# Should it be against the law to smoke in a car in which children are present? 5/2008



## Purple (17 May 2008)

A number of times recently I have noticed people smoking in their car while there are children in the back. While smoking in a car is disgusting doing so when there are children should be criminal.
Should it be against the law to smoke in a car in which children are also present?


----------



## dodo (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

These people who smoke in their cars with their children in the car are disgusting,selfish people as simple as that, same with people who smoke in their houses while their children are beside them.


----------



## Joe1234 (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



dodo said:


> These people who smoke in their cars with their children in the car are disgusting,selfish people as simple as that, same with people who smoke in their houses while their children are beside them.



The only thing worse than smoking in the car with children is smoking while pregnant.  I saw 2 women standing outside the local shopping centre smoking, one was probably about 6 months pregnant, the other was almost ready to pop!


----------



## Duke of Marmalade (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Purple said:


> Should it be against the law to smoke in a car in which children are also present?


It is estimated that the average car spews out 10,000 times the noxious fumes of the average smoker. Should it be against the law to drive near schools?


----------



## shanegl (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

Comparing an enclosed space with the open air isn't really valid.


----------



## The_Banker (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

Was reading recently that a country somewhere has outlawed smoking in cars. Can't remember the country but I think it was Australia or Canada. I would love to see it enforced here.

Slightly off topic but I was filling the car tonight at a petrol station and this guy walked past me smoking a cigerette. Still in a bit of shock from it.


----------



## tallpaul (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Harchibald said:


> Should it be against the law to drive near schools?


 
Judging by the traffic congestion in and around schools I would say most definitely. Particularly when most car journeys on the school run are less than a mile. 

Children walking to school seems to be a very old-fashioned concept...


----------



## ClubMan (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Joe1234 said:


> The only thing worse than smoking in the car with children is smoking while pregnant.  I saw 2 women standing outside the local shopping centre smoking, one was probably about 6 months pregnant, the other was almost ready to pop!


I'd advise you to avoid the west side of _Parnell Square_ near the entrance to the_ Rotunda_ so otherwise you might get very upset. Probably the same around any _Irish _maternity hospital?


----------



## rmelly (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Purple said:


> A number of times recently I have noticed people smoking in their car while there are children in the back. While smoking in a car is disgusting doing so when there are children should be criminal.
> Should it be against the law to smoke in a car in which children are also present?


 
I'm a little surprised at this post, I wouldn't have thought you were a fan of the nanny state.

Personally speaking, I don't really care - if these parents/adults choose to smoke in presence of children (in car, at home etc) with all the information in the public domain about effects of smoking and passive smoking, they take responsibility for their actions. As long as the taxes from their smoking exceed health spending on smoking related illnesses, it isn't a problem.

As one of the other posters says, why prevent this and not prevent smoking where children are at home? I know cars are confined spaces, but so are kitchens, sitting rooms etc.

And of course it wouldn't be enforced anyway - how many times a day do you see road users (and I am one, but commute to work) break existing laws - using mobiles, ignoring traffic lights, speeding, unaccompanied provisional drivers etc.


----------



## Vanilla (17 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

Do we not have a duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves? I think someone smoking in a car with children is appalling. I also think seperated parents bludgeoning each other in front of their children, screaming and shouting at each other in front of them, involving other friends and family in the same type of behaviour 
, taking illegal druges etc etc is appalling too. Or the myriad of other things parents do like Larkin said. Don't see the state doing much about that either. So I wouldnt hold my breath on a law being brought in on this one.


----------



## Brianne (18 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

Maybe we should go the whole hog and not only make it criminal to smoke in the presence of children but also make it illegal to ever feed them anything except good food, ever shout at them or treat them with anything other than saintlike patience. Then again, we really should stop driving except for journeys that are absolutely necessary and in that way endeavour to have only the cleanest air going in to their lungs.
As for their mental health , perhaps they should never see the mood altering effect of even a glass of wine, children are very observant and is this a good example to set them? In fact really should all parents be prohibited from drinking whilst rearing kids, even if they are not present; the after effects,eg, smell, empty bottles, are still there next day.
Yes, the more I think of it,maybe in this brave new world , only those of us who have met special conditions should be allowed breed and rear...........slim, non smokers,minimal drinkers(and of course never in pregnancy !!!!), intelligent people suited to the task.   Where have we heard all this sort of  ............before?


