Should Smoking in Public Be Banned?

[PeanutBean]

I don't think driving cars and smoking are in any way comparable. I hate cars, I hate fumes, I hate dangerous drivers, I hate the way they are destroying our climate but they do serve a more useful purpose than smoking.

 

[redpoppy]

I don't think driving cars and smoking are in any way comparable. I hate cars, I hate fumes, I hate dangerous drivers, I hate the way they are destroying our climate but they do serve a more useful purpose than smoking.

So if cigarette smoking was proved to be more useful then the pollution and cancer causing would be worth it?

Also, considering we now have electric options or hybrids then maybe we should all be supporting banning all non hybrid vehicles? Making it illegal to drive if you have a public transport option? Making it a law to carpool?

I don't know, just seems like smokers are an easy target and so easy when you can be concerned about the babies who will all suffer so terribly because of our inability to escape the (large minority) of smokers who stalk us mother's every step.

 

[Lightworker]

If a smoker lights up next to me, I generally tend to move as opposed to asking them to move merely because my thinking is if you are selfish enough to light up near children I wonder what the likelihood is that you will move when asked. Plus while I am assertive when needs be, I dont like confrontation infront of children. However, alot of times it is when you are stood at a pedestrian crossing for example, and there's that many people you cannot move, you just have to put up with it.

 

[Lightworker]

Re the story about the guy who said "..sorry but I really need it" to me thats just symbolic of most smokers, their addiction takes precedence over the health of their fellow man. I mean, are we supposed to be more understanding because he really needs it?

 

[Lightworker]

Everytime I post on this thread I feel a little weird because I know I am coming across as very judgemental of smokers but at the same time I feel that there are times when you must take a stand - its the whole "for evil to prevail it is only necessary for good men to do nothing" (not that smokers are evil)

 

[Ilovehim89]

See everyone who has complained about people smoking near them or their children can I ask a genuine question?

I will anyway ...

How many of those that have complained about others smoking have actually asked a smoker, politely, if they could perhaps move away from your pram so your child doesn't inhale the fumes?
Or did you just sit and complain?

Yes I have....A lot of them DONT! That is the thing! Most people do not care

 

[BlackBerry25]

Not sure if anyone in here has posted from Canada, but it is illegal here in my province.

 

[PeanutBean]

I still don't see cars and smoking as anything like each other. I'd very much like to see electric cars, better public transport etc. I think most car users could cut down their car use considerably.

I think if you were to choose a comparison alcohol would be a nearer one. It wouldn't be acceptable for an alcoholic to nip out for pint breaks or be boozing all over colleagues. Of course the outward effect of alcohol is different. There is the more immediate risk of violence or other antisocial behaviour and there is no such thing as passive drinking so of course it's still different. But socially and with consideration to addiction and health I think it a better comparison than cars.

For me the issue of health is not such a great one. I am as concerned (or not) about passive smoking out of doors as I am by car fumes when I walk to the train station past the morning traffic queue. In both situations I do what I can to find the cleanest air. For me the issue is more of tue antisocial nature of it. It stinks, it's vile, smokers smell ALL the time I resent being stuck next to them on public transport (no wonder people drive cars) and I don't like walking me end my son through clouds of smoke. I find most (of course not all) smokers to be fairly ignorant of the effect it has on others.

I also don't like walking past the solvent factory I live near, I also get cross when my neighbour burns god only knows what filling our streets with foul smoke. It doesn't mean I think I'll get cancer for passing through, it's just disgusting.

 

[TattiesMum]

I don't think driving cars and smoking are in any way comparable. I hate cars, I hate fumes, I hate dangerous drivers, I hate the way they are destroying our climate but they do serve a more useful purpose than smoking.

Yes - but not always .... I live within easy walking distance of town and just around the corner from my local infant school, yet the number of local people I know who insist on driving into town or taking their kids to the school in the car is ridiculous and it offends me in much the same way as smokers offend some others

 

[Nibblenic]

I would jump at the chance to buy a hybrid car. However my car cost me 12k the nearest size Hybrid car is 21k money I simply dont have.

My huby gets the bus to work to the city centre even though he can drive. Personally I have to have a car for work as driving is part of my job. I also like alot of people make unnecessary journeys like to the local super market which really is within walking distance. Howver i have a degenerating spine so can carry food shopping, well anywhere.

I really and it maybe because im a country bumpkin , dont see how car fumes and smoking is comparible. Car for many people are necessary, there is no way smoking is neccessary.

I think this debate is getting a little wrapped up in the cancer, health element. Which thb does bother me greatly. However standing next to a smoker is just as foul as a bingo queue (you get me) someone with really bad B.O or a drunk smelling of alcohol. If not worse tbh because it is a much more punjent and chemical smell

Yes I am very against smoking as everyone, both sides, of my family die of cancer. Ive been on cancer wards and seen people who are essentially the walking dead dieing painfully and slowly. I personally see smoking as inviting the devil in. bu isppose thats another different debate. I really should start a thread lol

 

[PeanutBean]

I agree there seems to be an assumption that the issue is cancer from passive smoking.

