The Tories have lost the plot - Propose Cigarette ban

[Webzcas]

So in a dying bid to try and restore their ailing fortunes at the opinion polls, the Conservative Party at their conference have announced that they are going to follow New Zealand in banning cigarettes and tobacco by stealth. With Sunak proposing that the legal limit to buy tobacco which is currently 18 is raised by one year, every year. Thus meaning if passed, those aged 14 years or younger now will NEVER be legally able to purchase tobacco.

The UK is becoming a NANNY state on steroids. I am an ex smoker of nearly 10 years, I lost my own mum to cancer when she was 64, cancer that was a direct result of her smoking all her life. But banning tobacco by stealth is not the way to go about it.

I can see it now, when I am 80 kicking around an old peoples care home, a trail of 50 somethings queuing up outside, wanting to buy cigarettes off me LOL

Seriously, this is just a damn stupid idea and is ridiculous. Make it ultra expensive moreso than what it is now, make it illegal to even smoke outside in public if you are that way inclined, but to make it so a grown adult at the age of say 45 can't buy a pack, but a 46 year old can. Well that is just barking mad.

So we thought the UKGC was bad, turns out the govt wants to control our entire lives and what we do with them. From this to the online safety bill that has just passed.

What next, will they send the police round if you fart in public!?

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[dunover]

So in a dying bid to try and restore their ailing fortunes at the opinion polls, the Conservative Party at their conference hav.......

What next, will they send the police round if you fart in public!?

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Bloody Hell! I hope not!

 

[Webzcas]

You'd be snookered every which way if they brought that in as well ?

 

[justdoit]

UK GOV soon they will ban ppl from going out ?

 

[Webzcas]

They did that recently ala Lockdown!

 

[justdoit]

They did that recently ala Lockdown!

oh I remember now when boris johnson was making party ?

 

[Jono777]

Crazy, nonsense, pathetic

I'm an average smoker, 12-15 a day and apart from the odd £10'er on Dead or alive, it is the only vice / pastime / relaxant I have.

Don't go out, don't have expensive foreign hols and now even these minor habits, traits are going to inhibited.

Thankfully I'm 51 so hopefully can legally buy then with confidence until I kick the bucket.

Ridiculous.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

Crazy, nonsense, pathetic

I'm an average smoker, 12-15 a day and apart from the odd £10'er on Dead or alive, it is the only vice / pastime / relaxant I have.

Don't go out, don't have expensive foreign hols and now even these minor habits, traits are going to inhibited.

Thankfully I'm 51 so hopefully can legally buy then with confidence until I kick the bucket.

Ridiculous.

I gave up in May and feel absolutely no healthier for it. Was only smoking 10 a day anyway.

If anything I’ve been more ill since I quit (a bad cold and COVID). Definitely more easily annoyed ?

 

[justdoit]

not sure abut other part of UK, but London every connor shop has Polish cigarets, thanks god I stop smoking 4 years ago

 

[goatwack]

Tobacco eh, tsk.

Having smoked for the longest time, I can say with certainty that never having taken it up would've been no loss. So in the sense of shielding youngsters from taking it up, that's ideal.

Just that it's not an ideal world, however much one tries to forge it. And with younger people, not only do they not heed sensitive advice (none of us truly did), but will 'follow' whatever their peers dig.

And so it becomes a rebellious thing to do and suddenly a cool, sought-after pastime again. No kid walks into a shop and thinks "You know what, I really want to try smoking!". They have one of their friends blindside them with a cigarette, and the rest is history.

It's also bemusing, that they'll make a rare exception to curtail people's freedom of choice in this case, whilst sugar, alcohol et al get ignored altogether. Lest we mention the taxes generated from cigarettes in large part funding the Government and NHS. Can they really do without the revenue?

So far, so WEF. But as people muse over their choices being eroded, sat in their pods eating their bug on toast, what of the vapers?

Unfortunately, vaping will forever be guilty by association, with the decision- makers still viewing them as equally evil. I recall the regulations around a decade back, whereby all ejuices were regulated to high heaven, with designs and flavours intended to be less alluring to kids (even though it's for adults).

Fast- forward to 2023 and it's seemingly worse than ever. Colourful fruity vapes exude from every corner, and kids have made it their own, with disposable vapes littered everywhere.

Ultimately, yes, principally it's a sound idea to prohibit children's access to any smoking-related vices. Yet I'd be wary of any politician nannying us into oblivion and teaching you more about yourself, than yourself. And try as they might, you just can't re-engineer human predictability ?

 

[cncas2123]

I don’t think it’s a bad thing tbh. I started smoking at primary school and only stopped after a heart attack in 2013.
I’m not sure whether if this ban had been in place in the 70’s I wouldn’t have started smoking but smoking and the amount of cash that went up in smoke over an almost 40 year period has always made me regret having the first drag and getting hooked.
Will be interesting to see where the propose to get the revenue they will lose if and when less and less people smoke as it’s so heavily taxed that revenue is bound to be missed.

