To think smoking should now be banned in public spaces?

[MrsKingfisher]

I saw on the news footage of people Christmas shopping in London and people sitting outside in cafes etc. Given the current situation should public smoking be banned? Not only because it stinks and it's anti social but more people are now meeting outside due to covid. I don't believe there is any evidence that breathing out smoke spreads the virus anymore than normal breathing. It's just selfish, non smokers no longer can be told 'if you don't like it go inside'

*very much doubt smokers will be funding anything else that will create the same amount of tax return. Tax will therefore go up for everyone to rake in that missing 12 billion or so.
One of the lamest excuses.
We are paying billions already, will pay for Covid, have paid for the assorted financial crashes (far higher than your £12 billion!) and will pay for Brexit too.
Sorry but please give me a non-addicted, non-toxin-inhaling and healthier population that doesn’t expose others to their addiction either. I will gladly pay more taxes for your very large sum of £12 billion.

I will gladly pay more taxes for your very large sum of £12 billion

That's great. Fill your boots. You pay more tax. Write to Boris and tell him. Let me know what he says.

@Kaliorphic

I will gladly pay more taxes for your very large sum of £12 billion

That's great. Fill your boots. You pay more tax. Write to Boris and tell him. Let me know what he says.

I don’t have to write to him at all. I can tell you what he will say. He has Priti Patel et al. around him, hasn’t he?

I don’t have to write to him at all. I can tell you what he will say. He has Priti Patel et al. around him, hasn’t he?

Well I'm assuming then that you understand that the government won't ban smoking. Not sure what Priti Patel has to do with this though.

Some non smokers demanded that smokers go outside and all smoking rooms were done away with. So it eventually happened.
Now many people can't sit inside due to the tier system non smokers have decided they don't want smokers outside either.
Walking past someone smoking is unlikely to affect you. And I say that as a non smoker.

@Kaliorphic

I don’t have to write to him at all. I can tell you what he will say. He has Priti Patel et al. around him, hasn’t he?

Well I'm assuming then that you understand that the government won't ban smoking. Not sure what Priti Patel has to do with this though.

Check her background.

@Rosebel

Some non smokers demanded that smokers go outside and all smoking rooms were done away with. So it eventually happened. Now many people can't sit inside due to the tier system non smokers have decided they don't want smokers outside either. Walking past someone smoking is unlikely to affect you. And I say that as a non smoker.

Passive smoking is not just a thing, it’s real. Why should anyone choosing to poison their body be allowed to make that decision for others is beyond me.

Check her background

Priti Patel is an advocate of capital punishment. That’s never going to make a come back any more than smoking will be made illegal.

Priti Patel is an advocate of capital punishment. That’s never going to make a come back any more than smoking will be made illegal.

Indeed. No government will ban smoking, they never have and they never will. This isn't all on Priti.

@VinylDetective

Check her background

Priti Patel is an advocate of capital punishment. That’s never going to make a come back any more than smoking will be made illegal.

That is a separate issue actually. I was referring to her background as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry.

I'm sure they banned smoking in public spaces in Turkey quite recently due to covid.

I'm a non smoker but I don't think smoking outdoors should be banned in the UK. This year is hard enough for people and this would just add to it. If people leave for work in the morning and can't smoke until they get home it's a bit unreasonable.

I don't think people should be allowed to smoke at tables where others are eating and drinking, but maybe a separate outdoor area would be appropriate where they can stand under a shelter away from non smokers.

Oh FFS, it's smoke, not radioactive dust or something !

I think people need to get a grip and stop trying to start a storm in a teacup.

Smoking in the open air is not illegal, and it will never be as long as selling cigarettes is legal.

Smelling a little drift of smoke in the open air is no worse for you than smelling the smoke from a bonfire or from a bloody BBQ !

You get a lot more carcinogenic fumes from the cars and buses ffs, but I see you're not raving about making all petrol/ diesel etc modes of transport illegal are you ?

I'm all for making the world a healthier place for everyone (including switching to alternative methods of energy production and electric cars etc), but trying to erode peoples personal liberties is ridiculous.

What next ? Make alcohol illegal ? Make all sugary/ unhealthy food illegal ? Make eating meat illegal ? Make all clothing manufactured in third world countries illegal ? What about all goods relating to suffering/ death of animals eg leather shoes/ bags ?

Where would you draw the line exactly ?
An argument could be made for almost anything being 'unpleasant' or 'repulsive' to someone............................

That is a separate issue actually. I was referring to her background as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry

And I was referring to the likelihood of smoking being entirely banned, if that’s all right with you.

