Smoking ban extension plan by the government

[LlynTegid]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg79ym5mrzyo

I want less smoking, indeed none of illegal substances at all. Not sure this is the most effective way to go about it, given the Boris Johnson approach to not following rules has taken hold, how it will ever be enforced.

Fines just lead to a risk based response (what is my chance of being caught), the police won't deal with most shop thefts so cannot see them really dealing with selling to those born after 2009, and some of what is a banned outdoors area will be vague in definition.

This. I absolutely hate it.

I shall enjoy breaking this mandate on a regular basis.

Kier Wrong-Un is showing his tyrannical side again.

It’ll be the death knell of even more pubs/cafes. With pubs, we lost thousands of them last year. And cafes/restaurants. A shame really, if we’re supposed to be going for growth/more jobs.🤷‍♀️

The indoor smoking ban did not kill off pubs and neither will this. The more that can be done to prevent people smoking in public the better.

They need to follow new zealand. Stop anyone born from 2009 onwards being allowed to buy them. No a silly policy like this. A lot less young people smoke compared to my generation and above. So it won't affect business so much down the line. Smoking is seen as being less cool now thankfully.

Just to say I worked for Pubwatch at the time the ban was announced and I know some pubs invested considerable time and money organising shelters that abided by guidelines for smoking (so much open/only so many sides) though this was obviously many years back now. They will be having to do this again potentially. The pub trade is already struggling though I think some types of pubs will struggle with this more than others. Perhaps it could be partially voluntary somehow. I am sad mostly that those local pubs as a hub for folk to meet are dying out and this won't help some of them.
I think it could be beneficial to stop smoking/vaping in general but there's some hard costs to that - tax income, some hospitality places closing etc. At a time when we are in a poor place economically I don't find this top of my wish list at all. Though maybe I am influenced by the fact I have smoked, do vape, and enjoy the outside social on a night out (twice a year now!) - not food pubs where I leave the eating area to indulge though appreciate this does not apparently improve anything for non smokers.
I am on the fence re government control on this but generally not a fan of over control, I would hope it stops at substances. It wasn't on the manifesto I voted for either and to my mind there are more pressing issues to solve first, maybe as I obviously will have to alter my own habits though.

Designated areas for smoking outside, similar to whats seen in parts of the US, I can see as fair and progressive. The problem is the pervasive ‘what you gonna do about it?’ culture seen in large sections of society. Lots of people openly smoke weed out and about and nothing is done? Who is going to enforce this and how?

Honestly, I'd love that & I say that as a light/social smoker - better still, just stop selling them and have vape on prescription for those that really need it. Whilst I've never quite managed to give up fully, if I couldn't buy them & couldn't smoke when I was out drinking, I'd stop. I'm not going to go looking for black market cigs I'd just be forced to go cold turkey and that would be it.

And double yes to dropping internet in food serving places too (although a law on this does seem a tad extreme!).There's a place & time for it but with such a significant mental health crisis going on, human connection is vital and I also worry we are raising a generation who can't communicate, seem incapable of sitting down for any length of time and lost all basic manners because of the internet. I've just come back from an extended stay in Spain and children of all ages join in family mealtime that is typically quite long - I didn't once see a screen just various adults engaging and children, for the vast majority of the time, sitting properly at the table & chatting. First night back I went with my teenagers & a friend to the local pizza place and the younger kids were either running riot or glued to screen. Thoroughly depressing.

Surely all this knife crime is a more pressing issue than smoking in pub gardens. It’s like fiddling whilst Rome burns.

Exactly. Unenforceable

I'm a smoker. I don't go to pubs/cafes all that often now anyway as I find them a bit of a waste of money. So this will just seal the deal for me. So really it won't affect me personally as I will just adapt, but yes I won't be spending money in those places anymore. Likewise the way they keep upping the price of cigarettes. I just buy all mine abroad now and while I'm there I use their pubs and cafes as they're not so tyrannical about smoking.

Good.

Smoking is a dirty, disgusting habit and the sooner it's illegal for all the better.

