Smoking ban?

[Mailman]

Are the lives of the staff in the HOC bar of less value than the staff who work at your local "Nags Head" ?

Apparently so.

Ultimately this whole saga isnt about smoking, its about the attrition of personal freedoms, choices and responsibilities being replaced by a centralised "Nanny knows best" government.

Yeah you see...you had me right up until you started to talk rubbish!

Smoking is a disgusting habit and should be banned from all public places. You ever wondered why countries with smoking bans in place are so much nicer than England (well apart from having bugger all English in it)?

Anyways...perhaps you should look at it this way. The ban is going to help you have REAL PERSONAL FREEDOM to make an informed decision about smoking. Since we all know that nicotine was added deliberately to smokes to make them addictive and that you really dont have a choice when it comes to an addiction...the government is at least trying to do something about that.

Mailman

[Denny]

There are times when one requires the enjoyable social experience of "dining out" as opposed to filling ones gob in front of the tv

Monosodium Glutimate is toxic, or didn't you know?

[Denny]

Apparently so.



Yeah you see...you had me right up until you started to talk rubbish!

Smoking is a disgusting habit and should be banned from all public places. You ever wondered why countries with smoking bans in place are so much nicer than England (well apart from having bugger all English in it)?

Anyways...perhaps you should look at it this way. The ban is going to help you have REAL PERSONAL FREEDOM to make an informed decision about smoking. Since we all know that nicotine was added deliberately to smokes to make them addictive and that you really dont have a choice when it comes to an addiction...the government is at least trying to do something about that.

Mailman

In order to continue smoking we'll all be sitting at home knocking back more wine to console ourselves for another 'night in on the town', drinking more coffee (because we don't have to fork out over £2 for a tepid and tasteless pile of brown froth from a cafe) and ultimately become more burdensome on the NHS for liver disease and heart stress from drinking cheaper and more frequent filter or instant coffee.

Only the DIY shops will benefit from this legislation because our white paintwork will need touching up more frequently.

[bogeyman]

Since we all know that nicotine was added deliberately to smokes to make them addictive and that you really dont have a choice when it comes to an addiction...the government is at least trying to do something about that.
Mailman

God man - you do talk crap!

Nicotine is an alkaloid that occurs naturally in tobacco! Nobody came along and 'added it' - where can I get some magic tobacco without that nasty addictive nocotine in it.

Fool!

[BoredBloke]

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.

[threaded]

God man - you do talk crap!

Nicotine is an alkaloid that occurs naturally in tobacco! Nobody came along and 'added it' - where can I get some magic tobacco without that nasty addictive nocotine in it.

Fool!

Fool on you! Actually he is correct, just not quite saying it correctly.

The manufacturers add stuff to cigarettes to increase the pH which has the effect that during heating the tobacco releases more nicotine before burning than it would without the additives. Also through selective breeding and farming methods the amounts of nicotine have been increased.

HTH

[bogeyman]

Fool on you! Actually he is correct, just not quite saying it correctly.

The manufacturers add stuff to cigarettes to increase the pH which has the effect that during heating the tobacco releases more nicotine before burning than it would without the additives. Also through selective breeding and farming methods the amounts of nicotine have been increased.

HTH

So where in all of this do they ADD the nicotine that wasn't in the tobacco in the first place?

[BobTheCrate]

Nicotine is an alkaloid that occurs naturally in tobacco! Nobody came along and 'added it'

Interesting. Wasn't their a legal episode in the States quite a while back when a tobacco company technical director was on record for saying that cigarettes were merely a vehicle through which the supplier could get customers hooked on their product. A film about it with Russel Crowe as the techy ... so I guess a great deal of poetic license.

Advantages of the smoking ban

1. It will no doubt persuade many more people to give up and help prevent many others from taking it up. This compromised though by many pubs having patios and beer gardens where people can still smoke. Pubs not having outside facilities will likely lead to large numbers of drinkers congregating outside the pubs and clubs on the street. Not such an advantage.

2. Should, though not necessarily ease the burden of NHS treatment for smoking related illnesses. Not withstanding point 4 below.

Disadvantages

3. Far from discouraging kids to take up the habit, with Gov't banning smoking is like a red rag to a bull. As soon as authority says 'thou shalt not', the rebellious nature of kids does what comes naturally.

4. Economics. Lost tax revenues if substantial numbers of people stop smoking will be enormous. As many others have correctly identified, smokers contribute far more to the NHS than they take out.

5. Who could argue with those who prefer to drink & smoke themselves into a premature demise thereby avoiding the hell of spending their twighlight years in a nursing or care home. Add those longer term costs into the equation too.

6. The intolerant brigade will soon move on to other habits they would like to see banned.

[eternalnomad]

6. The intolerant brigade will soon move on to other habits they would like to see banned.

Well said Bob, and it is this point that raises concern for me.

[threaded]

So where in all of this do they ADD the nicotine that wasn't in the tobacco in the first place?

Essentially a cigarette without the additives would be nicotine free to the smoker.

I guess bogeyman you're trying to get todays dipstick award for being such a dumbass.