----------



## Vanilla (18 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Brianne said:


> ...us who have met special conditions should be allowed breed and rear...........slim, non smokers,minimal drinkers(and of course never in pregnancy !!!!), intelligent people suited to the task. Where have we heard all this sort of ............before?


 
I dunno, was it a film?


----------



## Complainer (18 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



rmelly said:


> And of course it wouldn't be enforced anyway - how many times a day do you see road users (and I am one, but commute to work) break existing laws - using mobiles, ignoring traffic lights, speeding, unaccompanied provisional drivers etc.


This is an important point. We even see existing regulations about kids in cars (i.e. the need for car seats/booster seats/seat belts) being flouted fairly regularly. The last thing we need is more unenforced legislation.

However, enforcement of and compliance with the smoking ban in the workplace has been spectacularly good, so perhaps there is something that can be built on there.


----------



## liaconn (18 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

nobody should be allowed smoke around children.A Ban on smoking at home would be impossible to enforce, but I would definitely have no problem with legislation being introduced to ban smoking in cars. It has nothing to do with a 'nanny state', it is simply preventing irresponsible adults from endangering the health of children.


----------



## z103 (18 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



> Yes, the more I think of it,maybe in this brave new world , only those of us who have met special conditions should be allowed breed and rear...........slim, non smokers,minimal drinkers(and of course never in pregnancy !!!!), intelligent people suited to the task. Where have we heard all this sort of ............before?


Sounds better than the dysgenics we've got going on at the moment.


----------



## Purple (18 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



liaconn said:


> nobody should be allowed smoke around children.A Ban on smoking at home would be impossible to enforce, but I would definitely have no problem with legislation being introduced to ban smoking in cars. It has nothing to do with a 'nanny state', it is simply preventing irresponsible adults from endangering the health of children.



That's very close to my own view, and I smoke.


----------



## rmelly (18 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



liaconn said:


> It has nothing to do with a 'nanny state', it is simply preventing irresponsible adults from endangering the health of children.


 
How far would you take this? Banning children from eating fast food? From using the interweb? Watching TV? Playing outside?


----------



## Yoltan (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Joe1234 said:


> The only thing worse than smoking in the car with children is smoking while pregnant. I saw 2 women standing outside the local shopping centre smoking, one was probably about 6 months pregnant, the other was almost ready to pop!


 
Or smoking at hospital doors. Have seen it numerous times. Patients in their pyjamas. Unbelievable!


----------



## liaconn (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



rmelly said:


> How far would you take this? Banning children from eating fast food? From using the interweb? Watching TV? Playing outside?


 
This isn't about banning children from doing something. Its about banning adults from doing something in a location where they're harming the health of children. If we used your logic the current smoking ban would never have come into effect and I, for one, think it has been very effective.


----------



## Caveat (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

I smoke but I'm very conscious of others, particularly kids.

I smoke in the car occasionally when driving alone but only when I know that I won't be picking up passengers within the next hour or so.

I don't smoke in my own house and even when outside, especially during parades or something that attracts children/families, I would make an effort to minimise the impact of smoke on people nearby.

Point being - I make some effort and I don't even have kids. 

Maybe a course in parenting skills is what these people need before any legislation is considered.


