Yet another slap in the face for smokers

Well here in Scotland a couple of days ago the Court ruled for all Tobacco to be put out of public view by next year.

I really do not understand this what so ever.

They say it is to stop youngsters smoking, but hold on a minute - youngsters couldn't buy cigarettes anyway, they would have to have a "middle man", so how the hell is that supposed to work?

Oh yes, all the lovely packets with "SMOKING KILLS" and "SMOKING HARMS YOU AND THOSE AROUND YOU" written on them will entice them, of course!

So by next year when I go to the shops for a pack of cigs I'll have to see the shop keeper slide open a metal door to get them like some sort of BANK!? Sweet Jesus.

And whilst all this is happening what is being done to prevent people from abusing alcohol?

Warnings on bottles? Nope.

Alcohol behind the counter? Nope.

What about fatty foods and sugary drinks?

Does Coca-Cola have warnings on the lovely red label stating how it causes diabetes?

Do you go into a McDonalds and get a Big Mac to find a warning on the label stating it can cause Obesity and Heart Disease?

Nope.

Way I see it people who drink their body weight in Coca-Cola or eat twenty Big Macs in a day don't get penalised, however people who smoke do!

I'm not saying there shouldn't be warnings about the dangers of smoking, and I'm DEFINITELY not saying I want warnings on Coca-Cola or Big Macs but what I'm saying is the Government sees fit to punish one "catagory" of people but not the other.

Out of the two biggest addictions in the UK, which is punished the most?

Cigarette smoking or alcoholism? Well I have a bottle of Vodka here and lets see, "DRINKING IN EXCESS CAUSES LIVER DISEASE"? Do I see that? Nope. All I see is a tiny logo about not drinking whilst pregnant and telling me to "Enjoy Responsibly".

On the other hand I have a pack of Marlboro Reds here of which about half of the front of the pack says "SMOKING HARMS YOU AND THOSE AROUND YOU" and the back has other warnings and pictures of diseased organs etc...

Fair enough if drinking alcohol was harmless - but it is not!

I know a close friend who DIED from Liver Cancer aged 47 brought on by drinking. I'm not saying warnings on the bottles of alcohol would have stopped him but it sure as hell would have given me more of a consolation in thinking "at least he was warned what would happen every time he bought a bottle of Vodka".

The Government needs to get its act together and instead of spending thousands of Pounds in Court fees getting tobacco put away behind metal doors, they should get people to visit schools and talk to children about the dangers of smoking because that is the ONLY way they will succeed. Putting cigarettes away out of view will not do a thing.

Sorry, just needed to get that off my chest.

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

I'm in full agreement with you OB, and you also don't mount the pavement in your car and kill pedestrians when you've had "one too many" fags either...

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

Quite right both of you, I've drunk too much and smoked too much but only harmed myself. Although I was a teenager in the 60s I never touched drugs, and I didn't drive.

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

Exactly!

I got pulled over last night for pulling out of a junction a little too quickly (just my luck it was a police car that had to slam on his brakes) as I was rushing to the local hospital to see my friend who had a car accident and I got breathalised by the officer.

I had had about half a glass of wine before I left (the wife and I were in a restaurant) and I did think "there goes driving for 12 months" but thank goodness I was just below the limit.

The moral of that long story is if I'd been chain smoking cigarettes I wouldn't have had any reason worry, but after drinking, very different.

P.S. My friend was alright, just cuts and bruises and no he wasn't drinking.

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

All the same old furphies.

Alcohol in recommended doses does not kill or harm the user, indeed there are apparently some health benefits. However cigarettes used as recommended kill 50% of their users and maim a large number of the rest.

The idiocy of always dragging alcohol into this argument beggers belief - and why not food? Obesity has just overtaken starvation as the biggest killer on this planet. But rattling on about what happens when people abuse alcohol or food is of no relevance - totally different issues.

Taking cigarettes off the shelves and out of sight does work. It has been the law in Australia for years. Smoking rates in this country are now below 18% (compare that to the UK's 25%+) Now cigarettes have to be sold in a mandated drab packet whether that has any effect remains to be seen. I cannot recall seeing any shopkeeper prosecuted, most (if not all) shopkeepers obey the law immediately it comes into effect.

Most anti smoking laws now are aimed at stopping young people starting the filthy, dangerous habit though the Quit campaign is on-going.



Now that IS a slap in the face.

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

What do you mean Bruce? I DID BRING FOOD INTO IT. Did you not read my post?

We're all dying from the day we're born, hell if I want to speed that process up a little bit then WHY CAN'T I?? IT IS MY BODY NOT THE GOVERNMENTS.

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

Yes, hence my inclusion of food in my comments and as another irrelevancy.

As for your last comment; far enough but the 75% of the population who don't smoke might object to your use of the NHS for self inflicted aliments when the system is already expensive and stretched.

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

My use of the NHS? Excuse me, I pay my health insurance and use private health care so if I do become ill due to my smoking, I am paying for it - in both senses of the word.

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

I totally agree with all you've said, OB. The NHS is flooded every week with alcohol related accidents, incidents and illnesses, most especially by binge drinkers over the weekends, filling up already busy A&Es, throwing up everywhere and abusing the hospital staff - not by cigarette smokers. Also, hospitals in this country are dealing more and more with alcohol abuse than smoking related illnesses.

Also, it's highly unlikely you'd get a smoker peeing in your garden on the way home, or getting their old man out in full view and peeing up the wall of the pub they've just come out of.

Drunks are also more likely to cause accidents on the roads either by driving under the influence, or swaying into the road and getting hit; whereas cigarette smokers don't get stopped whilst driving to be given a breath test and there is still NO PROOF that the smoke from a cigarette can cause harm to others, whereas the fumes from an exhaust pipe can cause very serious harm to babies in buggies which are at exhaust level and which contain more carcinogens that cigarette smoke.

Life is a lottery. I knew of an old man who started smoking at age 13 and lived to be 97 and suffered no bronchial or heart disfunctions.

A darling friend of mine smoked from age 15 and she died at 77 - from bowel cancer.

I've never suffered from shortness of breath, coughing or any other so-called tell-tale signs, which doesn't mean I'm safe, but we've all got to die of something!

Re: Yet another slap in the face for smokers

I think all smokers will have paid for their treatment by the NHS, with the extra duty they've paid on tobacco over their years of smoking. That is what the duty is for..... isn't it?