The European Commission wants Member states to ban cigarettes, e-cigarettes and heated products tobacco from outdoor areas, according to new recommendations published on Tuesday (17 September).
As much as I like the idea of getting rid of smoking altogether, this is a huge infringement on self-determination. Sure, go ahead and declare certain public areas as non-smoking zones. I’m absolutely fine with that. Even if it means that the entire inner city is such a zone. No one should have to inhale secondhand smoke. But if you’re somewhere where you don’t bother anyone, why should that be illegal?
Even if you’re alone, where are you throwing the butt? The answer is: the ground. The ground is absolutely full of cancer sticks. And I see the city’s cleaning machines clean the entire streets at least once a day. It’s still full of the things.
Back when I smoked I’d extinguish the cigarette and wait until I found a trash can. And I know plenty of people who do the same. Unfortunately plenty of other people don’t and it sucks.
At home, in private lodgings and dedicated smoking areas.
This is one thing once more which would be a non issue if it weren’t for the people who throw their stubs everywhere and blow smoke in the faces of others.
But how are you supposed to smoke at home when smoke detectors are required by law already and cigs keep setting them off? Not everybody lives in a gaff with a balcony or in a house with a garden behind.
Plus, I don’t like smoking at home either. Just glad I got a balcony for that.
I sure as hell don’t like breathing secondhand smoke while I walk down the street. If you want to breathe petroleum that’s on you but do it where you don’t give secondhand cancer to others, thanks.
Smoke detectors don’t respond to cigarette smoke, unless you cram one smoker per m² in a room and have them all smoke half a pack, with all windows shut.
I have seen indoor parties at flats with smoke detectors, which never went off, despite heavy smoking indoors. Meanwhile something burning on the stove set off the detector, as it should.
That’s the neat part, you’re not supposed to smoke at all.
They can’t ban cigarettes outright, yet. But they can make sure it isn’t publicly visible, cool, or easy to do anymore.
Smokers are supposed to be forced into enclosed, limited rooms just for smoking, separating it from all other activities.
The goal is to break the cycle that gets young people to start smoking.
Show me the statistics of how many people got cancer from second hand smoke in outdoor areas. I’ll wait. Just make cigarettes fucking expensive, like in Australia. Make smokers pay more for health insurance. There’s so many good ways of handling the problem. Banning people from smoking outside is just fuel for all the fucking Nazis that would love to get rid of the EU. And it won’t change a fucking Thing. As if people would suddenly stop smoking outside when no one is around.
It’s not a competition. Banning one thing doesn’t require all other potentially worse things to also be banned first. Besides, in many places open drunkenness and drunk driving are already banned.
It’s not a competition, but priorities. The things that kill innocent people should be higher on the list when writing new policies. Clearly the policies in place are not enough to prevent drunk driving and people are still getting killed from it. It’s still a problem and has been a problem and we should focus on that more than we currently are.
If people are still driving drunk with it being illegal and we can’t even get that under control with current laws, how can we expect the new laws regarding vaping to be productive?
And tbh this is quite personal. I’ve lost a friend to drunk driving about every 2 years since I turned 18. My friend’s alcoholic father murdered him when I was younger. I’ve seen nothing good come from that shit and it destroys lives. I don’t see vaping as even remotely comparable to the destruction alcohol can do.
Sounds like shitty smoke detectors to me.
I used to smoke heavily for years, was always too lazy to go out on the balcony, sometimes forgot to open the windows for days and my detectors only went off once when I vaped so heavily my apartment looked like a disco dance floor (from fog machines).
I quit for several years and eventually started again, realising that quitting smokes is not for me. I’m living a fairly stressful life. I need my occasional 5 mins of peace and quiet every now and then during the day. Thank you very much.
they should get a person sized air tight box, get inside, smoke as much as they’d like. but they shouldn’t be allowed to open the box again because i don’t want that shit going outside.
The article says the focus is on kid-friendly outdoor areas like parks and near schools, which makes total sense as a place to start. Doesn’t seem like it’s everywhere outside being banned. And generally encouraging people to not take up smoking in the first place is wonderful. For people who smoke, quitting is the biggest thing they can do to improve their health.
This is a good compromise. I understand cafés wanting to be able to have their guests smoke at the tables on the street, and frankly if someone is walking the street at night by himself i couldn’t care less whether he smokes as long as the remains are put in the trash.
