London Set for smoking crackdown?!

semi-pro waster said:
It might be a marginal gain to remove the effects from smoking but it's still a gain. Why does it have to be a case of "you must tackle the biggest issue or not to anything at all"? I'd probably agree that it's not going to make a huge deal of difference to air pollution on anything but a very local level but then again tackling small problems can be a good way to lead up to tackling a bigger problem. If nothing else you remove the opportunity to get distracted into other areas as it will only leave the bigger issues.

I've got to say that I don't think the director of FOREST is really helping his cause by stating that there are no health risks to anyone apart from the smoker - there's been evidence for a number of years that passive smoking can lead to problems. That's not to say that you can't find studies which debate the level of the impact but to baldly state that it's not a health risk for anyone is leaving yourself open to challenge.

I'm also curious as to why people who don't like the smell should be the ones to "walk away" - smoke doesn't tend to respect boundaries and will waft from place to place. How far does Mr Clark propose people go and why does he propose to inconvenience people who aren't the ones causing the issue in that area? For what it matters if people want to smoke that is their choice but there also needs to be an awareness on all sides that their choices and demands/requests may lead to inconveniencing other people - effectively a variation on "my right to swing my fist ends at the other fellow's nose".
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the issue i have with this is that its part of a wider report to supposidly help londoners get healthier yet skirts around things, as iv said a page or two back, the report has 4 pages of anti smoking info and 1 and a half pages of info about vehicle fumes, even though the latter probably does more damage over all. also the fact that cycling only gets a single mention in a bullet point.

just seems a bit cack handed for them to go after the smokers once more because its easy rather than actually go after things that would make a real difference. but yeah a ban would be an improvement but in london with the amount of traffic fumes will you actually notice it ?
 
I'd love it outright banned. If people wanted to smoke in their own homes then that's their choice. When walking from work to the station the other day (about a 15min journey) I really don't think I had a single breathe that didn't include 2nd hand smoke. Urgh!
 
AtticusFinch said:
Hate smoking altogether.

Really cannot stand the cloud of smoke I have have to trudge trhrough at the main entrance to Liverpool Street station every monring and evening. I generalld my breath and rush - it's awful.
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Entering and exiting New Street station to be faced with a wall of smoke is horrible, I hate it.

I don't understand the whole, "Well if you want to ban smoking, why are cars and lorries OK" as technology has changed flying, driving and whatever has become a necessity to our lives. 95% of people in the UK most likely rely on some form of transport.

However smoking is a choice that has no benefit to anybody whether that's the smoker, the person walking passed or the baby in the back of the car, it's only damaging. I understand 'it's removing our freedom' but it's bad for your health and others, nobody likes it, nobody likes the smell and it's something that everybody can quit/stop, this 'stress relief' mentality for smoking is utter BS, they're so many different ways to chill out.

Cars are becoming more eco-friendly, which is a step in the right direction, so I don't get how they're compared.

PS: I really don't like smoking.
 
Maybe they should also ban farting in public. People get upset at the smell and children shouldn't be encouraged to do it by seeing adults dropping one.

It's too funny to do that, though.

On the more serious side of things, I think a full outdoor ban is going a bit too far regardless of the location (parks vs. streets etc.) There are inconsiderate people all around us every day, whether it be storming along the pavement and hitting you with their shoulder; closing doors immediately behind them when you're coming through also; dropping litter; taking up the entire pavement with buggies or blowing cigarette smoke over their shoulder into the crowds behind. Every single one of these gets my goat when I'm subjected to it but in realistic terms they aren't doing me any harm worth worrying about and this is, in fact, the real world so... *sunglasses drop*... deal with it.

It's a balancing act of managing freedoms and genuine concerns. People smoking in open outdoor areas does not warrant a concern that deserves limiting personal freedoms, in my opinion -- no matter how much you might want to drag "the children" into it. Until a new craze develops whereby smokers shove their smouldering fag ends into the gobs of passing toddlers, at least.
 
Glaucus said:
They are, how can you possibly think they aren't reducing transport emissions.
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all the diesel vans wagons and buses moving around the city centre thats why.

yes i know they are slowly (extremely slowly) changing this but its been talk about and talked about some more and every time anyone says ban hgv's from city centres everyone crys you cant. outside of heavy construction you could do and companies would have to evolve but wont as it would cost money.

take stobbarts as an example, or any other large depot to depot transporter, yes i know they dont just go depot to be depot, but for the ones that do why not make the wagons hydrogen only, would save a fortune in co2 same for buses and taxi's yet its not happening even though the tech has been around for a few years now.

i just have an issue when mp's and experts come out with something and only go for the easy stuff. rather than doing a proper job of what could be done now and what it would accomplish, not saying it would all happen but maybe it would make people think a bit more than "huuurrrr ban smoking it smells!"
 
They aren't going only for the easy stuff. Nard stuff takes time, but it is happening, it's not even that slowly. Look at everything that has changed.
It seems far more fingers in ears, I'm going to main about something else to prove my point. But don't seem to know what has and is being done I. that area.

