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UK plans to reduce number of smokers to 10%

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UK plans to reduce number of smokers to 10%

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 672

Give it a rest i say, bring in a law to ban the PC brigade over the next 10 years !.

People are educated enough to make thier own decisions, it's their life.

The PC brigade have tried every trick in the book to reduce smoking over here... doesn't work.

Addicts doesn't care what thier junk looks like, where they get it or how much it costs. people still smoke like chimneys.

They would be better spending our hard earned taxes on smoking cessation centres.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 1/1/2005
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15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 984

I'm a transplanted American living in British society, frankly appalled at the level of nannying the government does on its people here. There are pros and cons over every law and ban, we work and pay taxes and wonder where they all go if the bins are getting left uncollected and the pavements are cracking everywhere you look. So it does make every new step difficult to swallow.

The way I see it, you can change the packaging to brown paper and force the brands to be re-named to things like 'Black Lung' and 'Coronary Bypass' but if someone wants to smoke they'll smoke.

I quit a few months before the ban came in, and would've been irate if I'd still been smoking the way it's been handled. If people make the choice to smoke, sure put them away from those who don't want to be breathing it in, great idea. But now that they're all outside, you have to actually walk in the street to avoid walking through it in front of any pub. And no way will you get through the door to the so called clean air inside without navigating through a blue cloud. To top it off, I read that a few members of parliament were flouting the ban when there were long sessions on so if the laws govern everyone, that's a motherload of hypocrisy.

I think for the most part, politicians legislate just to get their name behind popular causes, with little regard to what it actually will look like in practice. (Here, and in my home country the US.)

x T

My Milage:

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15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 382

While I believe we need to cut down the number of smokers, I do believe it is their choice.

Yes we can discourage them, and I'm for the plain wrappings, banning vending machines etc. but, when I smoked I defended my right to my freedom of choice. I did try not to inconvenience others though I must have. I do feel that Britain is becoming so much of a nanny state that it is encroaching on people's civil liberties.

Although my smoking must have had an impact on my cancer, I still defend the right of others to inflict that damage to themselves. The cost to the NHS is large, but consider also the cost from drinking, drugs and obesity. Many people who do not smoke have other life styles, which may have an effect on costs. Often I was accused of being the big bad wolf when I smoked by the very people who had one or more of the above problems.

I do hope Britain does continue reducing those numbers, but not to the detriment of freedom of choice.

Glad I know what real fredom is now!!!

Love Lolly.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 11/25/2004
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15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1080

I am afraid I am one who disagrees with this proposed legislation. I believe I live in a free country, a democracy, where one has the freedom to choose albeit right or wrong, it is my choice. As long as I am well informed about the choice I am about to make, then if I still choose to make that choice then the onus is on me.

Some may argue that reducing smoking will take some of the strain of the Health services, however, it is proven that drink is a huge problem in the UK, and very very little is being done to tackle this issue. Statistically, drink costs the UK far more in policing, in social disorder, and has put an enormous strain on the Health Service.

I also think, that as in most laws in the UK, none of them are really upheld. People will totally ignore most of them ( as they do with driving and the cell phone use), and furthermore it will drive the counterfeit, dangerous cigarette trade even further underground.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 5/10/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 632
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 15,800
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Days: 77 Hrs: 4 Mins: 13 Seconds: 48

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 579

Kaiser,

There are mixed feelings about this proposed change.

Some people think it does not go far enough and want to

1) ban smoking at the entrance to buildings as well as inside,

2) ban smoking in cars (even if you own the car)

3) ban smoking in the home if there are children

4) set much tougher import limits for people buying cheap cigarettes overseas (people regularly make trips to France or Belgium to buy cheap ciggies and then sell them on the black market).

Other people are worried about the impact on smaller convenience stores who depend on local trade....though I would have thought that if people want to buy cigarettes, they can still buy them, just in a plain wrapper.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 4/23/2003
Smoke-Free Days: 2476
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6491

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15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11226

Lizzie!

Thank you for letting us know about this! Members, what other things do you think can be done to reduce the number of smokers?

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1387

Lizze. I hope this works. What are the feelings of the people there?

Kaiser

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 7/30/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 551
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 13,775
Amount Saved: $688.75
Life Gained:
Days: 107 Hrs: 9 Mins: 55 Seconds: 16

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 579

Just announced today ...a plan to halve the number of smokers in England over the next 10 years

The number of people smoking has fallen by a quarter in the past decade to 21%, and the proposed target is 10% by 2020.

Measures being considered include removing branding from packets and banning cigarette vending machines, as will happen in Scotland next year.

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UK plans to reduce number of smokers to 10%