woaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!
How many of you actually think I was serious when I said that?! (please see my other posts!)
But, can I ask, If you really had the choice, and could stop smoking tomorrow without any issues of addiction etc, would you still continue to smoke? Or if given the choice to go back to the day when you started smoking, would you do so again?
Would you be happy for your young children to start smoking?
I just fail to see the benefit that someone gets from it, apart from it being an addiction that you don't have so much control over????
Did I ever say smokers were'filthy' minx and couplefun? Den is a smoker, so I certainly don't think that. I do however, have relatives who have died of smoking related illnesses, and I have a great aunt who has has bilateral amputations with horrendous infections becuase she has peripheral vascular disease, probably due to her 40/day habit.
I do live in a country that has the correct attitude- in Scotland we are seeing the benefits from smoking ban in public places,so I don;t need to move elsewhere, I am happy with the law as it stands now, although i still think that it would be better if cigarettes had never been brought in in the first place, but that isn't the case so I'm very happy with the new ruling now.
I also agree that drunks, antisocial behaviour etc shouldn't be tolerated, at least something has been done about the antisocial behaviour of smoking.
Den was a 40+ a day smoker, and he stopped, which was made that much easier by the ban.
As soon as we were in Barcelona this week, he started because of everyone smoking around him.
Too hot, thank you! I also agree with your comments :thumbup:
One other point (phew! can you tell how much i love smoking yet?!)
I'm not saying that there isn't any reason in the world why someone would want to smoke.
Of course not.
I get that people feel the need to be relaxed by a fag, it calms them down, it can help to destress in a busy day, so like alcohol, perhaps the odd one is ok, but are you as a smoker really happy that it's a habit/ addiction that you don't really have an awful lot of control over?
How many of you automatically light a fag when you buy your pint/make your cup of tea/when eastenders comes on/when you finish your first course/when you're waiting on the bus etc etc? Not because you REALLY need one............
I think some of the derogatory comments aimed at 'smokers in general' in here are scraping very close to the line now tbh.
But, come July, I will display a completely childish attitude, get on my high horse and simply stop 'doing' social events where I cant smoke - that, or the Government can provide me with patches etc enough to keep me going for a few hours when in the company of others.
I fully realise how ridiculous this sounds, I'm also fully aware of what smoking does to my health, but I pay for my cigarettes with money I earn, and I pay enough fookin tax on them now to fund a personal smoking cessation programme too.... but on principal I wont stop, because I dont want to! and I know I wont be able to do it when the reason behind trying to stop is that the fookin Government says I have to ! I'd be doing it to keep other people (non-smokers)and the Nanny-state happy, not for me, and that's soooo not going to work!
Maybe I'll get bored of being anti-social and lonely with no social life, but given a choice between that and associating with people who feel I'm a filthy fuckwit for my habit, who treat me like a leper and banish me to the socially unacceptable & naughty corner with the others who wont conform, I know which one will win.
I don't smoke but totally see your point DF. There are times I would rather people didn't smoke around me, such as when I'm eating, but I wouldn't dream of making anyone go stand away from others just because they smoke, in a social situation.
Den here now, and as Maz said a smoker(loads)!
But i think the smoking ban is a great idea.
People who dont want to breathe in smoke(and its a fact that passive smoking kills)have that choice now.
People who do want to breathe in smoke can go outside and do so.
Therefore everyone has a choice, which is surely right in a democracy!!
Years ago, drink driving was seen as not such a big deal, lots of people done it. Now thats its less socially acceptable there as less people dying as a result of it. The same thing is happening with smoking. Just because i am doing something wrong and dangerous, doesnt mean i should be able to inflict that damage upon people who have no choice in it.
Why is it more acceptable to kill someone slowly with your smoke than to drink drive and kill them instantly?
den x
Den, that is a very good post.
Fee
XX
mmmm - let me think now
double pneumonia (twice), collapsed lung and clot on the lung. And my Dad died of emphysemia from smoking. But at least I excercised my right and enjoyment to smoke - albeit making others stink and feel lousy.I agree that if we cant smoke then the government should provide free or prescription ways of stopping. They do? bugger.
Actually can reccommend new drug Champix.
The ban affects private clubs.
The law will ensure that all workplaces in which more than one person works will be smokefree. This includes parts of private houses if you run a business from home and someone who doesn't live there, works there with you. Enclosed public places, such as shopping malls, railway stations, taxis, pubs and working men's clubs will also have to be smokefree. Hotels can make certain bedrooms smoking rooms, but they will have to display signs saying it is a "designated smoking room" and have self-closing doors to prevent smoke drift.
