Welcome to the nanny state.

shalis

What next? Westminster now looking at banning smoking in public places like parks etc. Welcome to the totalitarian and nanny state. I have never smoked and never will, but a ban on smoking in public parks is an absolute nonsense. I detest cigarette smoke, but I am not going to go doolally if I walk past someone smoking in the open air. How could this possibly be policed? Big job losses at JTI in Ballymena, and not a jot of difference will it make to the number of people in NI who smoke. All that will achieve is more job losses. Let's just close all the bookies, pubs, bingo halls, fast food establishments etc as people aren't capable of making their own decisions. That will definitely save a load of money................NOT. Do I see Vladimir Putin on the horizon?

duggan1

Westminster isn't looking at it. It is a proposal put to London City council by the city's health commission.

Shouldn't there be public spaces where non-smokers can enjoy the outside without having to smell smoke or look at fag-ends all over the ground? I think there is merit in it.

When I worked in Belfast all I could smell on the walk home from the city center past central station was smoke.

I don't drop litter on the ground and when I placed a half empty bottle of diet coke between my feet while sitting at a bus stop in donegall square I was approached by a 'litter officer' to remind me that it would be an offence to leave it. Meanwhile 10 feet away people are throwing cigarettes on the ground and walking away unaccosted.

If smokers in public showed more personal responsibility then I'd be inclined to leave them alone.

belfastgirl23

I would love it if they did this here. Being able to wait in a bus shelter without being choked by smoke would be great for example. Or sitting down to eat a sandwich in the park and not having to move if someone lights up beside me. And reducing where people can smoke is bound to mean that they smoke less. Wins all round as far as I'm concerned.

duggan1

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

I would love it if they did this here. Being able to wait in a bus shelter without being choked by smoke would be great for example. Or sitting down to eat a sandwich in the park and not having to move if someone lights up beside me. And reducing where people can smoke is bound to mean that they smoke less. Wins all round as far as I'm concerned.

There is a counter argument though that it will mean people smoke more in their home, and consequently any children in the house will be more exposed to it.


I say to that though that children's health is primarily the responsibility of the parent.

Old_Git

duggan1 wrote: »

There is a counter argument though that it will mean people smoke more in their home, and consequently any children in the house will be more exposed to it.


I say to that though that children's health is primarily the responsibility of the parent.

I think less people smoke in their homes .They smoke outside in the garden or yard .I have noticed this with my own neighbours.
Some landlords insist on no smoking in the house .

x12yhp

Nanny state discussions are so pointless these days. Yes, we have a Nanny state. Accept it. The general population is simply too stupid to get on with life without someone keeping an eye on them.

GlynD

x12yhp wrote: »

Nanny state discussions are so pointless these days. Yes, we have a Nanny state. Accept it. The general population is simply too stupid to get on with life without someone keeping an eye on them.

I'm inclined to agree with you. I do find the intolerance of people hard to fathom however. In the good old bad old days we had something real to complain about, now we're just a load of whingers.

oldhand

Never smoked myself but I would be more concerned about the "blue baggers" infesting many of our parks than someone smoking.....

GlynD

oldhand wrote: »

Never smoked myself but I would be more concerned about the "blue baggers" infesting many of our parks than someone smoking.....

Never heard that expression before. Are you talking about alkies?

emmett123

could standing further away from the smokers in the park be the answer?

emmett123

how does one get to the park? presumably along a pavement, beside all those cars and buses and lorries emitting exhaust fumes? but its the smoker in the park that forcing cancer down your throat? yeah