No smoking
30/06/07 21:17 Filed in: World
As a non-smoker, what do I think the new laws banning
smoking in all enclosed public spaces will achieve?
Okay, after my last
post I've vented my vitriol, so things are
back to normal, so back to one of my planed
posts.
At midnight tonight it becomes illegal in England to smoke in a enclosed public space.
Such laws have been in place in Scotland and Wales for some time now and we are now coming in to line with them.
So what, as a non-smoker that has never smoked, do I think of this? Well I think it's wrong.
What!?
Yes I think it's wrong.
I was talking to a college at work Yesterday who is a smoker (but he says he will be giving up on Sunday) about this and he thinks the law is a good idea. Interesting.
So why do I think it's a bad idea, when I think smoking is a really disgusting habit? Well I think that it's a matter for personal choice and not one that the government should get involved in. Okay, thats true, I hear you say, but what about the cost to the national health service caused by smoking related diseases? I could answer that the taxes that the government collects from cigaret sales more than out weighs this. I could say that, but it would be wrong. It would nice if that money did go to the national health service, but it doesn't, well not directly anyway. It al goes to the treasury. So with that augment shot down by my self, I fall back on this.
Obesity, probably costs the national health service at least as much as smoking, possibly more. Now I'm, if not obese, I'm certainly very overweight. So are the government going to pass a law that says I should lose weight? I hope not (now I am trying to do something about it my self, but that's another story)
So what about the effect smoking has on non-smoking by standers? Well I would say that if you don't want to inhale second hand smoke don't stand near smokers, again it's a choice thing.
You could counter this by saying some times you don't have a choice, but I would argue that while this may have once been the case, it not really now. I would say that you would be hard pressed to find a shop, place of work, cinema or bus where smoking is allowed now days. The only place where smoking is really still common in public places is in pubs. This doesn't bother me at all, even if they where smoke free, I still don't like them (being t-total). But if you did go to the pub and wanted a smoke free one, you would find one. They do exist!
So to me this whole thing is about personal choice and I think that is one thing that the government shouldn't get involved with. Smoking is a habit which is in it's death throws. I would predict that in 3 generations smoking will be looked at as a historical curiosity, much as the legal selling of heroin as a medicine in the late 19th century is looked upon now.
At midnight tonight it becomes illegal in England to smoke in a enclosed public space.
Such laws have been in place in Scotland and Wales for some time now and we are now coming in to line with them.
So what, as a non-smoker that has never smoked, do I think of this? Well I think it's wrong.
What!?
Yes I think it's wrong.
I was talking to a college at work Yesterday who is a smoker (but he says he will be giving up on Sunday) about this and he thinks the law is a good idea. Interesting.
So why do I think it's a bad idea, when I think smoking is a really disgusting habit? Well I think that it's a matter for personal choice and not one that the government should get involved in. Okay, thats true, I hear you say, but what about the cost to the national health service caused by smoking related diseases? I could answer that the taxes that the government collects from cigaret sales more than out weighs this. I could say that, but it would be wrong. It would nice if that money did go to the national health service, but it doesn't, well not directly anyway. It al goes to the treasury. So with that augment shot down by my self, I fall back on this.
Obesity, probably costs the national health service at least as much as smoking, possibly more. Now I'm, if not obese, I'm certainly very overweight. So are the government going to pass a law that says I should lose weight? I hope not (now I am trying to do something about it my self, but that's another story)
So what about the effect smoking has on non-smoking by standers? Well I would say that if you don't want to inhale second hand smoke don't stand near smokers, again it's a choice thing.
You could counter this by saying some times you don't have a choice, but I would argue that while this may have once been the case, it not really now. I would say that you would be hard pressed to find a shop, place of work, cinema or bus where smoking is allowed now days. The only place where smoking is really still common in public places is in pubs. This doesn't bother me at all, even if they where smoke free, I still don't like them (being t-total). But if you did go to the pub and wanted a smoke free one, you would find one. They do exist!
So to me this whole thing is about personal choice and I think that is one thing that the government shouldn't get involved with. Smoking is a habit which is in it's death throws. I would predict that in 3 generations smoking will be looked at as a historical curiosity, much as the legal selling of heroin as a medicine in the late 19th century is looked upon now.
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