[News] Government smoking ban.

[Chicken Run]

So I shouldn't be allowed to have a couple of cans of lager watching football at home because a tiny minority of people over indulge & can't behave? I can buy 4 cans of lager for £5 which is about the same as a pint in most pubs. So yet another attack on the poor basically. Drinking should only be enjoyed by those who can afford to pay the high prices in pubs & bars I guess!

Out of interest why can’t you drink an alternative, why does it need to be Lager, genuine question?

 

[bazbha]

Out of interest why can’t you drink an alternative, why does it need to be Lager, genuine question?

Because its what I enjoy basically! I find football a more enjoyable experience (most of the time!) with a beer or 2. I work hard all week in a stressful job & I unwind with a beer at weekends. Could go up the pub & watch it but I'm getting on a bit so I prefer being at home on a winters evening / afternoon.

 

[BLOCK F]

Sorry but i just want to discourage people sat in their homes all day drinking cheap booze and the likelihood if their in a relationship abusing their partners and inevitably wasting Police resource who have to come round and deal with the mess, it’ll be tough to start with but eventually society will be much the better for less boozing.

Sweepingly drastic.
Shame about the majority of people who enjoy a peaceful and relaxing drink at home without feeling the need to beat the shit out of their other halves.
And hey, us poor old gits of a certain age who aren’t able or don’t want to go down the pub just have to suck it up do we?

 

[birthofanorange]

IMO better solutions would be:

1. Announce today that from 1st Jan 2030 (for eg) that all tobacco will be banned; or
2. Incrementally increase the tax on tobacco products over the next 5-years.

That pretty much happens in every single Budget. Still, as long as the state pension increases by the same amount, we won't be depriving the (non-wealthy) elderly of a little pleasure, if that's what they want.
As for banning alcohol for 'home use'.....the mind boggles.

 

[GT49er]

It can’t be policed unless the constabulary demand to inspect the documents of anyone under the age of 30, then 40, then 50 etc etc

Do it the sensible way then, not by needing evidence of age. Set a date, and up until that date anyone over 18 can apply to register as a smoker - they can be issued with a card (a charge for this can be made, so that the cost to the taxpayer is zero). After that date, it will be illegal to buy tobacco without the card, it will be illegal to sell tobacco to anyone without a card. Tobacco purchased is exclusively for the consumption of the purchaser - get caught buying tobacco for anyone else and your card is cancelled (and you become a non-smoker for good!)
After the set date, no new cards will be issued. Ever.

Problem solved.

 

[Chicken Run]

Because its what I enjoy basically! I find football a more enjoyable experience (most of the time!) with a beer or 2. I work hard all week in a stressful job & I unwind with a beer at weekends. Could go up the pub & watch it but I'm getting on a bit so I prefer being at home on a winters evening / afternoon.

Fair enough

 

[BLOCK F]

Do it the sensible way then, not by needing evidence of age. Set a date, and up until that date anyone over 18 can apply to register as a smoker - they can be issued with a card (a charge for this can be made, so that the cost to the taxpayer is zero). After that date, it will be illegal to buy tobacco without the card, it will be illegal to sell tobacco to anyone without a card. Tobacco purchased is exclusively for the consumption of the purchaser - get caught buying tobacco for anyone else and your card is cancelled (and you become a non-smoker for good!)
After the set date, no new cards will be issued. Ever.

Problem solved.

Think of how crowded it will get behind the mythical bicycle sheds!

 

[GT49er]

Think of how crowded it will get behind the mythical bicycle sheds!

Think how many smokers will get their cards confiscated (just the teachers, of course - the kids will all be too young to have a card!)

 

[Justice]

IMO better solutions would be:

1. Announce today that from 1st Jan 2030 (for eg) that all tobacco will be banned; or
2. Incrementally increase the tax on tobacco products over the next 5-years.

I can walk into two of my local newsagents and buy 20 Marlborough gold for £6 they come in by the lorry load from Eastern Europe you want to drive it more underground than it already is?

 

[rippleman]

IMO better solutions would be:

1. Announce today that from 1st Jan 2030 (for eg) that all tobacco will be banned; or
2. Incrementally increase the tax on tobacco products over the next 5-years.

Won't work.

There are plenty of outlets where tobacco is already available "under the counter". They have been going long before this daft policy was announced. Why? Because successive governments got greedy with tax/excise duty and the supermarkets are just greedy. It's available at well under half the price you will be charged in Tesco.

