Report - Smokefree Ideology (in the UK)

[Jaylotw]

I’ve never sweated having to smoke outside. In all the bar gigs I’ve played, all the travel I’ve done, I meet the fellow smokers outside and can have a convo without loud music blaring (or having to perform the loud music myself). It’s how I met my girlfriend, and countless others. I fully understand and respect that tobacco smoke can not only bother people but cause damage and stains in property. The only indoor space I smoke in is the garage, and only when it’s below freezing outside on the porch, and in my vehicle.

 

[sandollars]

I visited the UK last year in August for the first time since 2002. Back then smoking in pubs and hotel bars was the norm. It was quite a contrast to have to go outside to smoke. The pubs certainly smelled better but the craic wasn't the same if you catch my drift.

Due to inclement weather I smoked a fairly quick bowl of Five Brothers outside the Kirkstone Top (Kirkstone Pass Inn) and it was very enjoyable gazing upon Red Screes once again.
View attachment 46143View attachment 46144

Lovely Pub, that.

 

[sholto]

Lovely Pub, that.

Yes it is! Used to be regular haunt in the late 1980s for me. Lots of memories. You were there too?

 

[JOHN72]

Post-modernist ideology Masonic.....................this is the objetive.............

 

[The Clay King]

Well I've been smoke free for 10 days now; a third of the way through my "no smoking" December!

 

[JOHN72]

Then the alcohol of 96 I could only to buy In a secret army base............???

 

[edger]

It’s going to be a much different world when the pendulum swings back. I probably won’t be around to see it, though. In some ways, I hope I won’t be around to see it.

The problem is that these assholes put a sharp blade on the pendulum!!

 

[sablebrush52]

Ridiculous.
Soon I will need a permission just to fart in my own house.

Your friends and family will be thankful.

 

[sablebrush52]

I wonder if this would survive a court challenge.

 

[saltedplug]

I had a landlord who prohibited indoor smoking. I usually complied but did it anyway when the spirit moved me.

To have a landlord restrict what can be done with his property is one thing, but for the government to make a blanket prohibition is outrageous. Yes, beat it in the courts.

 

[northernpipeshed]

In a lot of places, in blocks of flats or smaller shared plots smoking is not allowed in the UK, you have to go out of the block, usually walk around the corner/to the edge of the parking lot to smoke or even vape.

I'm beginning to even agree with it when we're talking about any sort of shared space. What bugs me though is how precious and childish a lot of people are getting nowadays. Makes me think they're not people you can rely on if shit hits the fan, say they witness a mugging, an abduction of a child, robbery, racist abuse etc etc etc, will they get in and help or will they stand there to video with their phones, or walk on pretending not to notice not to mess their nice clothes?

I was looking for a house in the UK last year and was told that tenants without children are preferred in one place, which to me is borderline as bad as saying people of colour are "not preferred", so if people go that far where do you think smoking stands?

I had an argument with a woman who had chain smoked cigarettes on a nice....quite large outdoor smoking terrace for around an hour............When I lit up a big cigar she started coughing a complaining......She was told where to go..........and did!

 

[Grangerous]

It's just that simple.. let the customers decide.

In the United States most Casinos permit smoking because Gaming brings in big revenue for local and state governments.

I guess if people wish to gamble, they’ll accept smoke as a part of that experience. Of course, Casino restaurants are no smoking and the air filtration is far more accomadating to non smokers.

I grew up in the 70’s. When I was old enough to frequent bars and clubs, the “hangover” was not from drinking, so much as breathing smoke you could barely see through. The saturation in hair and clothing, I can still remember. It’s Repugnant. I never smoked cigarettes but every older generation family member did. It’s a big paradigm shift for sure.

I see Pipe Lounges as an opportunity. There are Cigar lounges. There are Hookah lounges. There are Vape spots and soon, Marijuana. Why not cater to the Pipe?

