidelines and think it's perfectly okay to knock back a bottle of red every night, but it's okay because they don't feel pissed, hold down a job etc etc...
In terms of chronic illness causes by smoking versus alcohol, they are probably on a par... chronic respiratory problems from asthma to COPD, lung and throat cancers etc versus pancreatitis, liver cirrhosis, Korsakoffs, foetal alcohol syndrome etc etc...
Granted, smoking is unpleasant and the risks of passive smoking are well documented, but I think those issues are outweighed by the other social problems associated with alcohol ranging from numbers of working days lost due to hangovers, and basic public disorder rubbish to serious accidents and injuries, drink driving, domestic violence etc bla bla...
But the smokers do all those things, AND stand outside smoking for ten minutes, several times a day
Maybe some do. The ones in my previous work place don't have the time to do both. They make the choice which they prefer to do. Also not that many people in my work place have more than three smoking breaks a day. The company tried to ban smoking on site and although it was unsuccessful it did encourage people to cut back a lot, and some gave up completely.
I'm not supporting smokers as I really would like to see it banned, but I think it is unfair to victimise them when the rest of us are not whiter than white either.
i gave up smoking fairly recent due to many factors but the main was my health and money spent of ciggies.
banning smoke in public is very bad idea, you can't just take away people's right away from them. but on the other hand, physical harming another in against the law, but as passive smoking can take years to make people ill you cant blame one specific smoker for bodily harm.
smoking indoors in most European countries is now forbidden, but in some international airports (eg Portugal) they have designated smoking areas within closed spaces, which is good as they are trying to cater for everyone one. I think there needs to be balance at the moment in most places. smokers cant smoke in shopping centres, restaurants or pubs, so smokers tend to do it outside near the door which pisses of non smokers entering and exiting. these places need to provide a place where smokers can go about smoking without disturbing the non smokers. it's not the smokers being inconsiderate, it's the establishment not taking smokers consideration and providing them a place to smoke but still charging them over £8 for a packet of 16 ciggies instead of the full 20!
We get told at every toolbox talk about breaktimes and all that but It's never been pointed out that
(2) staff members are 30+ a day smokers who happily spend 5-10minutes a time at the smoke hut. There is roughly 2 1/2 hours of a working day spent smoking + 15minute breakfast +30minute lunch+15min afternoon break. There is simply no feasable way that a colleague of mine can do as much work as me to the standard that I do it. But here is the hypocritical part,Until July 2009 I was a 40+ a day smoker so I tread carefully around the subject.
Opening a can of worms - how much attention is a smoker paying to the road whilst attempting to light up/ find a lighter/open their cig box/remove hot incar cigarette lighter from crotch area.
Banning smoking in cars was proposed recently if I remember correctly.
you say its a sign of modern life that people use chemicals to relax...............this has happened with alcohol in this country for centuries..............and in many tribal societies today they still use chemicals from one plant or another to relax............not a new thing at all...............
Its using them to go further than relaxing that is changed.......people getting blotto on the streets is nothing to do with relaxation...its a different culture again.............
I object to smelling smoke near me............but then i also object strongly at race when i can smell the kit of a fellow runner from 10 paces...........that makes me heave and should be made illegal..........
I also question whether people getting totally out of their skull on booze in our high streets every weekend is a new thing. If you look at Hogarth's paintings Beer Street and Gin Lane (1751), you'll see people very drunk. It's always happened, what's new is the tabloids love of telling us about it, along with the fly-on-the-wall police documentaries.
Smoking is a choice. Why should any one else suffer because of a choice someone else has made?
My chest closes up terribly when I breathe in smoke and my OH is badly allergic. For a choice that someone else has made, we should be considerate towards them?
AND how does it contribute to "Climate Change" ? I notice that's convenienly ignored as well?
Only big corporations CAN be sued for the damage they do for selling the fags. Why (as a non-smoker), can someone not sue a private individual (such as a parent) for smoking in a public place (such as the car you use to drive your children to school)?
As a human race, we are pretty piss poor to be honest. Don't blame the individual. Blame the governent. Blame the big corporations. But when it comes down to it, when the individual WANTS that choice, they are very quick to say it's about personal choice.
Right up until they get lung cancer from smoking. Then it's the corporates faults. And the bankers. Bastards