Full Smoking Ban?

[sp1814]

Should the UK follow New Zealand's lead and work towards a full smoking ban?

I think it's a very brave move, and personally I'd be all for it.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/09/new-zealand-to-ban-smoking-for-next-generation-in-bid-to-outlaw-habit-by-2025

[Ken4155]

I'd sooner inhale the odd gobful of 'passive' smoke than a lungful of exhaust fumes when out and about.

[woofgang]

I think this is the kind of thing that will only work with the support of the majority of citizens regardless of the fact that its law. Whether it will get that support remains to be seen.

[ToraToraTora]

naomi: "I don't smoke - but I do value personal freedom. Don't you?" - yes I do value personal freedom very much, especially the right not to inhale second hand smoke. Personal freedoms are for as all to maintain, even smokers.

[ToraToraTora]

ken: "I'd sooner inhale the odd gobful of 'passive' smoke than a lungful of exhaust fumes when out and about. " - I don't care how harmless passive smoking is, that's not the point, it's the disgusting smell it inflicts on the area indiscriminately.

[davebro]

//it's the disgusting smell //

Sorry - that's a subjective judgment.

[sp1814]

Togo

//When they succeed in forcing their views and preferences on us in one aspect, they are bound to move onto another "cause".//

The examples you give are an expression of reductio ad absurdum.

New Zealand is going to make it impossible for children who are 14 years old now to legally buy cigarettes.

Society reframes the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. This is an expression of it. We have gone from a society where children were give sweets in the shape of cigarettes (and 'tobacco' made of coloured shredded coconut), where you could smoke on tubes, buses, offices and aeroplanes, to one where all these actions are alien - from another world.

Perhaps 'ban' is the wrong word. The manufacture and distribution can continue but eventually it would be wound down because no-one smokes anymore.

[ToraToraTora]

davebro, pretty well all non smokers (those that never smoked) would agree with me. I can smell a smoker enter a room, they absolutely reek. They stand huddled like penguin in pub doorways generating a toxic cloud whilst knee deep in smoking residue. No smoker has ever learnt how to use a bin.

[ToraToraTora]

why is every smoking area anywhere a pig sty?

[naomi24]

TTT, //yes I do value personal freedom very much, especially the right not to inhale second hand smoke. //

You value YOUR freedom. Smokers who come to my house are welcome to smoke in the garden - there's a lidded ashtray out there for the purpose. If I see smokers outside a pub for example. I walk round them. It's not difficult,

[ToraToraTora]

so the smoke only stays near the smokers on your planet then?

[SparklyKid]

Every TV advert for health insurance asks "do you smoke ?"

They never ask if you are a grossly overweight alcoholic.

Just saying.

[sp1814]

Even easier if no-one smoker.

And the thing is - we don’t want to replace old smokers dying of throat cancer with new ones.

Make it difficult for kids to take up the habit.

Seems like nothing but positive to me. Imagine how great it’d be in (say) 2037 where you have 15 years haven’t even see anyone smoking!

[naomi24]

No, TTT, it doesn't but you talk as thought you're fighting your way through clouds of it - and you're not. You don't like it and because you don't like it you think no one else should do it. That's the bottom line.

[ToraToraTora]

sparkly; "Every TV advert for health insurance asks "do you smoke ?"

They never ask if you are a grossly overweight alcoholic. " - well those questions are asked before a policy is granted, gawd I even had to have me nads checked once!

[ToraToraTora]

I agree sp, very creative from NZ.

[SparklyKid]

When I took neighbours to hospital appointments there were signs everywhere saying "When admitted to hospital you will be asked about your alcohol and ciggy habits"

Never about obesity and goodness there were plenty of overweight nurses there.

[sp1814]

Sparklykid

That’s a false equivalency.

Insurance companies ask whether you smoke but *also* ask you a range of questions which determine the lifestyle choices you’ve made impact on your premiums.

You’ll be asked whether you’ve been treated for alcoholic/substance abuse, diabetes, heart disease etc - being a overweight is not a critical marker for instance.

Drinking is only an issue if it results in medical intervention.

[ToraToraTora]

I used to work for a life assurance company and there is list of stuff as long as your arm they ask.

[sp1814]

naomi24

As an ex-smoker my attitude is, “If only you knew how much better life is if you could quit”.

When the government introduced the ban on smoking in public places in the 90s I was happy because it was a catalyst to stop (not the only one - the cost of cogs was getting silly).

There literally isn’t a single negative to giving up smoking.

Not one.

[sp1814]

I used to buy a lot of cogs in the 90s for my Mechanno set.