UK Politics
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Absolutely authoritarian.
Education campaigns are far more effective with far less pushback than draconian bans. Let people choose for themselves.
I remember constant campaigns in the past trying to convince the public of the ills of smoking, and it (slowly) appeared to be working. Then vaping came along, and instead of continuing the education campaigns, the health departments tactics seemed to change to "take up vaping, it's better than smoking".
And now, it may just be anecdotal, but smoking appears to me at least, to be on the rise again. I wonder why?
Sounds like the same argument against banning smoking in pubs, which is probably the single greatest health intervention in the last fifty years and now supported by basically everyone.
Inside is very different to outside where smoke doesnt accumulate. You can instantly smell someone had a ciggarette inside even hours later, outside you cant tell (once the person has left) even a few seconds later.
That's incredibly subjective, and not true for many. A lot of people can tell if you've been smoking outside
Its incredibly subjective that smoke dissipates far faster outside where there is significant airflow than inside closed rooms?
Yes your clothes might smell if you've been smoking outside, but if you walk away from the spot there isn't any smoke hanging around for other people to breathe in. That is the difference when it comes to health effects from second hand smoke.
Sorry, I was referring to your comment, I'm not sure what you read
I've got bad news for you, smoker....we can tell. You fuckin STINK no matter where you smoke. Your breath, your clothes, your hair....yuck. Everyone knows you took that cigarette break.
A) other than a few joints in my 20s I've never smoked, dont be an arse and make assumptions about people you dont know.
B) I really dont care that smokers often stink, I dont live with any. My point was that their cancer causing fumes dont linger outside for me to breathe in so I dont care that they are doing it to themselves. The opposite is true inside where they are affecting me, so I'm glad that's banned.
Well you specifically mentioned the smell which is what I was referring to
I mentioned the smell merely as a way of showing that smoke fumes linger inside in a way they dont outside.
Oh no! Smells! Call the police.
"Yes, police service please. Somebody was stressed at work and decided to take a break to calm down and in doing so inadvertently made my jumper smelly. Can you arrest them please? They're still here. They're behind the bar serving pints to everyone, you can't miss them, their t-shirt is so pongy, poooooeeeyyyyy. I'll see you in 5 minutes."
I worked in a pub for a few years, do you know how difficult it is to get the plod to show up? Even if there's two blokes kicking the shit out of each other it can be a task to get them to respond to the call.
Making it ILLEGAL to smoke outside is ridiculous. Those who say otherwise are far happier with government overreach and authority than they'd otherwise admit.
Edit: to add, remember when we were told sitting outside kept us safe from covid, an airborne virus, because of the constant airflow? Funny how that doesn't apply to smoking.
The comparison to COVID is interesting. If people can smell the smoke, they're literally breathing in the air that the smoker is breathing out, and one can definitely smell smoke from the next table over. Maybe that's part of why lockdown didn't work as well as we hoped.
Also, if you can smell it, it's doing harm. Second and third hand smoke on your clothing is still real in outdoor spaces, and people should have the freedom to avoid that harm.
In your experience, do bartenders tend to take their smoke breaks in the outdoor seating area with the patrons? If not then your post is moot - the ban isn't for employees taking a smoke break out back.
Can you read?
Care to point out what I missed? I saw nothing in the article indicating that it would ban smoking outdoors in general
Yeah bloody government, making laws, making people's lives better, how dare they.
I liked it back in the old days when 4-year-olds worked down the pit and no one back an eyelid, and then died quietly of tuberculosis. Snowflakes these days....