 

[gerryp]

Wow this thread is still going? Lol.
I was reading a post that mentioned, a number of times, how selfish smoking is. I could fill the interwebs with examples of selfish things people do. I don't think pipe smoking is the worst, and being selfish isn't always bad,
Putting up with a certain amount of other people's bullshit is one of the downsides of living in society. In society, other people will always have a certain amount of bullshit. Going off the grid might be the least selfish way to avoid said bullshit. I've considered it, but it would be way too much work. ?

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Ridiculous.
Soon I will need a permission just to fart in my own house.

Not permission, giving people permission to do things doesn't empower government.
Next time you fart you'll be heavily fined and/or imprisoned (with mandatory forced labor).

 

[BROBS]

In the United States most Casinos permit smoking because Gaming brings in big revenue for local and state governments.

I guess if people wish to gamble, they’ll accept smoke as a part of that experience. Of course, Casino restaurants are no smoking and the air filtration is far more accomadating to non smokers.

I grew up in the 70’s. When I was old enough to frequent bars and clubs, the “hangover” was not from drinking, so much as breathing smoke you could barely see through. The saturation in hair and clothing, I can still remember. It’s Repugnant. I never smoked cigarettes but every older generation family member did. It’s a big paradigm shift for sure.

I see Pipe Lounges as an opportunity. There are Cigar lounges. There are Hookah lounges. There are Vape spots and soon, Marijuana. Why not cater to the Pipe?

That’s because mainly scuzzos go to a casino.

 

[Mark 0092]

i think smog is even worse than smoke in London, Milan or New York City, smoke is nothing compared to environmental pollution, even better than pipe where you don't throw anything on the ground like cigarette!!!!

 

[R.Smokemode]

Why in the world would the pendulum swing back to public smoking? Who, besides we smokers, wants to go around reeking of stale smoke? Sit down to a nicely and expensive prepared restuarant meal wreathed in smoke? Rent a car that stinks? Walk a sidewalk behind a someone leaving a trail of smoke? Share office space with smoking co-workers? Nope, I doubt seriously society will want to run the "public smoking" experiment again. We had our near century of it and thankfully a lot of us had the timing to be a part of it. The generations to come won't ever have to suffer through what many of our neighbors, fellow diners, airline seatmates, children, spouses, and etc. experienced. It was a good run, glad I didn't miss it. I am glad it's over though.

The smell of tobacco is a curious thing. There are those who "reek," and there are those to whom people react aghast when they learn that the person smokes because they never smelled smoke on or around him. I believe it is a matter of body chemistry, just as I believe that some individuals are born with a higher amount, or a more sensitive number, of nicotine receptors. This, in part, explains why some people are complete averse to tobacco, and other are not. Every human has nicotine receptors.

There are types of tobacco, and cigarettes that have such a wretched odor, I, too, would cross the street to avoid the stench. But I recall not one dinner ruined by other than perfumes and colognes, or scented laundry products, (the latter being highly toxic to the skin and they do not wash out).

I am not going so far as to deny that there are odors, but given the strenuous anti-smoking campaigns, I am also convinced that people's senses/brains have been hard-wired for hypersensitivity as regards degree of "stench."

 

[R.Smokemode]

There was a story/book, a fiction, about last group of smokers being hunted down by government. The smoker's were hiding out in a desert cave savoring the last few cigarettes while the hunters were approaching. Can't remember the name of the story, but sure feels like it might turn into a reality.

In perhaps a similar vein, one of the most frightening stories I have ever read: Ray Bradbury's (1960), 'To the Chicago Abyss'. A short story. A passage:
"The old man watched the smoke blow away on the noon wind and said, "Chesterfields."'
The young man gripped his knees tight.
"Raleighs," said the old man. Lucky Strikes."
The young man stared at him.
"Kent. Kool. Marlboro" said the old man, not looking at him. "Those were the names, White, red, amber packs, grass green, sky blue, pure gold, with the red slick small ribbon that ran around the top that you pulled to zip away the crinkly cellophane and the blue government tax stamp----"

This excerpt presents the theme of the story, which is more far reaching than tobacco. Loss of the unique. Of color. Of adventure. I have given the caveat: it is most disturbing. I have it in THE compilation, THE MACHINES OF JOY BY RAY BRADBURY.