----------



## shanegl (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Brianne said:


> Maybe we should go the whole hog and not only make it criminal to smoke in the presence of children but also make it illegal to ever feed them anything except good food, ever shout at them or treat them with anything other than saintlike patience. Then again, we really should stop driving except for journeys that are absolutely necessary and in that way endeavour to have only the cleanest air going in to their lungs.
> As for their mental health , perhaps they should never see the mood altering effect of even a glass of wine, children are very observant and is this a good example to set them? In fact really should all parents be prohibited from drinking whilst rearing kids, even if they are not present; the after effects,eg, smell, empty bottles, are still there next day.
> Yes, the more I think of it,maybe in this brave new world , only those of us who have met special conditions should be allowed breed and rear...........slim, non smokers,minimal drinkers(and of course never in pregnancy !!!!), intelligent people suited to the task. Where have we heard all this sort of ............before?


 


rmelly said:


> How far would you take this? Banning children from eating fast food? From using the interweb? Watching TV? Playing outside?


 
Ah yes, the old slippery slope fallacy.


----------



## rmelly (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



liaconn said:


> This isn't about banning children from doing something. Its about banning adults from doing something in a location where they're harming the health of children. If we used your logic the current smoking ban would never have come into effect and I, for one, think it has been very effective.


 
Will you expect the children to carry ID to enforce this? And why not completely ban smoking in the presence of children?


----------



## liaconn (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



rmelly said:


> Will you expect the children to carry ID to enforce this? And why not completely ban smoking in the presence of children?


I don't understand your first remark. Re your second, that is the point of this thread. People shouldn't smoke around children. 
Where do you stand on children having to be properly secured and strapped in when they're in a car. Do you also ascribe this to the nanny state and feel that this decision should be left up to their parents and not legislated for?


----------



## rmelly (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



liaconn said:


> I don't understand your first remark.


 
Presumably children includes teens up to 17? But 18 year olds wouldn't be covered? How will the garda differentiate?


----------



## truthseeker (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

Regardless of whether people think its right or wrong to smoke in a car with a child, you cannot force people to raise their children in a particular way.


----------



## Sylvester3 (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

The best thing to do is to educate people and turn the whole issue into a social stigma. It used to be a "bit of laugh" to drink and drive, with little penalties (both my grandfathers smashed up several vehicles whilst coming home from the pub), then it became frowned upon, and nowadays it is becoming a big taboo to break. I can imagine the same thing happening with smoking - it is pretty much unacceptable in public places now and I can't believe the screw won't turn on it more anyway.


----------



## z104 (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

In my opinion- Smoking should be banned from sale in this country. it does no good.

I was shocked a couple of times after seeing heavily pregnant woman smoking. It's understandable 20/30 years ago but not now when the dog on the street know the effects of them. 
It's an dirty smelly addiction.


----------



## truthseeker (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Niallers said:


> In my opinion- Smoking should be banned from sale in this country. it does no good.
> 
> I was shocked a couple of times after seeing heavily pregnant woman smoking. It's understandable 20/30 years ago but not now when the dog on the street know the effects of them.
> It's an dirty smelly addiction.


 
Banning it will create a black market in ciggies and the addicts will be criminalised in the same way people are for using drugs. You cant force people to live in a way thats right for them -  smoking is a dirty smelly addiction, but people who eat badly and are massively overweight are just as negligent to their health as are alcoholics, junkies and no doubt a variety of other things that people do.


----------



## liaconn (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



rmelly said:


> Presumably children includes teens up to 17? But 18 year olds wouldn't be covered? How will the garda differentiate?


 
Presumably in the same way they deal with anything else. If they have a suspicion that the law is being broken, they ask for details. How do they know if the young driver of a car is old enough to be driving or is a year below the minimum age?


----------



## Purple (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Sylvester3 said:


> The best thing to do is to educate people and turn the whole issue into a social stigma. It used to be a "bit of laugh" to drink and drive, with little penalties (both my grandfathers smashed up several vehicles whilst coming home from the pub), then it became frowned upon, and nowadays it is becoming a big taboo to break. I can imagine the same thing happening with smoking - it is pretty much unacceptable in public places now and I can't believe the screw won't turn on it more anyway.