I stopped smoking 2 years ago, my DH also, it was really hard but we have saved lots of money because we were heavy smokers. It was the best thing we ever did. We did it cold turkey and I have put on 2 stone, but I think two tier Kier is going a bit far to stop smoking in the open air. Outside has always, since the indoor ban, been for smokers so if you dont smoke dont go outside. I wish they would stop all the wacky baccy that you can smell everywhere now, its a lot worse than cigarette smell. And yes there are more important things to be looking into by this shitty Goverment.

I think they should set a date a year in the future where the sale of cigarettes is banned and it's a £100 fixed penalty for anyone smoking in public.

So many alternatives now no one needs to be lighting up. The risk of second hand vape smoke is so much lower I wouldn't ban vaping in beer gardens etc to start with maybe in years to come tho it needs to be a gradual step down.

I do agree with the ban outside schools, play areas and hospitals. Although I do hate sitting outside a pub or restaurant when there are smokers there, I do think this will harm business, and with the economy in tatters this isn't really a priority.

It costs £135 for 10 packets of cigarettes in the UK.

It costs £35 for 10 packets of cigarettes in the airport duty free.

How much do the government make from cigarette sales in the UK and how are they going to recoup this forcing everyone to stop?

I am an ex smoker, 96 days to be exact, but if someone wants to smoke they will. (I started smoking at age 11 and have stopped 35 years on, they were widely advertised when I was younger, on billboards and TVs).

There should be designated areas but not an outright ban.

do non smokers sit outside in bad weather?
Id love to know who is going to police this. outside schools for instance. good idea, but considering how parents park. I can't see it being enforced(enforced or inforced?)

I hope it covers vapes as well.
Growing up in a house with a heavy smoker I hate smoking and think that people who do it anywhere it might impact other people are selfish and thoughtless.
Plenty of times I have sat inside a pub or restaurant on a nice day because people were smoking outside. Its smelly and makes people cough and is dangerous to others.
I have no time for any of the "nanny state" whinging

Smokers aren't amazing people for sitting outside sucking on cancer sticks in bad weather

I'd like to see a halfway here. Beer gardens/restaurants with food, no smoking allowed. Likewise any outdoor space that allows children. I think the idea that this will be the end of the hospitality industry is hysterical nonsense. Two points though, I think the so called libertarians against this are usually anything but. Just ask them about currently illegal drugs. Secondly, I don't believe it will save the NHS or country money, if fact if more people quit, they will live longer costing the country a lot more money in pension etc.

Additional point! Nigel Farage has said that if this happens he will never go to a pub again. So if that means I can go to any pub in England without any danger of bumping into NF, that's worth it on its own.

Smokers have brought this on themselves. Smoking in areas where food is served, or there’s kids about, huddling right outside the door of places so the smoke wafts back in, chucking their disgusting fag ends on the floor so there’s piles of them outside pubs. I was in one the other day and they’d used the bowl of water that had been put out for dogs as an ashtray. Loads of fag ends floating in it. Vile.

Every single smoker I speak to tells me they are a considerate smoker, yet every single place I go one, or all of the above is in place.

Perhaps Nigel Farage wouldnt want to meet you either.

At my son's primary school parents used to smoke by the main entrance at pick up time. A few years ago the head teacher started standing by the gate and chatting to the parents and making sure none of them were smoking. Mine and ds3's asthma has massively improved since he started doing that.

I'm what you might call a part time smoker. But I agree people shouldn't be smoking near kids play areas or near to others eating outside a cafe. If want a cigarette I'll move away from people. I was at the pub the other week in the beer garden with a kids play area. I moved away to a completely different area when I wanted a cigarette where no one else was around. And I never throw my ciggy butt on the floor. I'll look for a bin or if I can't find one will peck it out and put it in the bin later.

I agree with the basic idea. I spent my formative drinking years in pubs when smoking was allowed and it was rank. It's SO much better now it's banned. The same should apply to beer gardens and similar outside spaces.