Smoking ban what do you think?

Typical Rishi Sunak decision - if current restriction don’t stop children smoking, how is this idea going to deter them?

We all know that a government that raises the age when one may legally buy tobacco or alcohol looses income in the form of tax on these products.

But no-one ever puts forward documentation of how much money they could save on the treatment of smoking or drinking related illnesses. It might well be more than they would lose by banning smoking or simply increasing the tax on it.

I'm all in favour of a ban on disposable vapes. They are cheap and literally throw away with all the problems that causes. As I see it, refillable vape kits are a different matter, as the kits are more expensive so not as available to youngsters. For long term smokers, they are a valuable aid to giving up, or at least reducing the effects of tobacco on their health.

But smoking is unique in the extent of the damage it does to a smoker's health. There is no safe limit with smoking.

With alcohol, yes, it is harmful to those who drink to excess, but the majority of drinkers, do not drink to excess and the occasional glass of wine, spirits or beer does no harm to anyone and, it is suggested, is good for us.

Smoking is an addiction and should be treated as such, personally I would like cigarettes banned totally but appreciate that isn't practical. Don't think Mr Sunak's proposal is workable but something must be done.

Of course he’s not going to ban smoking. The government get far too much money from the tax. Likewise with alcohol. As someone said, alcohol causes far more problems, both socially and medically, than smoking. I just can’t understand what Sunak is playing at. Does he have any advisers? If so, does he listen to them. His comments on making life easier for car drivers rather than public transport is ridiculous. I am halfway through Rory Stewart’s biography. His description of Cameron and various ministers (including Ms Truss) ignoring advice from well-qualified MPs is sobering.

I know people who vape, and none of them started it to wean themselves off cigarettes, rather they do it as a replacement for cigarettes, mostly because of the cost.
Having said that, I have never noticed a smell from their vaping if they do it in my company.
I suspect there will soon be a tax on vaping products, under the guise of a health concern!

Banning alcohol because 'some' drink excessively - what about the millions that don't? Punish them too!

Some people speed and cause accidents in their cars, shall we ban or make cars more impossibly expensive than they are now?

Vapes, yes ban them, having watched a friend die of popcorn lung, no thanks, get rid ASAP. Mainly because you are only hurting those affected and not every member of society because of the relatively limited few idiots!

I can't bear the smell of cigarettes but equally dislike the smell of those sickly vaping fluids. I don't see how this new smoking ban can work, the one intended to stop under age smokers never did.

Smoking and/or vaping has got a lot of evidence that they are not good for your body. I can see why people think that they can't give up because the addiction to smoking in particular is so difficult for a person to think that they will feel better psychologically if they continue (my friend keeps saying just one more, but can't let it go even though she has asthma and is always coughing and wheezing!) Not sure what the answer can be except maybe teaching it in schools from a young age about the damage it does to your lungs. It would have terrified me.

I wish I could finance a public health education campaign that likened young people smoking vapes to young people sucking on dummies ( because that’s part of what it is: when I stopped smoking I had a pretend cigarette so I could still go through the motion of smoking: I also loved the ritual of opening the packet, striking the match etc).I’m appalled that young people are doing this. And we all know what peer pressure is like when we’re young
Mallin: thanks for being so considerate. When my daughter as a student worked in pubs, it was the staff behind the bar that worked in a haze of cigarette smoke. And I’m horrified that I used to light up a cigarette when having a meal out with people when those around me were non smokers; I was so inconsiderate. I’ll always remember when smoking was first banned in pubs, walking into a pub and smelling ground coffee. Having said that, some of the best conversations I’ve had with people came from standing outside pubs in Ireland chatting to all the other smokers.

His proposal to eventually ban smoking is unworkable. Plus it still brings in huge amounts of revenue so I can’t see it stopping any time soon. I also don’t think the tobacco industry will be very pleased at his idea.
The rise in vaping is concerning, as a poster upthread says, “a ticking time bomb”. This, too, is a lucrative business and sadly has targeted youngsters. Its original aim, to help smokers quit, was admirable, but should have only been available via medical referral and obtained only from pharmacies, with proof of age being a requirement. The damage that long term use of theses things on the lungs, heart, etc of youngsters is unknown for certain but in my opinion is likely to be very serious indeed, given the potentially dangerous substances they contain.

It would be wonderful I can’t stand the stench but it’s never going to happen.

There was an medical expert on radio 2 a few weeks ago who said vaping was a much better outcome for former smokers than carrying on with smoking even if they never give up vaping.

Ban on smoking has closed many pubs.
I smoke and as nearing 80 don’t see the point in going through the rigmarole of becoming a non smoker. However I do not inflict my habit on others except for smoking in the open air and the privacy of my own home. I no longer smoke in my car or feel the need to leave shops/cafes etc. to smoke. But that’s probably due to my limited mobility more than trying to cut down my nicotine intake.
We all realise that banning something that brings in so much tax revenue, is not going to happen. So no alcohol or tobacco bans likely.
Yet why oh why are the silly stupid vapes allowed ? They are no help in stopping smoking and simply act as training vessels for stupid kids to become addicted to nicotine .