Do you think that drink driving should be legal and the government should just concentrate on developing the social stigma side of things or do you think that they should go hand-in-hand?


----------



## Sylvester3 (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



truthseeker said:


> Banning it will create a black market in ciggies and the addicts will be criminalised in the same way people are for using drugs. You cant force people to live in a way thats right for them -  smoking is a dirty smelly addiction, but people who eat badly and are massively overweight are just as negligent to their health as are alcoholics, junkies and no doubt a variety of other things that people do.



So, is it better to criminalize a self-destructive act and push it to the margins of society or allow it to remain as a heavily regulated and taxed vice. That is the question, and it can be applied to all drugs not just nicotine and alcohol.


----------



## Purple (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



rmelly said:


> I'm a little surprised at this post, I wouldn't have thought you were a fan of the nanny state.



I don't care what consenting adults get up to in private. If they want to smoke themselves to death that's their own business, but I have a problem with them damaging the health of their children while they are at it.
By the same token if they want to drive their car off a bridge then off they go but they shouldn't do it while their kids are in it.
The same applies to their social activity; if they get their kicks by engaging in what some would consider to be perverted or depraved sexual activities then off they go but they shouldn't let their kids watch (or include them).

The common factors are consensual and adult. Then either of these are absent I have a problem with it.


----------



## truthseeker (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Sylvester3 said:


> So, is it better to criminalize a self-destructive act and push it to the margins of society or allow it to remain as a heavily regulated and taxed vice. That is the question, and it can be applied to all drugs not just nicotine and alcohol.


 
Im on for regulation and tax. I dont like the idea of my free will being removed.


----------



## rmelly (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



liaconn said:


> How do they know if the young driver of a car is old enough to be driving or is a year below the minimum age?


 
They ask to see his/her driving licence (provisional or full), a recognised form of identification that all drivers are required by law to have in their possession when driving - not something passengers are expected to have.



liaconn said:


> Presumably in the same way they deal with anything else.


 
I'm not aware of other similar situations (maybe seat belts?). A driver will need to prove that all the occupants of the car are over 18 if he is smoking? How? What about a car full of 17 year olds - would the driver be charged if caught smoking?

This is not enforcable and not worth attempting.


----------



## liaconn (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

What Purple actually asked was, should it be illegal for adults to smoke in a car in which children are present. Myself and a number of other posters think it should be. Working out the practical arrangements for implementing such a ban is a different matter and would be for the policy makers in Dept of Justice/Dept of Health to get to grips with. I simply think that it would be a good idea if such a ban could be introduced and enforced.


----------



## truthseeker (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



liaconn said:


> What Purple actually asked was, should it be illegal for adults to smoke in a car in which children are present. Myself and a number of other posters think it should be. Working out the practical arrangements for implementing such a ban is a different matter and would be for the policy makers in Dept of Justice/Dept of Health to get to grips with. I simply think that it would be a good idea if such a ban could be introduced and enforced.


 
While I agree that people should not smoke in a car with children present I dont think that criminalising the act will have as much success at stamping it out as stigmatising it would.


----------



## z104 (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



truthseeker said:


> Im on for regulation and tax. I dont like the idea of my free will being removed.


 

When you are addicted to cigarettes your free will is removed!!
you cannot give them up even if you wanted to as you are addicted for life.

As an experiment, try to give them up for 24 hours. you will be gone round the bend looking for your fix after 8 hours.


----------



## truthseeker (19 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Niallers said:


> When you are addicted to cigarettes your free will is removed!!
> you cannot give them up even if you wanted to as you are addicted for life.
> 
> As an experiment, try to give them up for 24 hours. you will be gone round the bend looking for your fix after 8 hours.


 
Rubbish - many people successfully give them up.


----------



## diarmuidc (20 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Harchibald said:


> It is estimated that the average car spews out 10,000 times the noxious fumes of the average smoker.


Route the exhaust pipe back into the car with yourself and your kids and see what the garda do to you (if they catch you in time).