The law also covers work vehicles used by more than one person, even if no-one else is in the vehicle at the time. Particles from tobacco smoke pollute soft furnishing for months after the last cigarettes have been stubbed out. No-smoking signs will have to be on display in the vehicle. The law does not extend to vehicles used for private use. The law will apply to partly enclosed public places.
All places like indoor shopping centres which are mostly surrounded by walls and ceilings will have to be smoke-free, but Railway platforms and bus shelters which are largely open, will not. Owners and managers will be responsible for ensuring that their workplaces are smoke- free or face a fine of up to £2,500 if someone is reported smoking. Anyone lighting up in a smoke- free place will face a fine of up to £200 or a penalty notice of £50. "No smoking" signs will have to be displayed at each public entrance, and include the warning: "No smoking. It is against the law to smoke in these premises." Failure to do so could result in a £1,000 fine for the owner or manager.
The ban might not apply to a small number of workplaces which are also "homes". These include prison cells, hospices, mental health facilities and care homes. Here smoking, if allowed, must be restricted to a "designated smoking room" which has a self-closing door. Residents and possibly visitors will be permitted to smoke in these smoking rooms but not staff. If an employer of an exempt place would prefer their premises to be totally smoke- free, they are free to do so.
An article recently in the British Medical Journal presented strong arguments against exemptions for mental health facilities, saying that people with mental health problems should not be treated as second-class citizens. And in Ireland, where prisons are exempt from its smoke-free law, staff are taking the prison service to court for ignoring their human rights for smoke-free air.
The law does not apply to the area outside building entrances. However some employers are responding to complaints by customers and staff about having to walk through a cloud of smoke and a "fuggle" of smokers to get into the building and are designating a certain distance, eg 20 metres, from the entrance to be smoke-free and providing specially designed Smoking Shelters to provide shelter from the elements.
Employers will not have to provide smoking breaks, however, staff can smoke on their rest breaks if they want to but not in the building. Smoking rooms will become a thing of the past although outdoor smoking shelters will become common place although there is no legislation to make companies and public bodies provide them.
The law will be enforced by the local authority, probably environmental health officers. The smoke-free laws in Ireland and Scotland have been a huge success, leaving enforcement officers with little to do. The Government is hoping that the rest of the UK will experience the same success.
The main aims of the new legislation are:
The law aims to protect all workers from tobacco smoke, a known health hazard.
The law proposes that all workplaces in which more than one person works will be smoke-free. It includes pubs, private clubs, restaurants, hairdressers, shops and taxis.
Homes and private cars are not covered by the law unless they are also used for business by someone who does not live in the home.
Enclosed public places will have to be smoke-free including places which are partly enclosed and are mostly surrounded by walls and ceilings, eg shopping malls, some bus shelters, railway stations.
Proposed workplaces which may be exempt are places in which people may call their home, eg prison cells, hospices, care homes and long stay mental health facilities.
Smoking will not be allowed throughout exempt places, but only in designated smoking rooms, and only for residents. Staff will not be allowed to smoke there.
You may think that Im an ostrich here, but I do think that a lot of deaths are labelled as smoking related when they may not be so at all. They see smoker on the list and it automatically means that was the ultimate cause. Speaking from personal experience I had 2 brothers die in their (very) early 40's. Yes they smoked and both died of heart attacks. But what we have subsequently learned is that there is a congenital heart condition in the family being passed down the male line which is killing smokers and non smokers. But my brothers deaths were classed as smoking related because no one wanted to look further but found a convenient label. I wonder how many other so called smoker deaths are also incorrrectly classed in the statistics? Oh and btw giving up doesn't necessarily save you. My ex partner had given up smoking for over 10 years when he developed COAD which is a life threatening (smokers) condition.
i wont be giving up just because the goverment wants me to. being the biggest area of the british isles i think it will hit england the hardest, not all smokers blow it in others faces i have alot of non smoking friends non of which mind that i smoke i respect their wishes while in their houses cars etc but in my own house i smoke where i want n that does not bother them, even stood together in a group in a pub it does not bother them the only exception is if we go for a meal we get a table none smoking, its just nicer all round and when i want a cigarette i will go to a smoking area, lots of health problems are blamed on smoking , its an easy thing to blame, when only smokers are getting mouth or lung cancer (or any other smoking related cancers or illnesses) then u can really blame smoking
If I was in one & someone asked if I minded if they smoked- the answer would be a resounding "yes"
but I'm sure Scotland heard much the same comments when the ban was introduced up there and it ammounted to ..well...not much at all, people just comply and adapt. Hmmmm 