 

[telescopes]

As I've pointed out each time someone brings up the subject, the health risks are no longer part of the discussion. The general public is simply tired of leaving bars and such smelling of stale smoke, cigarette, pipe or cigar. Add, that to the fact that smoking is a purely selfish decision ... Well, there you have it.

Smoking is being pushed back to it's roots, private clubs or one's home/farm. Of course one wuld need to own one's own home. Banks will soon, I'm convinced, refuse home loans to smokers when finally permitted to. Landlords are now selective with respect to smokers. They simply don't need the expense of changing out draperies, repainting and new carpet in their property each time a smoker moves out. Employers, since unions started demanding health insurance, wish to improve their bottom line by banning or, at the least, reduce the number of smokers employed. Health insurers can readily show the stats which show smokers as a body are risk takers and have worse attendance records than nonsmoking employees.

Smoking is a purely selfish choice which impacts others in ways they do not like. Just accept that we are engaging in a purely selfish act which is no longer tolerated by society in general. So, move indoors, buy a bigger plot of land and accept the fact that we, as smokers are not to be tolerated for a number of very valid reasons. I defy any of us here to put up an argument that supports smoking other than, "I like/enjoy it."

I suspect doctors are out there who, for a fee, would write a prescription for smoking as necessary for a patient to ... well, something, relax? I doubt it would withstand a challenge though.

As I've pointed out each time someone brings up the subject, the health risks are no longer part of the discussion. The general public is simply tired of leaving bars and such smelling of stale smoke, cigarette, pipe or cigar. Add, that to the fact that smoking is a purely selfish decision ... Well, there you have it.

Smoking is being pushed back to it's roots, private clubs or one's home/farm. Of course one wuld need to own one's own home. Banks will soon, I'm convinced, refuse home loans to smokers when finally permitted to. Landlords are now selective with respect to smokers. They simply don't need the expense of changing out draperies, repainting and new carpet in their property each time a smoker moves out. Employers, since unions started demanding health insurance, wish to improve their bottom line by banning or, at the least, reduce the number of smokers employed. Health insurers can readily show the stats which show smokers as a body are risk takers and have worse attendance records than nonsmoking employees.

Smoking is a purely selfish choice which impacts others in ways they do not like. Just accept that we are engaging in a purely selfish act which is no longer tolerated by society in general. So, move indoors, buy a bigger plot of land and accept the fact that we, as smokers are not to be tolerated for a number of very valid reasons. I defy any of us here to put up an argument that supports smoking other than, "I like/enjoy it."

I suspect doctors are out there who, for a fee, would write a prescription for smoking as necessary for a patient to ... well, something, relax? I doubt it would withstand a challenge though.

McDonalds. Fast food, fried food, alcohol, luxury cars and appliances that last only a few years and fill up the land fills with dangerous rare earth elements. Chemical insecticides, fungicides, genetically altered plants and animals impacting our internal bio systems. Cruise boats, jet planes, ATVs, I can go on and on. But you think smoking is THE selfish act That impacts the lives of everyone so much that we need to accept that people want to live better and not be bothered by smokers. Hypocrisy.

 

[cachimbero]

Via Spiked I came across a really frightening report by Josie Appleton (a non-smoker) for a Civil Liberties magazine:

Now they want to ban smoking at home

Some UK councils restrict smoking in your place of residence. How much further will this go?

www.spiked-online.com

Full report here.

I take it this only applies to tobacco right? I can´t think of how un-progressive it would be in case it applies to hash or marihuana., those products full of health and therapeutical benefits.
Sessh.