 

[Jono777]

I gave up in May and feel absolutely no healthier for it. Was only smoking 10 a day anyway.

If anything I’ve been more ill since I quit (a bad cold and COVID). Definitely more easily annoyed ?

I'd had a handful of "quit" attempts over the years.

Many short and sweet but the most successful being about 3-4 month's.

I too felt really ill during all attempts, especially the 3-4 month one and it was 100% down to withdrawal symptoms as each attempt was unaided cold turkey.

Not had a recent try in past 2-3 years due to various reason, losing one of my two jobs, car problem after car problem, basically a semi stressful life lol.

This being said not so sure I'd want to try for heath or to "fall in line with the rest" reasons right now as it does calm me and as I smoke outside, its a good fresh air and reflect 5 minutes to be "alone with my thoughts"

Only reason I would maybe try in the future would be financial.

 

[weesie]

I'm at 10 smokes a day now. Have been for quite a few years. Highest was 3 pks a day (20yrs ago?) so 10 a day is ok by me. Have always enjoyed it. Have quit 3 times over my lifetime (68) longest was a couple years. But big stress time and was back at it. I still really enjoy it. Don't drink any more. A bit of champagne on New Yrs. When they tell me I am going to die, that last day, I want a Bacardi & coke in one hand and cig in the other!

 

[Mark_Lottomart]

Living in Gibraltar where you can’t afford not to smoke (I don’t smoke, I find I can’t hold a pint glass at the same time) I’d welcome this here. Especially as a parent of a young kid.

Sadly Gib makes so much tax from Cigs it will never happen.

Vending machines and vapes are the new challenge here, unregulated and accessible. The unknown ingredients!

 

[slot_zombie]

Smoking is pretty much dead anyway, vapes saw to that.

I quit the smoke habit about 10 years ago and now blow huge pineapple-flavoured rings in the comfort of my own home while looking like a complete knob.

 

[paul7388]

The law will never pass. They may talk about the costs to NHS but never mention how much they actually make since basically majority of every pack sold goes to government in tax.

Personally I smoke . Have since 14 so about 36 years. And one way or another I will smoke till I drop.

Even if they made it law they will not gwt a smoke free society. Young people will still smoke even if its illegal. In fact making it illegal would probably lying make some start just to be rebellish.

 

[Webzcas]

Smoking is pretty much dead anyway, vapes saw to that.

I quit the smoke habit about 10 years ago and now blow huge pineapple-flavoured rings in the comfort of my own home while looking like a complete knob.

Yes, I tried everything to give up, even Champix on two occasions which is now no longer available apparently - that was awful.

It was only until I tried vaping in 2014, before the explosion in the industry in the UK, which allowed me to give up.

Giving up my 20 a day habit has given me a new lease of life, from not having a smokers cough every morning, to not smelling like an ashtray. My cardio is much better as is my overall fitness as a result.

Sure, inhaling water vapour every day can't be without health risks, but it is a damn site more healthier than cigarettes. I still vape now and would be furious and dismayed if they decided to ban vaping here in the UK like they have done in some countries.

Yes I get it that kids will try it, like they will try everything. But banning it outright is wrong. Which brings me back to the original point of this thread and Sunak's plan on having an open vote on banning tobacco by stealth.

This is a step too far IMO. Same with the govt's stance on marijuana. If they have legalised in many states in the US, then why can we not do so here? But alas, it seems the UK govt and those in power want to babysit everything we can or cannot do.

 

[TheAddict]

Do not stand between a man and his amber leaf. People have died for less. Fair warn.

 

[justdoit]

 

[goatwack]

It was a pretty sad day when they got rid of the brand advertizing, to be replaced with.....nondescript white packaging.

They already had the graphic disease imagery prior to that, for those three people who weren't aware, the fools!

Of course everyone had their favourite brands based on prestige - or lack thereof.

Lambert & Butler were great in that they had cool silver packaging and were a tad cheaper. We'll ignore that their cigs burnt faster due to the cheaper paper.

B&H were the coolest, with the gold. And let's face it, the best- tasting. When poncing one of them you felt happy, but also the seething of the the giver ?

True to form I originally opted for Camels, filterless, as though it was the '60s. Classic branding. Even when leaving your hands orange!

And of course for a real looker you'd get Dunhill, even if people laughed you out of town and called them 'Dunghill'. Expensive and ridiculed, yet great packaging and design.

In the end however, Marlboro became a mainstay, with that iconic red & white. And when it came to advertising, you're not going to get manlier men than this

 

[Jono777]

I was an Embassy No.1 man myself, strong but a bit easier on the throat I felt than Bensons, If things were a bit tight, then I was Lambert & Butler all the way.