The article uses the phrase “key outdoor areas” so I would assume this means you can’t smoke in a crowded plaza but you can still do so on your own balcony or whatever.
Depends. I walk a good amount of meters away from anyone near bus stops or towards the designated smoking areas at train stations while I’m waiting for my public transport connections. Maybe you’re dealing with inconsiderate cunts in your area.
I have found basically all smokers are inconsiderate cunts. I had to put a no smoking sign in the window at the back door to my business because people from the bar next door are smoking near it and the smoke is drawn into my building through vents. Once the sign went up the smoking increased, I had to remove the vents. And now every day when I leave work there is a pile of butts at my back door.
Fuck smoking and inconsiderate cunt smokers. Smoke in your own house.
You don’t need to announce every time you’re blocking someone, it’s a bit obnoxious to all the readers. I’m not going to moderate the insults at the moment but this thread is on the verge of being locked or whatever… and this is not meant to you. Everyone should try keeping it a little bit more civil. Chill, this is just a bit of news, no need to start a war between smokers and non smokers.
So, where exactly are smokers supposed to smoke then when pretty much everywhere indoor smoking is already banned??
That’s the idea. They aren’t.
As much as I like the idea of getting rid of smoking altogether, this is a huge infringement on self-determination. Sure, go ahead and declare certain public areas as non-smoking zones. I’m absolutely fine with that. Even if it means that the entire inner city is such a zone. No one should have to inhale secondhand smoke. But if you’re somewhere where you don’t bother anyone, why should that be illegal?
Even if you’re alone, where are you throwing the butt? The answer is: the ground. The ground is absolutely full of cancer sticks. And I see the city’s cleaning machines clean the entire streets at least once a day. It’s still full of the things.
Back when I smoked I’d extinguish the cigarette and wait until I found a trash can. And I know plenty of people who do the same. Unfortunately plenty of other people don’t and it sucks.
One sole cigarette butt contaminates around 800 litres of water. Just insane.
At home, in private lodgings and dedicated smoking areas.
This is one thing once more which would be a non issue if it weren’t for the people who throw their stubs everywhere and blow smoke in the faces of others.
But how are you supposed to smoke at home when smoke detectors are required by law already and cigs keep setting them off? Not everybody lives in a gaff with a balcony or in a house with a garden behind.
Plus, I don’t like smoking at home either. Just glad I got a balcony for that.
why don’t you like smoking at home, pray tell?
Not really a non smokers problem to figure out your addictions short comings.
I sure as hell don’t like breathing secondhand smoke while I walk down the street. If you want to breathe petroleum that’s on you but do it where you don’t give secondhand cancer to others, thanks.
Smoke detectors don’t respond to cigarette smoke, unless you cram one smoker per m² in a room and have them all smoke half a pack, with all windows shut.
I have seen indoor parties at flats with smoke detectors, which never went off, despite heavy smoking indoors. Meanwhile something burning on the stove set off the detector, as it should.
That’s the neat part, you’re not supposed to smoke at all.
They can’t ban cigarettes outright, yet. But they can make sure it isn’t publicly visible, cool, or easy to do anymore.
Smokers are supposed to be forced into enclosed, limited rooms just for smoking, separating it from all other activities.
The goal is to break the cycle that gets young people to start smoking.
Imagine having this attitude towards every other vice…
If said vice causes lung cancer I’m perfectly hapoy with that attidude.
Show me the statistics of how many people got cancer from second hand smoke in outdoor areas. I’ll wait. Just make cigarettes fucking expensive, like in Australia. Make smokers pay more for health insurance. There’s so many good ways of handling the problem. Banning people from smoking outside is just fuel for all the fucking Nazis that would love to get rid of the EU. And it won’t change a fucking Thing. As if people would suddenly stop smoking outside when no one is around.
I’d rather be near someone vaping than a drunk person.
The vaping I can walk away from, but a drunk driver could kill me.
I find public drunkenness to be more deadly and problematic than vaping, but that just my opinion regarding public health issues.
It’s not a competition. Banning one thing doesn’t require all other potentially worse things to also be banned first. Besides, in many places open drunkenness and drunk driving are already banned.
No, but they could at least show some consistency.
At the moment it is all focussed on tobacco and almost none on alcohol except during driving.
It’s not a competition, but priorities. The things that kill innocent people should be higher on the list when writing new policies. Clearly the policies in place are not enough to prevent drunk driving and people are still getting killed from it. It’s still a problem and has been a problem and we should focus on that more than we currently are.