Again I agree about car use and it totally offends me too tattiesmum. It really bothers me that our buses don't go anywhere, our weekend train service is every 2 hours and our station is inaccessible. I commute by train and take the train for my business trips where there is a service to take but sadly leisure trips with the family at weekends necessitate a car. I hate that! I hate more the people who drive to town from here for work despite our excellent commuter services. I think we should start another thread on this though as it really doesn't compare!

Even short journeys that could be walked are serving a purpose. The only purpose smoking serves is an addiction that could've not been there.

 

[TattiesMum]

I think that's the point though Nibblenic ... people use the health/cancer argument to target/villify smokers

The actual risk of breathing smoke in open air is no more than breathing exhaust fumes or a great many other things in life ... including (if the Daily Mail is to be believed ) using your mobile phone around your kids, feeding them food, and having a laptop and you are far more likely to be injured by someone under the influence of alcohol than you are to contract cancer from the effects of someone smoking in the open air - yet people insist on hammering home the health angle where it isn't really relevant, in an attempt to control other people.

I agree about the smell but smelly things aren't ban-nable LOL - especially given that everyone has their own smells that they hate ... My DH hates the smell of garlic, I hate the smell of kebabs (random I know) and petrol , Tattie hates the smell of lavender but that's life

Given my job I see people on a daily basis who've lost their lives to a huge number of things - cancer being the most common But those cancers are caused by many different things and it's a disease which has been with humankind forever ... it's too simplistic to blame smokers for every cancer which is diagnosed. It's a horrible, horrible disease but banning smoking won't eradicate it, or even reduce it significantly for non smokers

Smokers and fat people have become the new pariahs of our society - the people that it's OK to 'hate' and acceptable to target ... it's one of the great downfalls of our species that we seem to have to have outcast groups to pick on It used to be race and sexuality but now that that isn't PC or acceptable (quite rightly!) we just seem to create new groups to attack and, me being me, I just don't find that acceptable.

 

[Laura2919]

I don't think driving cars and smoking are in any way comparable. I hate cars, I hate fumes, I hate dangerous drivers, I hate the way they are destroying our climate but they do serve a more useful purpose than smoking.

Yes - but not always .... I live within easy walking distance of town and just around the corner from my local infant school, yet the number of local people I know who insist on driving into town or taking their kids to the school in the car is ridiculous and it offends me in much the same way as smokers offend some others

 

[emsiee]

If you smoke, it really should be common sense not to smoke near other people anyway,it shouldnt need banning ... its just common courtesy not too, especially any where near children. If someone smokes near my kids I tell them to move, or I move. Simples.

 

[Lightworker]

I would like to clarify that my issue with smokers is not based on some deep seated need to attack a particular sect of society. Being a black person I know what it feels like to be targeted willy nilly and that is not how I choose to live my life. I have a serious problem with the smoke and I have already expressed my anxiety at appearing judgemental as that is simply not the type of person I am. I love the human race and believe in the oneness of humanity so would be saddened I came across otherwise.

 

[smokey]

On a slightly OT I get my patches today, im determined to not be one of the smellys anymore

 

[redpoppy]

Huggermumof2 - I don't think you're quite aware how extreme you sound quoting the "for evil to prevail" quote in this scenario. I know you've added the caveat that smokers are not evil but for that quote even to come to mind considering all the stuff it IS applicable to is a little worrying for me...

As for it one being about the smell not the cancer causing! I'm sorry but that's absurd! Are we really saying that we can legislate against bad smells? I got picked on at school for smelling of curry Stale curry smells awful yet a large number of Asians go around smelling of curry all the time as it gets cooked in their homes every day. Should we tell them to not leave their houses!?

And lastly, I expect more from you peanut bean! are you really trying to compare drinking in public to smoking? Smoking does not intoxicate or cause loss of motor skills or tend to cause people to bump into others or get into fights. It's far more addictive too. I don't understand what level it would be comparable on. To me it's like saying coffee and opium can be compared. Oh and coffee breath.... Another nasty smell on the tube.

 

[Laura2919]

I still like the smell of a freshly lit fag.. I havent smoked for two years but that doesnt stop the urges sometimes. I just dont because of the money.

 

[Lightworker]

Redpoppy- yeah I think thats the problem with these debates and just being on the internet generally because there's such huge scope for things to be misconstrued. When I said "for evil to prevail" I meant basically that if people do not voice concerns over issues that bother them,the situations simply persist. It is not that anyone is evil, I did not intend for that phrase to be taken literally.

 

[Lightworker]

I love a good debate but even though I'm on here alot I do get wary because it seems someone is always ready to find fault with tbe way you have written something or always ready to pounce if you have misinterpreted a post. Thats why I started the other thread in Babyclub because if you understand the nature of the person you are debating with you are less likely to view them in a negative light regardless of how they may have worded something. I always feel like saying "I am a nice person and I love every1