Posters saying people don't have gardens to smoke in. If smoking so so great then why do people lean out the window, stand in the front doorways and outside the entrances to flats - because it stinks, stains, landlords don't allow it, they are hiding from their partners/ parents and is bad for others.

I agree to a degree. I’m fine with people smoking outdoors but I think it shouldn’t be within so many metres of door entrances / bus shelters etc.

Basically like you said no one should have to breathe in someone else’s second hand smoke, most smokers are great but some like to stand right in the shop entrance which I don’t agree with as then people have no choice but to breath it in

Oh FFS, it's smoke, not radioactive dust or something
Yes it is not radioactive dust. Yes it kills millions around the word via exposure to direct or passive smoking.
But why is radioactive dust your baseline?

@VinylDetective

That is a separate issue actually. I was referring to her background as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry

And I was referring to the likelihood of smoking being entirely banned, if that’s all right with you.

They aren’t. And if you are being obtuse enough to refuse to see it, why are you posting here?

Agree. I hate it. If they banned it that would get rid of all the weed smokers from the local parks too, which would be a huge win. So antisocial and stinks to high heaven.

They aren’t. And if you are being obtuse enough to refuse to see it, why are you posting here?

What aren’t what? Please don’t be so rude, it’s unnecessary.

A man exhaled smoke infront of me and it was like the smoke went through my mask, it was nasty. It stinks. I'm an ex smoker though so cannot judge I just feel sorry for them.

@VinylDetective

They aren’t. And if you are being obtuse enough to refuse to see it, why are you posting here?

What aren’t what? Please don’t be so rude, it’s unnecessary.

Sport I am quite tired this evening. I meant that it’s quite obvious how tobacco industry has worked on lobbying and how high their contacts sit in governments. Only a grass root movement can change this and we cannot expect addicts to take part in this. So the onus is on the rest of us who want a better future for their children, free of as many toxins as possible.

There's something so mean and small about the smoking debate, something so symbolic.

It's obvious that spending one second walking past a smoker say twice a day ient going to harm you.

So the whole argument about second hand smoke damaging people is a load of crap and hasnt been applicable since the smoking ban.

Its about something deeper that actually has nothing to do with physical health but it's very difficult to pinpoint what that is exactly. I can't quite identify it. It's a moral thing. What's surprising is how intense abe heartfelt it is in a nation that's fatter, boozier, unhealthier and more capitalistic than the rest of Europe.

Basically it would be interesting to identify why, in a country that is so powerfully NON health and quality driven, smoking seems to have been scapegoated: because in europes obesity and liver disease capital, it's not about the health issues

Only a grass root movement can change this and we cannot expect addicts to take part in this

As a non smoker I won't be contributing to making people's lives just that little bit shitter. I doubt you'll get any meaningful support for this. Smokers have already been pushed outside. Now here the come moaners, because they want to sit their arse in that space. Just no.

@CrotchBurn

There's something so mean and small about the smoking debate, something so symbolic.

It's obvious that spending one second walking past a smoker say twice a day ient going to harm you.

So the whole argument about second hand smoke damaging people is a load of crap and hasnt been applicable since the smoking ban.

Its about something deeper that actually has nothing to do with physical health but it's very difficult to pinpoint what that is exactly. I can't quite identify it. It's a moral thing. What's surprising is how intense abe heartfelt it is in a nation that's fatter, boozier, unhealthier and more capitalistic than the rest of Europe.

Basically it would be interesting to identify why, in a country that is so powerfully NON health and quality driven, smoking seems to have been scapegoated: because in europes obesity and liver disease capital, it's not about the health issues

So you know exactly which puff of smoke causes that mutation? Bravo! Scientists haven’t figured that out yet and most people know this, hence the hate for passive smoking. Also, it is incredibly rude and anti-social to spread stink where people can smell it. Regardless of your highly science-less point, it would do you a lot of good to read the OP: this thread is about smoking. There is at least one thread per month on obesity and booze. Not that anyone should need to mention that to you. Morals are generally a good thing to have. Sorry you missed that lesson.

@Kaliorphic

Only a grass root movement can change this and we cannot expect addicts to take part in this

As a non smoker I won't be contributing to making people's lives just that little bit shitter. I doubt you'll get any meaningful support for this. Smokers have already been pushed outside. Now here the come moaners, because they want to sit their arse in that space. Just no.

As another non smoker I completely agree. And with @CrotchBurn about the rank hypocrisy exhibited here, along with the lack of logic. The complaint about cigarette smoke encountered alongside six lanes of traffic was a particular highlight.