Banning tobacco will not stop people using tobacco but the government will lose out on the tax revenue whilst people will continue to use tobacco. Look at the tax yield for US States who legalised cannabis. Here's the stats for California

Cannabis Tax Revenues for the Fourth Quarter of 2022

www.cdtfa.ca.gov

I'm just sorry I won't be around to see a 70 year old lurking outside a newsagent asking passers-by if they are 71 so they can go in and get them a packet of fags!

Stupid policy. Unenforceable (even if the police would be minded to enforce it - which they won't). And it won't stop people smoking. Just like banning heroin hasn't stopped people taking heroin.

 

[bluenitsuj]

I’d ban the sale of alcohol.

I agree

 

[Chicken Run]

I agree

Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest if the Government banned it

 

[pb21]

Won't work.

There are plenty of outlets where tobacco is already available "under the counter". They have been going long before this daft policy was announced. Why? Because successive governments got greedy with tax/excise duty and the supermarkets are just greedy. It's available at well under half the price you will be charged in Tesco.

Banning tobacco will not stop people using tobacco but the government will lose out on the tax revenue whilst people will continue to use tobacco. Look at the tax yield for US States who legalised cannabis. Here's the stats for California

Cannabis Tax Revenues for the Fourth Quarter of 2022

www.cdtfa.ca.gov

I'm just sorry I won't be around to see a 70 year old lurking outside a newsagent asking passers-by if they are 71 so they can go in and get them a packet of fags!

Stupid policy. Unenforceable (even if the police would be minded to enforce it - which they won't). And it won't stop people smoking. Just like banning heroin hasn't stopped people taking heroin.

Fair point about the black market, not something I had considered.

Although, if people are willing to sell illicit goods today to someone who is 25, they are going to sell legal goods to someone who is 25, but legally needs to be 26 in x years time.

 

[CHAPPERS]

I can walk into two of my local newsagents and buy 20 Marlborough gold for £6 they come in by the lorry load from Eastern Europe you want to drive it more underground than it already is?

Wow that's awful but where EXACTLY is this newsagents?

 

[birthofanorange]

Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest if the Government banned it

Ah, the voice of an ex-drinker who has recently 'lost interest' in it.
The thing is, it should bother you, for those who would be adversely impacted. As you no longer care for it, their pleasure will have zero impact on your new-found abstinence, so how about a little empathy for those who can (and choose) to still enjoy it?

 

[Chicken Run]

Ah, the voice of an ex-drinker who has recently 'lost interest' in it.
The thing is, it should bother you, for those who would be adversely impacted. As you no longer care for it, their pleasure will have zero impact on your new-found abstinence, so how about a little empathy for those who can (and choose) to still enjoy it?

Ok you make an excellent point and i will take onboard what you’ve said but i would point out all of this discussion is purely conjecture and isn’t for real

 

[Justice]

Wow that's awful but where EXACTLY is this newsagents?

Ah, the voice of an ex-drinker who has recently 'lost interest' in it.
The thing is, it should bother you, for those who would be adversely impacted. As you no longer care for it, their pleasure will have zero impact on your new-found abstinence, so how about a little empathy for those who can (and choose) to still enjoy it?

Ex smokers are the worst, filthy habit, disgusting, waste of money. Why can’t people just do themselves and stop bothering others no need for it.

 

[A1X]

I'm not funded by the tobacco companies! (And I've never smoked).

But yes, your point is valid. I am in favour of the decriminalisation/legalisation of drugs so this ban is a step in the wrong direction for me, but as you say I wonder how many of the Tories opposing the ban also support the 'war on drugs'?

I’ll guess the Venn diagram is essentially a circle

 

[clapham_gull]

Well being but badly thought out policy.

If you ban something additive, it will just increase the black market. Paradoxically (this is why I've always been a bit nuanced about the legalisation of drugs) if you legalise and state control a drug, others will find ways to supply it cheaper.

Anything addictive is incredibly difficult to legislate for or against.

A combination of education and generational change is the key, supported by scientific research into addition.

 

[Invicta]

Of course it’s electioneering, straight out of the Daily Mail which Starmer is afraid to upset. There is already a black market for under age vaping which can only get bigger. It was ever thus and I repeat, prohibition does not work, never has, it just increases crime.

Not really a black market for under age vaping, most shops happily sell to any age including those in school uniforms.