Smoking ban

Agree. Secondhand smoke is toxic. Smoking should be banned in public and anywhere that smoke might invade another’s private space such as in flats on the balcony etc and in gardens where the smoke drifts over into the neighbours garden.

I'd support banning the sale of any tobacco products BUT i don't support banning the products on an rolling age basis.

Its a legally available product and as such people should have the freedom to to smoke or not, what else will be "banned" as the Govt deem its too dangerous???

How on earth will it ever be enforced ? and like anything banned, will increase its use/attractiveness.

Would be better to just keep increasing the taxes on it and extend areas where smoking is not allowed.

I don't know anyone with a 40 rashers a day bacon habit.

Also for those saying ban sugar / fat / whatever. Sugar and fat do have health benefits, we can't live of fresh air.

Everybody is saying this, but I'm well into middle age and I have no idea where I'd buy weed, should I want to. If I wanted cigarettes, there are dozens of shops within three miles of my home where I could easily purchase them within a couple of minutes.

Making things illegal doesn't stop people from choosing to break the law; but it does take it out of the consciousness of those who choose to be law-abiding.

But that will be an adult who has grown up never being able to legally buy cigarettes, so it will never come as a sudden shock to them. It will just never be part of their lives, when they're 18, 28, 58 or 98, unless they deliberately choose to break the law.

Just like spouses where at least one of them is 89 still qualify for a Married Couples tax allowance, which younger people do not. Imagine telling a very mature person aged 88 that they're too young to get that! But they've never had it, so it's as irrelevant to them at 88 as it was at 18.

I would hope that, instead of it being seen as a great freedom and benefit that they're denied, it will be viewed as a bad relic of the past that they and their generation (and future ones) have been freed from. I think, before long, it will become another of those things that fall into the category of 'why on earth did we ever think that was a good idea?'

When we eventually stopped sending children up filthy chimneys to clean them, I wonder if younger children grew up heartbroken that they would never be allowed the 'privilege' that older people had 'enjoyed'?!

I can't see much changing . Look at weed that practically available everywhere. They will just be selling weed and cigarettes

Can see that going down well when I'm telling a fully grown adult I'm not serving them with cigarettes as they're not old enough 😂

I agree @DirtyDuchess

Alcohol abuse costs the NHS an estimated £3.5 billion per year in England.
It is estimated that smoking has cost the NHS in England £2.6 billion per year.

Smoking is a dirty habit but doesn't come near the destruction excessive alcohol consumption causes with street violence, domestic violence, drunk driving deaths etc.

If you're happy to ban adults from smoking then drinking should be next!

Playing devil's advocate.

@Winnading surely you want to quit tho? I've never met a smoker who doesn't.

How will you ban smoking worldwide?
Because if I cant even get my black market smokes (massive industry already) im going to go abroad and get them.

I think that's a crucial point. It's similar to the one given when people say "But what about booze? That's bad for you too."

However, most people who eat bacon might have a few rashers a week at most. Most drinkers have a few pints/glasses of wine one or two evenings a week.

With smoking, 20 a day seems to be the absolute minimum for most people. More than one cigarette every single hour of your life that you're awake - and of course, a lot of people have 30, 40, even 60 a day.

If you smoke 60 a day - which is probably not the median, but is far from unheard of, that's one cigarette every 15-20 minutes, constantly, stopping only when you're asleep.

Definitely a good thing. But why on earth haven't the government banned smoking in all public places yet? In many states in the US, and I think in Australia? you are not allowed to smoke outside in any public spaces. It just baffles me that still in 2024, when we know how damaging smoking is, including secondary smoking, if I want to sit outside a coffee shop on a nice day I will be surrounded by smokers.. it's grim. If I walk through a doorway into a shopping centre, I have to walk through a cloud of smoke. Horrible. Makes no sense to me. And for those who are saying smokers shouldn't be shamed for their addiction - I might agree with you if they weren't hogging all the outdoor tables and making it really unpleasant and off-putting for non smokers to eat or drink outside.

If they could be prepared as quickly as a flick of a lighter than yes I absolutely would love 20 bacon rashers a day 🤣

2 reasons would be tax income and black market cigarettes being even more harmful than reg ones

Just wondering how many people would eat 20 rashers of bacon s day 🤔?

That's a bit hyperbolic. Did you say the same when asbestos was banned, or thalidomide?

Are you campaigning for the free right for anybody who wants one to own a gun in the UK, just because it's 'communist' not to allow it?

As has already been said, it's not even just about the health of the individual who wants to smoke, but also that of everybody else. Corporal punishment didn't used to hurt the teachers, so why ban them from giving it out, eh?

Currently, an enormous amount of defenceless and powerless babies and young children live in homes where they are subjected to the devastating health effects of their parents' smoking. Yes, it will take decades, but with this law, eventually nobody of an age to have young children will be legally allowed to force them to breathe in their toxic fumes. When did it count as 'communist' to want to protect little children's health?

Yes, and then you'd have all the complaints about somebody's lovely old granny being cruelly forced to give up her lifelong pleasure in her last few remaining years.

It also occurs to me that, if a huge amount of people were legally able to buy a substance for many years that they then became thoroughly addicted to - especially those who began before the health warnings on packets and the ban on advertising - and which they were suddenly legally prevented from buying anymore, there could be an absolutely colossal legal class action against the government in the making.

If smoking IS to be banned - and this seems to be the will of the government and most adults (including a great many current smokers) - then what other practical, fair way is there of doing it, other than to allow existing adult smokers to retain their right but not to extend that in perpetuity to future adults?

It's completely normal for things to change as new generations are born and old ones die. Some changes may be widely seen as good for younger people (e.g. no longer having to do National Service) whilst others maybe not so much (e.g. having to pay for university tuition).

I suppose there will come a time, once 100% automated driverless cars are becoming the standard, when older people with driving licences will be allowed to keep them but then no future ones will be issued to younger people reaching 17.

Not at all. A cut-off date has to be established somewhere, which invariably means that some people will fall just one side or the other of it.

We've had all of the furore of similarly-aged friends qualifying for their pensions at different ages; and although it's perfectly legal to drink alcohol in pubs at 18, establishments are very hesitant about 18th parties, as the likelihood is that that the person turning 18 might not be the youngest in their peer group.

And I assume there is some scientific backdrop to a phased removal being proven to be effective.

I cannot see any other way to get the general population to reduce usage, given that a hard cut off rather than phased would be even more challenging.

However, concerned about black market and how that would be tackled, given the vape and drug issues that are not tackled now.

Because we don't live in communist China.

That's why I think we need a total ban. Just stop selling them altogether. Long overdue. Pour millions into helping existing smokers give up if need be.

Nice idea but how would tou deal with the existing addicts? Cold turkey? Support from the NHS? A hugely expensive programme of rehab centres? Patches controlled how?