The non smoking Ban in England (bless her)

[PeteC]

Certainly all of the usual 'quitting aides' such as patches, chewing gum etc are easily available on the NHS now - my wife gets over 90 pounds worth of chewing gum at a time on a single prescription.

I don't know if that means she gets 90 pounds worth for free through your NHS program but if she is paying that miuch for it BB, have a look here when you get here. I know the gum is available without any prescription and I doubt it costs nearly as much as inthe UK. I don't know about patches. Pete

[caller]

Some of you guy's are going sooooo OTT!

CALM DOWN.

Its not such a big deal, the fabric of life hasn't changed here, the pubs are still crowded on a Friday night, I've just been to a packed Thai restaurant in Shepherds Bush, people are still going about their business, life goes on........

[Big Boy]

Certainly all of the usual 'quitting aides' such as patches, chewing gum etc are easily available on the NHS now - my wife gets over 90 pounds worth of chewing gum at a time on a single prescription.

I don't know if that means she gets 90 pounds worth for free through your NHS program but if she is paying that miuch for it BB, have a look here when you get here. I know the gum is available without any prescription and I doubt it costs nearly as much as inthe UK. I don't know about patches. Pete

Not to worry Pete, she only pays seven pounds 25 pence for over 90 pounds worth of chewing gum (lasts 3 weeks at a time), and she has even been given a double prescription to ensure she has enough for the duration of our holiday.

[komfortablynumb]

Apparently you can smoke in the house of parliament somewhere as they have an exemption.
You can smoke in a prison cell as it is considered a home. (not my idea of one)
You can't smoke in an old peoples home because that's not a place of residence. Sic. Trust me that last one is being enforced.
I believe you can't smoke whilst driving in Sweden. Bless them.
In theory you could get pulled in the U.K. But it's a general law as it could also include picking your nose.
It has been muted that someone visiting a house in the U.K. That has an appointment like a plumber, could demand that the householders stop smoking 20 minutes before they arrive and open the windows to air the house.
That may be just the health and safety lunatics getting in on the act.
I am surprised how well balanced this discussion remains.
As a smoker it is not been my intention to either offend or risk a non smokers health.
It seems that the petty bureaucracy and those that enforce these laws
have the power to undermine society itself.
Aside. Last time i saw a pic of the angels at the pearly gates.
They were sitting on, and surrounded by smoke.
I hope that wasn't tobbaco smoke.

[Jaime]

Its not proving to be a big deal here (with one sad exception), funny how its perceived by the expats!

I have to echo that sentiment.

[Guess]

I haven't read it all but I will add my penny's worth. I was in California at the time of the smoking in Bars Ban. It had very little impact. My local had a beer garden anyway and many bars converted there back yards into beer gardens. Additionally at least 50% of bars were no-smoking anyway. The main whingers were the landlords who were one year later proven wrong as the pub takings in California increased by a massive 18% in the first year. Restaurants had been no smoking for years prior to the bar ban.

Singapore have operated a street smoking ban in the for at least 20 years. No problems there. I understand that smoking point have been introduced recently. The rationale in Singapore was threefold at least. Council cleaning costs were reduced. Throwing litter is a major offense but cigarette ends were not spotted easily. The had been quite a few cases of children being poke in the eye and and glowing cigarette ends landing in baby's strollers. By reducing the amount people smoke it reduces the amount spent on public health. Another angle was that the legislation was easy. The act reads something like "There will be no smoking in public places." The Brits probably took ten years and ended up with a three volume book before passing the law.

I thought that smoking was banned in offices, not just in the UK but the whole of the European Union. I was based in London for 7 years in the nineties before coming to Thailand. I found two offices that had smoking rooms but all the others were smoke free. One office in the City where I was last based even banned smoking by employees within 50 meters of the main entrance. At our headquarter in Houston. Texas all tobacco and hand guns had to left with security whilst you were in the office.

Coffee shops in Amsterdam do not sell tobacco so I missed the relevance of that remark. I know that many mix weed with tobacco to weaken the effect and make it burn easier but you have to bear in mind that these places are clearly selling marijuana so if you don't like it don't go in. I am not sure how the law works in places like Eindhoven where you cannot advertise from the outside.