----------



## z104 (20 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



truthseeker said:


> Rubbish - many people successfully give them up.


 

Bet you couldn't give them up even if you wanted to. You might like to think you can but you can't.

I know alot of smokers and the only people who gave them up successfully were the ones who had a health scare.  

Damage is usually done by then.


----------



## Caveat (20 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

Niallers, have you had a look at the Allen Carr thread?


----------



## ney001 (20 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



Niallers said:


> When you are addicted to cigarettes your free will is removed!!
> you cannot give them up even if you wanted to as you are addicted for life.
> 
> As an experiment, try to give them up for 24 hours. you will be gone round the bend looking for your fix after 8 hours.



This is a cop-out, the human body is capable of many things and giving up addiction is just one of them.


----------



## Purple (20 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*



ney001 said:


> This is a cop-out, the human body is capable of many things and giving up addiction is just one of them.



If people don't want to give up that's their own business. The problem is when they smoke in an enclosed small space with children present.


----------



## truthseeker (20 May 2008)

*Re: Smoking in the car with Children*

Niallers,
I AM a smoker (see the Allen Carr thread), as a smoker I think that people should not smoke in a car with children or expose them to secondhand smoke at home - if I wish to indulge my own addiction and there are kids in the house I go outside.

But as far as this thread goes - I dont think criminalising it is actually going to stop people from doing it and the danger in criminalising something like people smoking in a car with children is where does it stop? Will people be prosecuted for feeding their kids a Happy Meal as thats bad for their health? Will people be in trouble for not ensuring their kids get enough exercise? 

On the 'bet you cant give up smoking' comment. Im surprised you only know people who have quit because of a health scare. Im sitting in an office right now with 8 former smokers, and not one gave up over a health scare - simply gave up - ranging from 20 years ago to 2 years ago.

People you think are non smokers may well just be reformed smokers who dont advertise it.


----------



## JoeB (27 Jul 2011)

My opinion is that tobacco, and all nicotine products, should be completely banned, with immediate effect. Similar to heroin. (Alternatively all drugs should be legalised,.. I'm happy with either... either outright bans of everything, or all drugs being available legally)

Nicotine is an addictive poison, which kills when used according to directions. It is unique in that,.. no other product exists that kills when used according to instructions.

So why is nicotine given such a favoured place? Simply because of an historical accident that it wasn't banned previously? That's a silly reason to allow people to poison themselves.

I'd be surprised if anyone, anyone at all, can give a compelling reason for not banning tobacco tomorrow.
(The tax reason isn't good enough, unless people can choose to commit suicide on payment of a fee)
(The historical situation, where tobacco has traditionally being available... that's no good either. Cheese would be banned tomorrow if proved to be carciogenic.. so why not tobacco?)


These are real questions.. I cannot belive that our goverment continues to allow a poison to be sold.. I'm literally astonished whenever I think about it. I have never heard a single compelling reason for not banning it. Perhaps the effect on tourism, or prison riots, .. but are these good enough reason for allowing a killer poison to be sold, which will kill when used according to directions.

Incidenmtaly I am a smoker.. not through choice however, but through addiction. If banned tomorrow my smoking problem would be solved, as smoking is difficult to hide.


----------



## Complainer (27 Jul 2011)

JoeBallantin said:


> I'd be surprised if anyone, anyone at all, can give a compelling reason for not banning tobacco tomorrow.


Look at what happened when alcohol was banned in the Prohibition era in the US. This was the best boost possible for organised crime and the mafia, giving them a clear run at supplying the huge demand in the market.


----------



## Latrade (27 Jul 2011)

JoeBallantin said:


> My opinion is that tobacco, and all nicotine products, should be completely banned, with immediate effect. Similar to heroin. (Alternatively all drugs should be legalised,.. I'm happy with either... either outright bans of everything, or all drugs being available legally)
> 
> Nicotine is an addictive poison, which kills when used according to directions. It is unique in that,.. no other product exists that kills when used according to instructions.


 
you're mixing up tobacco and nicotine. You can take nicotine in small doses and it's fine. The illnesses and cancers are from all the other stuff in addition to the tobacco, not the nicotine.