Didn't go far enough for me. An outright ban on any cigarettes being sold in shops in 5 years would have been good. Enough time for folk to wuthdraw from the addictive habit. If folk want to continue the habit of bringing their 200 cigs from abroad then fine but a massive import duty should be applied. Vapes, the same. In another post I mentioned I worked with a Consultant Orthodontist, (now a professor). His attitude to smokers, yes smoking damages your mouth, was tgey shoukd be given a dummy as it is the basic sensation of sucking they crave, the way to consume nicotine is by sucking. I have SIL who had a tracheostomy due to having been exposed to cigarettes at home when young. She has never smoked. And, whilst I am ranting, why is it in pubs, cafes etc those who want to smoke can sit outside in gardens, doorways enjoying the sunshine whilst non smokers are stuck indoors unless they are prepared to have their clothes stink of nicotine and breathe the secondary cigarette smoke. There should be no smoking of cigarettes, vapes in public for a start.

banning smoking is pointless, it will just create a black market, i already know people that get cheap packets that come in from abroad. i gave up 7 years ago, i still use a vape and only use tobacco it only has one setting and it's low. shops should be fined for selling disposable vapes to underage people. there is health risks to drinking alcohol but nobody want's to ban that. people should be allowed to smoke if that is what they want.

No point in doing anything about smoking, f you do not also control vaping.

Vaping is rapidly becoming the new smoking and because it is so recent we do not yet know to waht extent it may damage people's health.

One of the nastier sides of smoking was the smoke and smell, which non-smokers ended up having forced upon them. It is the same with vaping, non-vapers have the nauseous choking fumes of vaping forced upon them. What is the difference.

Grantanow

I think it will be a source of stress for shopkeepers and supermarket check out workers having to ask for ID and facing annoyance from adults just one year too young to buy cigarettes, say 34 instead of 35. There will be no appetite in the police to enforce this.

This is what the guy from Iceland said on Question Time last night. I think he pointed out that there was no back up from the police as well.

JenniferEccles

Smoking is horrible and thankfully far fewer people partake now compared with even a few years ago.
Although vaping is allegedly less harmful I would be more than happy to see that banned too.
I am sick of seeing all these grown men and women walking around sucking on these things, for all the world like giant toddlers sucking on their dummies!

Actually I would have preferred the PM to announce he was cracking down hard on drug taking.
These days it seems as if the police have given up, which is astonishing considering how much crime is instigated by drug addiction.

I don't subscribe to things being banned on the basis that they offend your eyes.

I vape - but in the privacy of my own home. I know that people can smell the vape-flavour, so I don't do it in public spaces.

Illegal drug-taking and the over-consumption of alcohol which ruin people's lives and kill is another matter. I'm sick of reading about needless deaths caused by drunk and drugged drivers, not to mention all the other crime committed by those high on illegal drugs,

Vaping adults might offend you, but our habit doesn't cause us to go on the rampage. The only aspect of vaping that needs attention (apart from the attraction to children) is on those who do it whilst driving, it's a distraction. But so is the thumping rock / rap 'music' pumping out of vehicles - as well as a car full of babbling teenagers all talking loudly to the teenage driver.

I don’t believe a smoking ban will happen a vaping ban would be much more useful, if anyone genuinely needs a vape to stop smoking get a prescription.

I think it will be a source of stress for shopkeepers and supermarket check out workers having to ask for ID and facing annoyance from adults just one year too young to buy cigarettes, say 34 instead of 35. There will be no appetite in the police to enforce this.

Another Sunak sidetrack.
Vaping is the up and coming problem, not mentioned.

I’m in agreement with the alcohol and obesity being being bigger problems.
Working life spent in healthcare and that is my sincere opinion from the frontline.

With regard to so called “popcorn lung” I suggest anyone who is interested should search online and read the Cancer Reasearch UK’s own site for their most recent information about this.
Tenko it is true that the long term effects from vaping are not known yet. And it is concerning that even those who have never smoked tobacco (so presumably we’re not addicted to it ) are choosing to vape, particularly those under the age of 18.

But…someone is either buying them for kids or selling them to them. It is already against the law for shops to sell them to someone who looks under 25 and when challenged cannot provide proof that they are over 18.
The laws are much more stringent than when I was 14.

I am in all honesty more concerned with the plastic disposable e-cigs that are being added to the already huge burden on the environment.
They could be stopped though, just as plastic drinking straws have been.
There are plenty of refillable (but more expensive) e-cigs on the market and the liquid that goes into them does not have to contain nicotine.

At the moment I don’t see legally obtained vapes as anymore harmful than eating lots of jelly babies/liquorice or Haribos - all of which I do.

I read many more reports of “trouble” where alcohol: that social drug, is the root cause.