Now the main point. I would like to make.

In most countries all over the world recreational drugs are illegal. In some cases such as Morphine and other drugs in the Opiate family they are obtainable by prescription or are permitted in hospital and can be carried by Doctors and Army Medics for emergency use. Cocaine in its processed form is illegal just about everywhere in the world. Amphetamines have, in the past been available on prescription but have now almost disappeared from the legitimate drugs industry. Either better substitutes were produced or methodology recommend by doctors has changed. In sixties Britain all you had to do was go to you local state funded doctor and you would be prescribed amphetamines for depression, obesity or lethargy. When this practice was stopped in the mid seventies it led to the underground production of Ecstasy, (mainly in Europe) and speed powders and tablet all over the world. It is currently still happening in Thailand with Ya Ba which is mostly manufactured in rogue countries in the region such as Myanmar.

So after that very small summary of recreational drugs worldwide can someone tell me why tobacco has not been made illegal already. This pussyfooting around is a start but what the world really needs is a complete ban. The argument with many bans is that it will drive the industry underground and into the wrong hands. This cannot apply with tobacco. It is already in the hands of the wrong people. Most retailers and wholesalers that I have met find that tobacco sales are a pain in the arse that exposes them to risk from theft and makes very little profit. They only do it as a service to their customers. The big money has already been creamed off by the manufactures and brand owners and the lion's share by the governments.

Another factor that UK & Ireland residents should be well aware of is that 20 per day amounts to a new car in financial terms. I am not sure what interest rates are in th UK but 150 pounds on your mortgage payment would buy a fairly decent car even at UK rip off prices.

I have deliberately left out alcohol as it is not the topic and is another much more complex story.

[Big Boy]

Guess wrote:

someone tell me why tobacco has not been made illegal already

That one is simple - the taxation revenue enjoyed by goverments. If there were a similar tax on marijuana, then I guess that too would become legal.

All governments will talk the talk about persuading people to quit because it is a vote winner amongst non-smokers (heavily outweigh the numbers of smokers in the UK - don't know about the rest of the world). This latest smoking ban is a half way house ie we've banned smoking in public places, but, oh dear - people continue to smoke. OK, we'll continue to accept the revenue then.

My father gave up years ago when Margaret Thatcher announced that she was going to increase the tax on tobacco because too many people were smoking.

[HHTel]

Of course, if Sir Walter Raleigh brought the tobacco weed back from his travels now, then it wouldn't get off the ground.
It's legal because it was believed originally to have benefits. The fact that we now know that it only caused damage is relatively new. When I was a kid, they used doctors, babies, singers etc to advertise cigarettes. It was believed to improve your breathing, give you a better singing voice. That's why smoking was so popular. It's hard to then ban something which rose to that level. The more modern prohibited social drugs have always been known to have negative effects which is why they were never legal. (although some relaxation with regards marjuana is taking place in some countries).

So, blame lies very much with Sir Walter Raleigh!!!

[dtaai-maai]

I’m a non-smoker but some of these laws are getting a bit silly. For instance here in Luxembourg it is now illegal to smoke at a bus stop. That is all well and good when there is a bus shelter as it is clear where you can’t smoke, but when there is just a sign at the side of the road it all gets a bit muddy. If the pavement is narrow are passers-by expected to extinguish their fag whilst passing the sign, who knows?

Don't they concrete the pavements in Luxembourg? I'd complain.

[Limey711]

why are we concerned isnt that why we are here,,,,..

[richard]

Limie711

Some of us may have to go back

[STEVE G]

I just got back from a weekend in England and from what I saw the people struggling the most with this ban are young girls. I was out in Nottingham city centre on Saturday night and outside all the bars was a group of girls in skimpy dresses smoking. It gave the place a bit of an atmosphere of Thailand really, except instead of shouting “Welcome, handsome man!â€

[komfortablynumb]

Just a quick update on the no public smoking debate.
Now the media have moved onto something, probaly more important.
Mostly the British resiliance shows through.
Smokers just go outside. And mostly quite happy with it.
As an aside.
Why does the no smoking light come on with the put seat belt light on in planes?
Trust me the pilot says "we are going to crash into a mountain in 90 seconds".
I am lighting up.
Just a thought.