A Licence to smoke?

[ivykaty44]

Would you start smoking if you had to go and get a licence to buy ciggy's? Although for people that already smoke I think it is a bit of a no no - for teenagers I think it may well decrease the youngesters from taking up the habit.

lifestyle.aol.co.uk/health/healthy-living/stop-smoking/call-for-annual-10-smoking-licence/article/20 080216092109990001

It should also apply to alcohol too then. Madness.

That's my point. Teenagers wont go to the trouble of getting a license, because they cant anyway. To them, its no different to smoking before they are legal to do so. Its forbidden, but there are ways.

Exactly it should apply to alcohol as well. And then maybe ooh sex, or smiling, or just well, enjoying yourself.

hercules - it's just like dog licenses, or driving licenses, or TV licenses - nothing particularly demeaning about it.

I think the idea is that you have to have a license to buy cigarettes, not to smoke them. That seems pretty enforceable to me.

nanny state springs to mind! how can you make parents sign it? you can get married and have a child when you are 16 but need to ask your mum if you can have a fag?

Ahh you see it would help if I'd read the link rather than assuming I could get by discussing it by reading other peoples posts!

does having a tv licence put people off watching tv?

It should apply to alcohol too..but again, no deterrent. I bought alcohol when I was 13. At 13 I doubt very much I looked old enough to buy it, but as teenagers we had a regular shop who we knew would sell it to us. There's one everywhere.

But you are paying for the BBC channels when you buy a TV licence.

Look, smoking kills more people than alcohol. Ask any doctor - it's the number one public health problem. Not smoking is the first and best thing you can do to protect your health. It is an acute problem and as such I think it's reasonable for the government to look at radical ways of addressing it.

I smoked myself, heavily, for 15 years so I'm not holier-than-thou about it, I hope. I know how hard it is to stop.

My POV might well be skewed by the fact that my adored mother is currently dying, at the age of 64, of lung cancer caused by her long-term smoking.

as it is illegal to smoke inside the work place now, is it illegal to smoke in a car with a baby and toddler in the back. saw a woman puffing away today and was ENRAGED and it should be illegal IMO

All that will do, pw, is to fuel the black market even further.

I smoke roll-ups, and bulk-buy my tobacco whenever I go abroad. These are legitimate purchases, but I would still slip through the license net, because I rarely, if ever, buy tobacco at a newsagents.

Many teenagers now smoke roll-ups too. The cost is negligible by comparison to factory-rolled ciggies.

I honestly believe that people of all natures have a need for their outlets. For some it's cigarettes, for others it's booze, and for others it's internet porn sites, or fast food, or driving like a lunatic OR (and worst of all), cross stitch.

SOrry to hear that Policywonk

I agree something should be done but I dont agree with the licence. I know at my work several people have given up spurred on by the banning in public places.

I wish too that smoking in a car or when looking after kids should be banned. I mean smoking whilst with the child rather than going away from the child iyswim.

I also object to people working with children being able to go and have a fag then coming back to work on a one to one basis in very close proximity with a child all day every day being allowed to do so. But I cant think of any feasible solution to that.

Policywonk, I understand your point of view. But what im saying is, to someone who spends £40 a week or more on cigs, £10 a year will not be a deterrent..not at all and to those who are not even old enough to smoke, there will always be a way for them to get hold of cigs. Its a waste of time trying to enforce.

better to just ban smoking outisde your house. I'm tired of waiting for a bus ina bus shelter full of smokers. Quite often the non-smokers stand out in the rain.
So smoke to your hearts content inside your own house/garden and not anywhere else. That might put people off smoking because it would be a faff. A lecence would do bugger all.

Thanks hercules. It is completely crap.

Desi, I somehow suspect that whenever gvt policy on any subject is being formulated, you are NEVER the target audience.

I do agree that it would fuel the black market, but not everyone has access to the black market - I never did in all my years of smoking.

I still maintain, stubbornly, that this will be helpful to smokers who are desperate to stop but lack the willpower to stay away from the local newsagent: having to fill in a form, have a photo taken, write the cheque, post it off and wait a couple of weeks to get your shiny, yes-sir-I-love-smoking-me license will give a lot of people the space to think 'Hang on, I don't really want to do this' - especially people who have stopped but are in danger of falling off the bandwagon. Probably because they have had giant roll-ups pressed into their hands by Desi.

Is it illegal to smoke in a car with a baby? Had no idea. Mind you, given that the mobile phone thing is never policed, I imagine and fag ban wouldn't be either. Heck, the police don't shift themselves for any crime!

It's not illegal to smoke in a car with a child.

It will be no harder than getting a passport.

No, it isn't illegal, if it's a private car.

stoopid idea.

Where would you like it to end?

Should over-weight people get a license for eating burgers and cakes?

Should gum-chewers get a license for the mess they make on the pavement?

Should dog-owners get a license for dog crap on the pavement?

Should cat-owners get a license to compensate for all those sneaky little craps they do in other people's gardens?

Should spitters get a license for their foul habit?

Hey! Let's all have a license.

Let me think..on saturday i'll go to the local post office, get a photo done in the booth (what do they cost now? £5 maybe), fill in my form with my £10 cheque and bob's your uncle.

That is not a deterrent.

Government need to think of something better.

Desi- i think the gum chewer one would be a good idea, if nothing else