to object to people smoking at Race for Life event?

[melpomene]

I ran Race for Life today and it was great, but dh and I were aghast to see people smoking at the event (both spectators and participants). Just how insensitive do you have to be to realise that it's not a good idea to have cigarettes at an event that's supposed to be about preventing deaths from cancer, and where lots of people are running in memory of loved ones who have died of lung cancer?

I asked one of the Race for Life volunteers about it and he said that it was against the rules to smoke, though there weren't any signs up.

YANBU at all. It takes the piss.

I was at a race for life event in Scotland today and they made a number of tannoy announcements reminding people not to smoke and the reasons behind the request.

I am not a smoker but from what I observed it did seem to be followed by the people there.

I am anti-smoking but am a bit surprised at smoking being 'against the rules'. Where was this event held? Was it in a stadium or something? (where smoking is definitely not allowed). YANBU if it was in an area where smoking is currently banned.

So - is it just an unenforceable request or is it really against the rules?

It was in a public park so I'm not sure how legally-binding it is for the organisers to say participants shouldn't smoke, but the whole purpose of the event is to raise funds (and awareness) to fight cancer and it seemed so incongruous for people to be smoking there. Especially people who were doing the race!

I wouldnt think that it was against the law then (cant understand what the volunteer meant by it being 'against the rules'). However, I see where you are coming from. It does seem a bit ironic but its an addiction. Hopefully the event might have made these people think about what could happen if they continue to smoke. Well done anyway for competing in the race - hope you raised lots to help fight this cruel disease.

Well, most big events of this kind have their own rules and regulations, don't they? eg. participants in the race wouldn't have been allowed to cycle along the race route, even though it's a public park where cycling would 'normally' be allowed.

According to this, "Overall tobacco smoking is estimated to be responsible for approximately 30% of cancer deaths in developed countries, that is, 46,000 deaths in 2005 in the UK." Definitely one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, preventable cause of cancer. And yes, we did drive there but there were 4 of us sharing the car and the alternative would have been getting a bus which is unreliable and still emits some pollution. The alternative to smoking is - um - not smoking, which emits zero pollution and causes no cancer.

Perhaps they should have had volunteers giving out nicotine gum etc, to help the people who couldn't manage to last for an hour without smoking a cigarette even when completely surrounded by slogans about cancer and pictures of people who had died from cancer...

I actually think YANBU.

I get p**ed off when people smoke at children's playgrounds even tho of course it's legal (I mean in a park).

This is even worse; it seems totally bizarre to smoke at a RFL event, and yes, for sure there are other things that contribute to cancer or mitigate against it - did everyone there eat their five FAVUs today?? - but really melpomene is right, smoking is massively a thing that causes cancer.

You need to get to the event somehow (walking not always practicable) but you don't need to smoke.

I have never seen anyone smoking at a RFL FWIW and I have done 5 now.

Well done on doing it melpomene esp in today's heat [phew]

Sorry starlight but how is "not smoking" not a choice?

I don't smoke. I don't drink either. I do eat lots of chocolate tho. I don't imagine that that is not a choice I am making - a poor one, but it's mine.

Is that true about breastfeeding btw ?

I bet if everyone who smokes stopped smoking it would stop mor ecancer than everyone who had a baby breastfeeding tho (not that I am aginst that happening too btw)

Impossible to come off nicotine? Really? I know a number of smokers who have given up. A considerable number.

In fact if I go back 20 years, most of the people I have known in that time who have smoked don't now, so while I don't dispute that nicotine is addictive, it certainly doesn't seem to be the case that the majority find it impossible to give up.

I'm not vilifying anybody. I'm guessing the smokers at the RFL would avoid smoking for an hour in, say, a cinema, so why not at an event raising funds to beat cancer?

YABU

If ya smoke, ya smoke. It's a dirty little habit but there you go. Think you're getting on your high horse about it a little bit. Smokers aren't going to go all day without a cig at an open air event.

My background:
3 aunties died from lung cancer (big smokers)
1 uncle currently with throat cancer (pipe smoker)
1 aunty with cancer of the uterus
1 best friend with cervix removed due to ccervical cancer
1 best friend died aged 24 skin cancer

Have raised 15, 000 pounds for two cancer charities- about 10 of that I reckon while being a smoker myself.
At the beginning I am not being flippant, but really people will do what they want to do, and live is for living. Also, as an ex smoker people really only stop when they want to, smokers can still be supportive of raising funds for cancer charities and still educate their families about not smoking whilst still being a chimney themselves.

You are a smokeist and are taking away civil liberties... perhaps you could have suggested to the organisers that smokers wore little bells round their necks

All day? The RFL is a 5k walk/run; it took my 77yo mum about 50 mins so it is hardly an all-day event, fwiw.

Are those who have banned smoking in pubs, offices and cinemas etc taking away civil liberties too then?

I am certainly a smokeist tho (if that means I hate it with a passion).

Surely the point is how much money is being made for the charity? If I went to this event and raised £3000, say - and sparked up a fag after the event - is that not better than a non smoker, NOT raising any money?

Oh FFS it was an outdoor event so the smoke won't have harmed you. Learn to mind your own business.

They are losers in every sense to smoke but you can't stop people from doing it in open spaces. It's up to them.

Smoking is a civil liberty, isn't it? Up there with the right to vote, the right to health and the right to education.

YOu'd like to think so, wouldn't you IGUN?

I agree they can't enforce it if it's an open air event but it does seem a bit against the spirit of the thing.

Sorry IGUN, I do not see how you can compare the right to vote or right to an education with the 'right' to smoke.

Education: undisputed benefits for the individual concerned and for society as a whole. No substitute.

Voting: important benefits for society as a whole, and a symbol of the individual's right to a voice. No real substitute.

Smoking: an individuals 'right' to do something which is highly likely to harm their own health, while making an unpleasant smell and possibly harming the health of those around them. And the benefits are - relaxation? comfort? there are a myriad of alternative ways to get those.

And a 'right' to smoke and 'right to health' are diametrically opposed, surely. Anything that discourages people from smoking or encourages them to give up is promoting their right to health.

I know it can be tough to give up smoking, but no way is it impossible. There is a lot of support available these days (rightly), and loads of people have given up including my dh.

If you were attending an event to raise funds to fight alcoholism (but you weren't an alcoholic yourself) would you take alcohol along with you and drink it at the event? I think that is comparable.