Having said that, as a smoker, I don't smoke in the car full stop.


----------



## JoeB (27 Jul 2011)

Latrade.. you're saying that 'a safe' cigerette is possible? In other words, if someone just took the nicotine there'd be no health issues at all? 

I find that hard to believe.

Complainer. That reason is not good enough for continuing to sell a poison that kills thousands every year. Would you support legalising heroin on the grounds that drug dealers would no longer make any money from it? (If yes, then that'd be an unusual viewpoint, if no then what's your point in relation to tobacco.. dangerous products should be banned, despite the backlash)


----------



## Sunny (27 Jul 2011)

JoeBallantin said:


> Incidenmtaly I am a smoker.. not through choice however, but through addiction. If banned tomorrow my smoking problem would be solved, as smoking is difficult to hide.


 
So just because something was illegal, you would give it up tomorrow just like that. Not really an addiction then.


----------



## Maggs065 (27 Jul 2011)

JoeBallantin said:


> Latrade.. you're saying that 'a safe' cigerette is possible? In other words, if someone just took the nicotine there'd be no health issues at all?


 
Latrade is correct - the nicotine in cigarettes is not the problem - it's the chemicals (benzene etc.). Hence nicotine replacement products.


----------



## Complainer (27 Jul 2011)

JoeBallantin said:


> Complainer. That reason is not good enough for continuing to sell a poison that kills thousands every year. Would you support legalising heroin on the grounds that drug dealers would no longer make any money from it? (If yes, then that'd be an unusual viewpoint, if no then what's your point in relation to tobacco.. dangerous products should be banned, despite the backlash)



We are where we are, Joe. Cigarettes are legal today, whether we like it or not. If you make them illegal, you will create a huge underground criminal market.


----------



## JoeB (27 Jul 2011)

Yes, making cigerettes illegal will create a black market, but so what. The Garda can prosectute offenders. At least 1000's of lives would be saved.


Nicotine is a poison to humans. Nicotine replacement products are a 'scam' (my opinion). They do not help in combating an addction, according to Allen Carr. The companies who sell them have a vested interest in their continued sale. (Allen Carr may have a vested interest in saying they don't work, but does he really?)

Heroin is not prescribed for heroin addictions, so why is nicotine prescribed for a nicotine addiction?, it makes no sense.
Are these nicotine replacement products so safe that there is no overdose risk? I wouldn't have thought so.


I still think the benefits of banning a poison outweighs the negatives, such as the potential of creating a black market.


----------



## Binomial (27 Jul 2011)

I wonder what  Finian McGrath - the pro smoking TD has to say about the proposed "smoking in cars with children" ban?


----------



## Complainer (27 Jul 2011)

JoeBallantin said:


> Yes, making cigerettes illegal will create a black market, but so what. The Garda can prosectute offenders. At least 1000's of lives would be saved.


Look at how successful that approach is for the heroin market, which is a much, much smaller market. Really, you'll be handing over huge amounts of money to organised criminals, who will use that money to fund more and more organised crime.


----------



## Lex Foutish (28 Jul 2011)

Purple said:


> A number of times recently I have noticed people smoking in their car while there are children in the back. While smoking in a car is disgusting doing so when there are children should be criminal.
> Should it be against the law to smoke in a car in which children are also present?


 
Purple, you're either a FG Health Minister advisor or a visionary! (I'm picturing you now, a la Nostradamus, with your feet in a dish of water and a towel over your head!) 

Did it ever occur to you that Government ministers and their hacks trawl sites like this for good ideas.......?

Any chance that the Minister for Health and Healthy Eating could be photographed enjoying a pork salad sandwich and a pint of Beamish in The Long Valley inside in Town?


