As a former smoker (who quit for seven years and regrets taking it up again), and as a present-day vape user, wtf. This is a clear restriction on liberty. It may be stupid that I do it. Just like many stupid decisions (junk food included), it ought to be my right to decide how to live. Cut off production so cigarettes are no longer made or imported. Don't block me from them while letting others have them. (Not in UK)…
In a country with a national health system, why should you be able to internalize the benefit of smoking whilst externalizing the cost?
Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
191–200 of 430 posts
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
With all due respect, this is completely wrong. There is a difference that someone smoking nearby automatically harms people around you. With alcohol, the effect is more unpredictable, but it is equally real. Alcohol is a factor in an automobile crashes, and a factor in a significant proportion of violent crime, especially domestic violence ( https://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/09/17/mark-kleiman/taxatio... edit: this…
Second-hand smoke does affect people around you. It is how people get addicted to nicotine. It is how new smokers are created. And there are some people who are more sensitive to temporary exposure to smoke (and pollution in general) than others. That is why smoking tends to be is banned around hospitals and day care centers — because those are places where you will find those people. My father was one of them, afte…
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, this is one of the reasons there is resistance to socialized health care. People view it as opening the door to the government controlling what they due due to health care costs. Sure, I dislike smoking, I really don't drink that much either. But then it leads to questions such as; What about birth defects? What about extreme sports(risk of permanent injury)? There was a scandal in Canada recently about veterans…
IMO they should just charge a premium for smoking that about covers the expense overall
Look at automotive insurance points systems. People have to buy it so the sellers lean on the legislatures and before you know it a ticket costs the same points and screws you out of just as much money as an actual accident.
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
In a country with a national health system, why should you be able to internalize the benefit of smoking whilst externalizing the cost?
You could use this logic to ban unhealthy foods, or restrict people from eating too much.
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#195Moreover, essentially all behavior plausibly has "diffuse negative externalities". We should be very careful about adopting that ("harms others in diffuse ways") as a reasonable standard for banning some behavior.
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
As the US found out, alcohol is very very hard to ban because it is very very easy to make.
Weed and tobacco are also very easy to make. They literally grow on trees[1]. [1] Technically, herbaceous plants.
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#197What about tourists and foreigners? Most smokers can't go more than a few hours without smoking... This will surely lead to a large black market.
The law (as proposed) restricts sales and giving to someone else, not the smoking itself.
https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/60034/documents/628...
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#198Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same amount of damage done to your liver from that beer…
There's no such thing as second hand liver damage from someone else drinking beer
Look, I get that you're anti-smoking along with the rest of us but both things are bad. Drinking is bad, smoking is bad, a lot of things are bad. The question is, which of these bad things did you try out and are now stuck with? That's the real issue. Products shouldn't not be allowed to be physically addicting like that. Arguing about it on HN to a bunch of addicts is like arguing with an alcoholic on their drinking problem. It's an echo chamber or a brick wall. Someone's going to walk away with a black eye.
Is second hand smoke dangerous? Not the same way inhaling soldering fumes could be or if you ever welded, the fumes could cause damage to your lungs. It's more subtle and requires prolonged exposure.
Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed
#200As a former smoker (who quit for seven years and regrets taking it up again), and as a present-day vape user, wtf. This is a clear restriction on liberty. It may be stupid that I do it. Just like many stupid decisions (junk food included), it ought to be my right to decide how to live. Cut off production so cigarettes are no longer made or imported. Don't block me from them while letting others have them. (Not in UK)…