Smoking ban?

[The Lone Gunman]

Looks like the real Shaun is back. For a while an imposter was in making all sorts of valid arguments and stuff.

We are now back to the ill informed ex squaddie who is incapable of individual free thinking without an authority figure telling him what to do or look after him (mum, wife, NCO or officer).

Think carefully. How much of the cost of ciggies is tax and duty compared to the other goods the smokers are going to spend their money on.

Just because you dont like, dont do it or find it offensive is no reason to ban it. You have always had the choice of doing what you do in the company of like minded individuals, clearly you have excercised that choice and you do not go to smokey pubs.
You seem quite happy to remove that freedom from smokers.

"They took the Jews, I said nothing because I wasnt a jew......" understand?

BTW. Threaed: Back up take a deep breath and consider the difference between ADD, CONTAIN and RELEASE. I suspect the apology that will not be forthcoming will be yours.

[xoggoth]

Don;t smoke but I totally object to the idea that people can't even smoke in private clubs. Pity our politicians have so little grasp of personal freedom.

[BobTheCrate]

It is an inescapable certainty that this money will simply end up back in circulation being blown on other luxuries, ...

I doubt this argument has any validity at all.

Else the same argument could be used to dispose of alcohol duty and fuel duty as well.

Nice try shaunboy but I don't see your beloved HMG swallowing that one somehow .. do you ?

[Fungus]

Indeed - what's next and where does it all end?

The killjoys are coming!

The killjoys are here. If I'm in a public place and someone smokes, it kills all pleasure, whether it be eating, or drinking or whatever. And when I get home, my eyes are sore, my throat is sore, and my clothes stink.

It's all very well saying that you can always choose to avoid such places, but in practice you can't. If a few people in a group smoke, then they gravitate to smoking places.

And then there's the question of parents smoking in the presence of their children. Do they have a right to subject their children to dense smoke in an enclosed space and the associated health risks? My half-sister smokes like a chimney and visiting her is very unpleasant. If she stopped smoking, visiting would be as unpleasant, but healthier.

Fungus

[Sysman]

"They took the Jews, I said nothing because I wasnt a jew......" understand?

Gunman, that's the best summary of the situation so far.

[OwlHoot]

Where was this in their manifesto? Had they actually gone into the election with this as one of their stated aims, than I reckon this would have had a significant effect on their core vote.

I gave up smoking over 2 years ago but think this is a massive step too far.

Yup, and I think these polls finding a majority of smokers in favour of a ban must have had a significant element of being given answers they wanted, from people motivated by wishful thinking and a sheep-like aversion to expressing what they think may sound like unconventional opinions.

You can be sure the health nazis won't stop now. So I wonder where they will switch their obsessive attention to smoking bans next. Flats (more than one dwelling per building), dwellings with children, private vehicles, etc, etc.

Seems like no one wants to admit that the real threat to health is inadequate ventilation, and not just from smoke - Modern furniture, and fittings, and building materials, release huge amounts of noxious gases over time, added to which a stuffy overheated dwelling is perfect for germs and carpet bugs and mould to flourish, and in many households windows are hardly ever opened.

[hyperD]

I just opened a window in my office after reading that! Thanks!

[BobTheCrate]

The killjoys are here. If I'm in a public place and someone smokes, it kills all pleasure, whether it be eating, or drinking or whatever. And when I get home, my eyes are sore, my throat is sore, and my clothes stink.

Maybe in the days when 90% of people smoked and before many pubs fitted ventilation systems.

To make the same claims now is the stinging pain and caustic smell of your own prejudice that you're feeling.

[DodgyAgent]

we're all serfs

There is no better reason for not banning smoking than the argument put forward by Theodore Dalrymple (where did he get that name?) in the Times today

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...042571,00.html

[shaunbhoy]

Looks like the real Shaun is back. For a while an imposter was in making all sorts of valid arguments and stuff.

As if YOU would be able to quantify the difference!

We are now back to the ill informed ex squaddie who is incapable of individual free thinking without an authority figure telling him what to do or look after him (mum, wife, NCO or officer).

Explain just how this lack of "free thinking" led me to making a point nobody else seemed to have considered then, "The Lone Braincell"?

Think carefully. How much of the cost of ciggies is tax and duty compared to the other goods the smokers are going to spend their money on.

Quite probably not all, but if you were capable of digesting all of my original statement you would have seen that I was simply pointing out that the huge loss in tax take originally quoted by the foul-smelling disingenuous addicts was nowhere near as large as they would like people to believe. I doubt I could have made it simpler to understand yet you seem to have missed the point. Speaks volumes about your powers of comprehension I'd say. Maybe you could get one of the grown-ups to assist you?

Just because you dont like, dont do it or find it offensive is no reason to ban it.

No, but the fact that it seriously impacts the health of all of those around you bloody well is, not to mention the fact it permeates your hair and clothes. You'd recognise that fact if you were not so fecking selfish. You might well be happy walking around stinking like a burned-out firework but don't assume the rest of us are.

You have always had the choice of doing what you do in the company of like minded individuals, clearly you have excercised that choice and you do not go to smokey pubs.

No, I do like going to pubs, I just find it annoying that selfish feeble-minded cretins with no control of their own addictions have been given free rein to stink the places out. However, thanks to the powers of democracy, not for much longer.

You seem quite happy to remove that freedom from smokers.

Damn straight I do. Me and the vast majority of people in this country on the back of an overwhelming landslide in the Commons. Whoop-de-do!

"They took the Jews, I said nothing because I wasnt a jew......" understand?

Don't patronise me you peabrained mullet. If I were you I'd be more concerned about when they take the easily-led, because you will be herded into the front seats of carriage 1!!!