----------



## Latrade (28 Jul 2011)

JoeBallantin said:


> Latrade.. you're saying that 'a safe' cigerette is possible? In other words, if someone just took the nicotine there'd be no health issues at all?
> 
> I find that hard to believe.


 
No there isn't any such thing as a safe cigarette because the simple act of inhaling anything other than air into our lungs is not overly welcomed by the body, it especially objects to smoke. So if you're inhaling any combustion product you will get problems. 

However, the diseases related to smoking are from the by-products of tabacco combustion and not nictotine. Like all substances you can't say nicotine is 100% safe, try eating a packet of cigarettes rather than smoking and seeing how ill the nicotine poisoning makes you. However, it is not the carcinogen within the cigarette.

Unfortunately for Alan Carr, controlled replacement therapy for many addictions is effective. Unfortunately those silly scientists insist on demonstrating replacement efficacy and safety so despite Mr Carr's views, it's safe and it works. 

The government didn't make you start smoking. Nobody forced me to have my first cigarette and to continue to smoke (as it takes a while for depenency to actually kick in). 

There is no difference to you in whether they are banned or still available in giving up. Just act as if they were banned and don't buy them. It seems to me that it's an excuse for you to continue in your habit and blame others for doing so. 

I blame no one but me. I'm not happy with myself, but it's on me. I know the consequences and I volunteer to them every time I buy and smoke a packet. If I didn't look so cool, manly and attractive smoking I'd stop in a heartbeat.


----------



## SoylentGreen (28 Jul 2011)

When my grandaughter stays with us she has a smoke free environment. When my grandaughter visits her other grandparents it is the complete opposite. Her mother also smokes, her dad doesn't. When she visits us after being with them her clothes and hair stink of stale cigarette smoke. I am sure she is breathing in secondary smoke also. It annoys me to hell. Anything to ban this dirty habit around children is O.K. with me.


----------



## Guest105 (28 Jul 2011)

Niallers said:


> Bet you couldn't give them up even if you wanted to. You might like to think you can but you can't.
> 
> I know alot of smokers and the only people who gave them up successfully were the ones who had a health scare.
> 
> Damage is usually done by then.


 
You are not correct, I smoked for many years and tried a few times to give them up without success. I was totally addicted to them and would walk miles at night to the shops to buy a pack so I would have my fix for the next morning. 

However, one night about ten years ago, I couldn't get to the shops and I sat down and thought about my addiction and I said to myself I am not going to allow these cigarettes to control my life any longer and from then on I never smoked another cigarette. True for a few years afterwards the cravings came and went but I never gave in. Today, I wouldn't touch a cigarette for love nor money and my health and general well being is fantastic.

The point being you can't tell someone to stop it has to come from within themselves and then and only then will they succeed.


----------



## onq (28 Jul 2011)

cashier,

Well done.

I had a similar experience except not so drastic

( should we rename this the ex-smokers coming-out thread? )

I totally agree with the OP in relation to not only children but all non-smokers.

I believe they should be banned permanently except in designated smoking areas.

It used to be a pleasure to walk along a street past offices shops, restaurants, pubs and workplaces.

Now you can't walk down any town without passing from cloud to cloud of smoke generated by well-dressed corner-boys and girls, lounging around trying to look comfortable having their fag.

A colleague once told me he had to ask an employee to leave, because in addition to the regular breaks at 11, 1 and 4, they were talking five minutes and more every half hour to have a cigarette.

His hours sheet calculations showed him he was losing an hour a day!

The only reason we've managed to survive this recession is that I don't smoke.

An average of 20 fags a day at €8.50 is over €3,000 a year!

Control your addiction or it controls you!

ONQ.


----------



## Complainer (28 Jul 2011)

onq said:


> It used to be a pleasure to walk along a street past offices shops, restaurants, pubs and workplaces.


I got one business to stop their staff from smoking and littering on the public pavement, with a bit of lobbying and pressure. Don't stand for this kind of anti-social behaviour.


----------