Quite recently Embassy did a sneaky trick when the gov hiked taxes / prices and got rid of No.1, rebranding as Embassy Signature Gold.

No complaints here tho as although there initially was a "this ain't the same" vibe from me, they did drop from nearly £13 a packet for the No.1's to £9.50 so a great saving.

Slowly creeping back up though now, get them for £10.80 but am slowly but surely making one pack last the best part of 2 days.

*Touch wood* no more stressful events and I'll continue to bring it down slowly. Don't think I'll ever stop completely but if I can get down to about 8-10 a day, I'll be more than happy.

 

[Kroffe]

I guess every smoker has a favorite brand.
I gave it up because of how much it stained my teeth, and also i was scared of getting diabetes.
There were talks about banning these but not sure if that was ever implemented.


Honorable mention:

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[Jono777]

Doctor's Choice! LMAO!

 

[goatwack]

They really went to town back in the day, gotta hand it to 'em.

People must have thought they were staring 100 years into the future.

"Hold on, toots"

 

[ChopleyIOM]

I think this is a good proposal, it doesn't force anyone who already smokes to stop, but it protects future generations against the inarguable and terrible harms that smoking brings.

It's hard to mount any kind of a rational defence for smoking, 'I enjoy it' or 'It relaxes me' or 'It helps me concentrate' are the usual ones we hear, and yeah, I guess that an adult making those choices on a personal basis is fine in a free society - after all, there are all kinds of things we're allowed to do that are bad for us.

I wonder, however, if there's a degree of cognitive dissonance involved when it comes to the justifications for smoking - because I've heard them all before, and quite frankly none of them stand up to scrutiny.

I'm a lifelong non-smoker but I come from background where just about everyone smoked, including my dad who was a heavy smoker his entire life, from a young age, right up until the day, in April this year, when his smoking-induced COPD caused him to have a heart incident on the stairs in his house and fall down them.* He was hospitalized following the fall, two weeks later he was dead - having been ventilated and put into a medically induced coma that those treating him in the hospital were never able to bring him out of.

* (I covered my dad's death and subsequent funeral in a couple of videos on my channel, at the time we hadn't had the inquest so there was a degree of speculation around exactly what happened, but the inquest made the cause of death clear.)

If he hadn't been a smoker, he'd still be alive today.

I'd tried, many times over the years, to talk to him about his smoking, but he was having none of it, it was off-limits as a topic of serious conversation, all I can really remember is variations on the lines above ('It helps me concentrate' is one I remember) as an 'explanation' for an addiction to something that was slowly killing him.

I remember the late night run that my brother, me, and my sister-in-law made to the hospital, responding to a call from them to advise that dad's condition was deteriorating and they would need to ventilate him, and for that, he would need to be sedated. (They use the word sedation, but what they mean is a medically induced coma.)

What I also remember, more clearly than anything, is how scared my dad was, the fear in his eyes, the realisation that this might be it, the end of the road, and many, many years before he thought he would get there. What I also know, with absolute cast iron certainty, is that in that moment, he would have unsmoked every single cigarette of his entire life, to have got another few years, few months, few days, or even just a few minutes with his family - as every single reason he ever gave for wanting to continue smoking crumbled into nothing more substantial than the ash from a burnt cigarette.

But he did not have that choice, none of us did, because the choice had already been made, he had chosen to smoke - and it killed him.

In his house, after his death, there was a neat stack of six packs of cigarettes, ready to be smoked. They outlived him, the cause of his early death, that he paid handsomely to have visited upon him. All that was left to do was throw them in the bin.

So yes, by all means, if you're a smoker now and you wish to continue, then do so, Sunak's proposal will not infringe upon that in any way whatsoever. Yes there might be some weirdness about age verification going forward, but they will be edge cases and easily solvable with ID. What I actually suspect will happen is that smoking, already very much a minority activity, will simply fade into the past and become something that people in the UK just don't do anymore - and that will be a good thing.

The vast majority of smokers start the habit when they are fairly young, and very often try to quit (usually multiple times) in later years. Very few people make the informed decision to start smoking as an adult. I don't think that 'defending the right of the twelve year olds of today to kill themselves with smoking' is a particularly impressive hill to choose to die on.

I think perhaps people imagine that they'll go out smoking on their own terms (i.e. weesie's 'Bacardi in one hand and cig in the other'), and that it won't get them in one of the many horrible ways that, statistically, it has a very good chance of doing, and far before their time at that too.

Of course death is inevitable, 100% of people die of something in the end, but the time of our death, and the form it takes, is not inevitable. Choosing to smoke, or not smoke, is one of the levers we have available to us to pull. I think my dad would have chosen to pull the 'don't smoke' lever if he'd seriously thought, for one second, that this is where he'd end up at the age of 71.