TNT for example use 20 electric lorries in London.
All the congestion charges and emission zones.
The purposed new CO2 banning cars over a certain age, which related to EU regulation on what vehicles can produce.
Then you have hybrids and electric.
Infrastructure investment for EVs.

So there is a lot being done.
 
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A lot of buses are changing to eco-friendly Hybrids in Birmingham (They're green).
A lot of private taxi drivers use hybrid cars as well, noticed this in Derby.
My workplace has 2 charge stations for electric cars at each of our sites across the UK, which are always in use as our company cars are electric/hybrid.

It's certainly happening.
 
twist3d0n3 said:
i used to smoke, quit on jan 1st this year. i have absolutely no problem with people smoking in public places. they have as much of a right to smoke there as people who don't smoke not having to inhale it. problem is, we can't all live in little bubbles that protect us from each others' opinions. if you don't smoke and you want to cry about the smell of smoke or it damaging your health, feel free to cross the road or avoid a bar that has people smoking outside. people who smoke? try and be considerate, that's the best you can do. people moaning about he smell of smoke... jesus, do you moan about the smell of cow **** when you're in the countryside? you have every right to go elsewhere. i don't like the smell of smoke (didn't even when i was a smoker), which is obviously much more noticeable to me now, but i don't start moaning like a petulant child when one of my friends lights up when i'm with them walking down the street, or when my gf smokes in her room while i'm at her place. if it really bothers me i stand elsewhere or leave the room... it's not hard.
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this, but with paragraphs :p (sorry couldn't resist!)

I smoke, so do my two housemates, I personally don't like smoking indoors and was fine with the public indoor ban until I realised the knock on BO/stale lager effect that it had on pubs/clubs. They smoke in their rooms, I don't smoke in mine, as I choose not to.

if I'm out in a beer garden, I make a conscious effort to not smoke near children or people eating, or directly outside doorways, but aside from that, I don't see why non smoker's opinions should be ranked above those of people who do smoke.

if someone was to ask me to not smoke near them, then I would happily oblige, however I can see that people may to too afraid of confrontation (especially in london :p ) to make that request in the first place
 
I think it's a bit ridiculous to ban it on health grounds. However I do hate it when I'm walking to work and people are blowing smoke in my face. I'm asthmatic so yes a momentary dose of smoke inhalation does cause a short term bout of weezing more so than general air pollution. I get over it after about 10 mins but it is extremely annoying, mainly because I try to walk on the other side of where the person is exhaling but a lot of smokers have this irritating habit of alternating which side they exhale from.

Anyway rant over but if it does come in I can't say I'll complain.
 
its happening but should have been happening years ago sadly.

as for me sticking my fingers in my ears how is arguing a report thats supposed to help people get healthy doesnt plan out enough and seems to just go after smokers ignoring other things ?

yes banning smoking will help in certain points but as theres less and less smokers anyway why not just let them just vanish on their own rather than demanding they be banned ?

i smoke once or twice a year and in my own home as i smoke cigars. so this ban wont effect me one bit personally yet il still question some of the thinking behind it.

if the politicians are so interested in getting people fit and healthy why not insist on upping how much exercise kids get in school and mandatory healthy living classes which they have been going on about for some 5 years now and still dont seem able to do anything about.

on the tnt stuff hadnt heard about that but its a nice one to see. if only more would take the plunge.
 
TrojanWhore said:
this, but with paragraphs :p (sorry couldn't resist!)

I smoke, so do my two housemates, I personally don't like smoking indoors and was fine with the public indoor ban until I realised the knock on BO/stale lager effect that it had on pubs/clubs. They smoke in their rooms, I don't smoke in mine, as I choose not to.

if I'm out in a beer garden, I make a conscious effort to not smoke near children or people eating, or directly outside doorways, but aside from that, I don't see why non smoker's opinions should be ranked above those of people who do smoke.

if someone was to ask me to not smoke near them, then I would happily oblige, however I can see that people may to too afraid of confrontation (especially in london :p ) to make that request in the first place
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Same here, I'll consciously make an effort not to breath it in people's faces when I'm stood around non-smokers, and will avoid standing near entrances or exits to shops, train stations etc. But to have to continually check over my shoulder to make sure someone behind me isn't breathing in my second-hand smoke? Get a grip people.

twist3d0n3 said:
do fat people realise how much they smell? ban fat people!
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Don't forget the sweaty joggers or cyclists, ban exercise!
Or people who've had a particularly garlic'y lunch, ban smelly foods!
 
GAC said:
as for me sticking my fingers in my ears how is arguing a report thats supposed to help people get healthy doesnt plan out enough and seems to just go after smokers ignoring other things ?
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Government quite clearly isn't just going after smokers, hence the fingers in the ears.
 
Crpwned said:
Same here, I'll consciously make an effort not to breath it in people's faces when I'm stood around non-smokers, and will avoid standing near entrances or exits to shops, train stations etc. But to have to continually check over my shoulder to make sure someone behind me isn't breathing in my second-hand smoke? Get a grip people.
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See my post above, I'm not saying you do it but it would be great if more smokers were considerate of it.
 
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