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Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

bbc.co.uk

411–420 of 430 posts

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#411
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see smoking as a separate category owing to the existence of second hand smoke. Smoking in a room with other people adversely affects those people. I think government is the correct body to be intervening in that scenario.

Smoking is already banned in public spaces and workplaces. It's pretty rare to be in a room with someone smoking unless they're friends or family.

No indoor smoking makes a major difference, but there still are enough semi-stationary semi-close-up situations where smokers can be still rather annoying, e.g. outdoor seating in cafes and restaurants, popular lunch break spots in parks and plazas, public transport stops, next-door neighbours… And even if you manage to position yourself upwind of all pre-existing smokers, there's no guarantee that a few minutes later somebody upwind of you suddenly won't light up…

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#413
post #397
post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we now have empirical evidence of where liberalism leads us: to an amoral, predatory marketplace. which profits from exploiting people who are helplessly addicted to poisons like nicotine, processed foods and alcohol. how much worse does it need to get before we go back to the drawing board?

Liberalism has led us to almost unbelievable prosperity. The fact that it has some downsides does not suggest that we have to "go back to the drawing board"

[deleted]

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#414
post #397
post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we now have empirical evidence of where liberalism leads us: to an amoral, predatory marketplace. which profits from exploiting people who are helplessly addicted to poisons like nicotine, processed foods and alcohol. how much worse does it need to get before we go back to the drawing board?

Liberalism has led us to almost unbelievable prosperity. The fact that it has some downsides does not suggest that we have to "go back to the drawing board"

is this your argument? "the fact that they're dying as a direct result of us becoming unbelievably prosperous does not suggest anything needs to change"

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I say when I breathe car exhaust. Why cannot all combustion engines be removed from society for my health preference?

Some cities have streets where internal combustion engines are banned. Some have bans on just diesel engines. Others ban combustion engines during some hours. Some inner-city congestion taxes have been introduced for health reasons.

While I appreciate those efforts, and do not mind tobacco-free streets, I'll also note that some cities have unfiltered power plant exhaust falling on them, carried by the jet stream from other cities vast distances away, which care less about the problem. The local solution may not be the optimal solution.

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#416
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it really that bad? I say this as someone who quite enjoys his drink–you haven't seen a hardcore drinking culture until you've dodged multiple projectile vomiters in SoHo at like 5PM on a random Tuesday.

I somehow managed to avoid experiencing this despite living in the UK up to the age of 34.

I'm a bit late responding on my own sub-thread, but if you haven't seen these photos before, this is roughly what every city centre in the UK looks like after dark. https://www.maciejdakowicz.com/cardiff-after-dark/

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is, until that person gets behind the wheel or on a (motor)bike and impacts you - and with that, your health - directly. Having said that I don't like the nanny society which acts like it knows better. People sometimes want to do stupid things and I think they should be able to do so. They should also not burden society with the consequences of their stupid actions so smokers either pay in more for health insura…

> That is, until that person gets behind the wheel or on a (motor)bike and impacts you - and with that, your health - directly. Which is something weirdly North American - it's insane how okay USians are with drinking and driving considering how Puritanical they are about drinking generally.

Are they? I have not experienced this myself. The Americans I met seemed to have the same position towards DUI as the north-western and northern Europeans I know: it is a bad idea which leads to needless accidents, injuries and death. Being a north-western European living in northern Europe I know far more of the latter two than I know Americans but, having visited the country many times for business and a few times for pleasure (north, south, east and west) I haven't met anyone who considered it 'OK' to drink and drive even though I did meet a few who did so anyway. The same is true for the Europeans I mentioned, some do get behind the wheel while they know they shouldn't.

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#418
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I somehow managed to avoid experiencing this despite living in the UK up to the age of 34.

I'm a bit late responding on my own sub-thread, but if you haven't seen these photos before, this is roughly what every city centre in the UK looks like after dark. https://www.maciejdakowicz.com/cardiff-after-dark/

Not Havant, though I was there to 18 and would've only had the independence to examine the nightlife for the two years in which I was doing my A-levels; not Aberystwyth as a university student, nor Plymouth city in my industrial year even though I lived here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Capitol+Students+Central+P...

Likewise, Cambridge was far too genteel for that, when I lived there.

Sheffield managed one night that would've fitted in with those pictures. When my partner and I walked past the football stadium as everyone was leaving.

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#419

This is dumb. Brazil was able to extremely reduce tobacco consumption “just” with education and banning advertising. It blows my mind how no other country in the world wants to follow their example on this. Are they too proud to copy a third world country? Even when it’s doing some things better?

A quick Google search suggests that Brazil and the UK have similar levels of smoking in the adult population. So the UK's already succeeded in reducing smoking consumption. The aim of this legislation is to eventually eliminate it.

Re: Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

#420
post #2

I hate how British people say "agreed" as if it implies "was" and "to". And lots of other things it implies, such as who, when and why.

I don't think there's anything peculiarly British about that usage. It's easy to find examples of Americans doing the same thing, e.g.:

>The report, in an op-ed from commentator David Ignatius, cites a senior US official as saying that “the framework is agreed” and the parties are now “negotiating details of how it will be implemented.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/washington-post...

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