If people are still driving drunk with it being illegal and we can’t even get that under control with current laws, how can we expect the new laws regarding vaping to be productive?
And tbh this is quite personal. I’ve lost a friend to drunk driving about every 2 years since I turned 18. My friend’s alcoholic father murdered him when I was younger. I’ve seen nothing good come from that shit and it destroys lives. I don’t see vaping as even remotely comparable to the destruction alcohol can do.
Then most certainly can ban it altogether, and as a smoker I wish they fucking would. Force my ass to not be able to buy them anymore.
Sounds like shitty smoke detectors to me.
I used to smoke heavily for years, was always too lazy to go out on the balcony, sometimes forgot to open the windows for days and my detectors only went off once when I vaped so heavily my apartment looked like a disco dance floor (from fog machines).
just open a window, my dude.
That would let it outside. Illegal.
Your problem, not ours. Suffer over your own addictions
Maybe try to not smoke. No need to say thank you. Say it to your lungs.
I quit for several years and eventually started again, realising that quitting smokes is not for me. I’m living a fairly stressful life. I need my occasional 5 mins of peace and quiet every now and then during the day. Thank you very much.
What do you need smokes for peace and quiet for? Go look at a tree.
Says someone that doesn’t understand the first thing about smoking or nicotine addiction.
Says someone who thinks they know anything about my life.
So you are or were a smoker? How many years?
they should get a person sized air tight box, get inside, smoke as much as they’d like. but they shouldn’t be allowed to open the box again because i don’t want that shit going outside.
The article says the focus is on kid-friendly outdoor areas like parks and near schools, which makes total sense as a place to start. Doesn’t seem like it’s everywhere outside being banned. And generally encouraging people to not take up smoking in the first place is wonderful. For people who smoke, quitting is the biggest thing they can do to improve their health.
This is a good compromise. I understand cafés wanting to be able to have their guests smoke at the tables on the street, and frankly if someone is walking the street at night by himself i couldn’t care less whether he smokes as long as the remains are put in the trash.
The article uses the phrase “key outdoor areas” so I would assume this means you can’t smoke in a crowded plaza but you can still do so on your own balcony or whatever.
Nowhere; it’s bad for you and others
Lots of bad things are legal.
How about minding your own biz? :)
I would, but there are those asshats smoking near buildings forcing me to inhale their shit.
You mean cars?
we do :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking
Are smokers “minding their own biz” when I walk through a cloud of nasty carcinogens they they made?
Depends. I walk a good amount of meters away from anyone near bus stops or towards the designated smoking areas at train stations while I’m waiting for my public transport connections. Maybe you’re dealing with inconsiderate cunts in your area.
I have found basically all smokers are inconsiderate cunts. I had to put a no smoking sign in the window at the back door to my business because people from the bar next door are smoking near it and the smoke is drawn into my building through vents. Once the sign went up the smoking increased, I had to remove the vents. And now every day when I leave work there is a pile of butts at my back door.
Fuck smoking and inconsiderate cunt smokers. Smoke in your own house.
Something like that would be needed, except a fire extinguisher: https://youtu.be/TqIHlnfGKV0
Aaand blocked for being an insufferable asshat yourself. Cheers, mate! :)
I am definitely going to lose sleep over this one.
Unless you can walk away 10m+ (depending on if kids are there) you might want to reconsider smoking at all in those places
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-023-01435-9
That’s usually the amount of distance I take. I don’t like my wife or anyone else smoking near me either. Just be considerate, that’s all.
Nice to hear you take proper precautions. Second hand smoking gave me a chronic bronchitis and my cat asthma, so I’m more than aware of the risks.
Now we’re talking.
Don’t, shit is nasty
I don’t know, sounds like their problem.
Picking up smoking is a conscious decision.
Where heroin addicts supposed to shoot some smack in their veins?
While they also look unpleasant, at least I am not forced to inhale their shit.
Frankly if smokers were more considerate I wouldn’t be that bitter.
And blocked. :)
You don’t need to announce every time you’re blocking someone, it’s a bit obnoxious to all the readers. I’m not going to moderate the insults at the moment but this thread is on the verge of being locked or whatever… and this is not meant to you. Everyone should try keeping it a little bit more civil. Chill, this is just a bit of news, no need to start a war between smokers and non smokers.