The anti-smoking bullying continues...

[PaintingMedium]

Firstly, I am a smoker, I am a citizen, I pay taxes and I work hard, I do not commit crimes and I try to make sure that my habit does not affect others around me. Why is this Government so insistent on trying to bully me into being ashamed to smoke. This new piece of legislation which will allow the Government to put pictures of lungs with cancer etc on cigarette boxes, to me, this is just plain wrong!

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhgbkfidgbau/

I think pretty much everyone is aware of the dangers of smoking so why are they continuing to attack smokers with more and more extreme laws. Cigarettes cause a lot of damage, but is it the only thing? The damage it causes is usually to the specific person themselves, yes it is pretty nasty for non smokers, but so are other things. So what is with this trend?

Here is a list of a few other things which can cause terrible problems

1) Alcohol- The majority of violent incidents are associated with alcohol, yet we still have advertising of alcohol, how come I do not see legislation tp put pictures of young men urinating on the streets on my can? Where is the picture on your pint of some young girl being attacked by a bunch of drunk thugs?

2) Fast Food- Where is the picture of the obese lard ass with my chips holder, why are his insides not on my burger wrapper?

3) Sweets- Why is there not a picture of some toothless poor soul on every confectionary product?

The tax we pay on cigarettes is huge, that money goes towards medical research as far as I have been told, so smokers pay their way in some respects, we do not see the same for alcohol or sweets or fatty foods, why is the only thing being consistently demonised and thrown into some sort of pariah mode, cigarettes?

If I am willing to pay such huge sums of tax on cigarettes, then why can I not be spared the shock treatment, I am over 18, I am an adult, I make my choices ,stop with the selective horror show!

[Pidge]

Well, the taxes on alcohol are pretty high as well.

Anyway, the purpose of these pictures is to make smoking as offputting as possible not only to current smokers, but to potential smokers (who are the real target market). I'm not sure if the pictures thing is too over the top, to be honest. I haven't given it much thought.

[RBinge]

As an occasional smoker of cigars I was given this little bit of doggerel years ago:

The by product from your habit is second hand smoke.
It clogs my hair and my lungs even though I don't smoke
and clings to my clothes even the morning after.
I too have a habit.
I drink beer.
The by product from my habit is urine.
How would you like it if I stood on your shoulders and pissed all over you?

[kvof]

I have absolutely no sympathy ! The less smokers the better.

All the smoking ban has done : -
1. Made outdoor seating in cafes and restaurants a smoking area. Even in this brilliant weather, the smoke free area is inside. Smokers have taken this from the rest of us.
2. Smokers gathering at the front doors of office buildings.
3. More on street smoking, especially at bus stops and pedestrian crossings
4. Litter of cigarette butts on pavements

For the other things - alcohol, sweets, fast food etc., innocent bystanders are not affected in the same way as polluting emissions from smoking !

[PaintingMedium]

As an occasional smoker of cigars I was given this little bit of doggerel years ago:

The by product from your habit is second hand smoke.
It clogs my hair and my lungs even though I don't smoke
and clings to my clothes even the morning after.
I too have a habit.
I drink beer.
The by product from my habit is urine.
How would you like it if I stood on your shoulders and pissed all over you?

Using your logic, I can take any drunk and associate him with you, so if I get attacked can I blame you as you drink beer?

[NotDevsSon]

Well, the taxes on alcohol are pretty high as well.

Anyway, the purpose of these pictures is to make smoking as offputting as possible not only to current smokers, but to potential smokers (who are the real target market). I'm not sure if the pictures thing is too over the top, to be honest. I haven't given it much thought.

It will backfire. The No smoking lobby don't seem to realise that their policies are counterproductive.

1. They thought banning smoking in pubs would cut smoking. It actually has caused a rise according to new figures.

2. They banned 10 packs, thinking that only kids buy 10 packs and couldn't afford 20s. It was ridiculous. Their research was out of date. In Celtic Tiger Ireland kids could easily afford 20s. In fact the people using 10s were those reducing their smoking. (I know of one woman who smoked 60 a day. Instead of buying 3 packs she then bought 2 and a 10 pack, bringing it down to 50 a day. Then she cut the 10 pack out to reduce it to 40. Then she changed it to 1 pack of 20 and 1 pack of 10, reducing her smoking to 30. Step by step she was weaning herself off them, a process many people used. But the health idiots by banning 10 packs forced her back to buying 2 packs of 20. And as any smoker knows, if you have them in your pocket, you tend to smoke them. So the numbskulls in ASH have increased her smoking again. Doctors say that banning the 10 pack was idiotic and counter-productive.

3. In the 1980s anti-smoking lobbyists began calling cigarettes ''cancer sticks'' thinking it would discourage people. Far from it, kids all began calling them ''cancer sticks'' but it didn't stop them smoking.

4. Elsewhere where they put pictures of lungs on boxes it has failed. Like banning smoking in pubs, there would be a very short drop off, and then numbers would rocket again.

What the gob************************es in ASH and the government don't seem to realise is that people do not CHOOSE to smoke. It is an addition. And once you are an addict it doesn't matter whether you double, treble or quadruple the price, whether you require people to stand outside in the rain, or whatever, they will do it. They are addicted. Thats what addicts do.

if the Government SERIOUSLY wanted to do something useful it would remove VAT from all nicotene replacement therapies. It would allow the therapies on the medical card and on longterm illness payments. But they aren't serious. It is a gimmick to keep ASH happy. And ASH are so nutty they don't seem to understand why price increases don't work, gory pictures don't work, banning smoking in pubs won't work. A clue, ASH. One word: a.d.d.i.c.t.i.o.n. Look it up sometime. You might then know what you are talking about.

[PaintingMedium]

I have absolutely no sympathy ! The less smokers the better.

All the smoking ban has done : -
1. Made outdoor seating in cafes and restaurants a smoking area. Even in this brilliant weather, the smoke free area is inside. Smokers have taken this from the rest of us.
2. Smokers gathering at the front doors of office buildings.
3. More on street smoking, especially at bus stops and pedestrian crossings
4. Litter of cigarette butts on pavements

For the other things - alcohol, sweets, fast food etc., innocent bystanders are not affected in the same way as polluting emissions from smoking !

What about cars then? They emit pollution, or having to walk past a fast food place which stinks?
What about bystanders who are attacked or see some drunk vomiting? I think that is worse.

[RBinge]

As an occasional smoker of cigars I was given this little bit of doggerel years ago:

The by product from your habit is second hand smoke.
It clogs my hair and my lungs even though I don't smoke
and clings to my clothes even the morning after.
I too have a habit.
I drink beer.
The by product from my habit is urine.
How would you like it if I stood on your shoulders and pissed all over you?

Using your logic, I can take any drunk and associate him with you, so if I get attacked can I blame you as you drink beer?

Well, if you really want to share bodily fluids with someone it isn't my concern. Good luck to you.

[PaintingMedium]

This is not meant to be a debate on cigarettes itself but the comparable treatment to other dangerous drugs or items.

I am not looking for any sympathy for smokers at all, just wondering if people think it is okay to demonise this one thing so much whilst not doing the same for other things?

[libertarian-right]

psh smokers, its a great way to bring in revenue, higher the price, the joke is on the addicts.

1) Alcohol- Regard it in the same field as smoking really.

2) Fast Food- That doesnt affect other people

3) Sweets- That doesnt affect other people