Sunak wants to phase out legal smoking

[Brainaddict]

So what do we think of this proposal to make it illegal for the next generation to buy cigarettes? Or technically I think, illegal to sell to them. Changing the age allowed to buy them every year by one year, so those under a certain age are blocked from buying them forever. Prime Minister to create ‘smokefree generation’ by ending cigarette sales to those born on or after 1 January 2009

It's definitely true that if tobacco was brought to the market today the govt would ban it asap. So its availability is an anomaly. You could say the same about alcohol but it's not quite as thoroughly bad for your health as smoking, and is more culturally important. So maybe tobacco's status as a brutally damaging drug available in every corner shop should end?

If so, how does that fit into a world that might allow recreational drugs to be available in the future? Would tobacco be ranked with the more addictive drugs and be less easily available? Or in a different drug regime would it make sense for everyone to be allowed to buy tobacco again? Or do we make an exception for tobacco and say it simply causes too much harm.

Maybe I should have put this in the drug forum.

 

[cupid_stunt]

He nicked the idea from New Zealand, not a bad one IMO.

At the time of the law’s passing, New Zealand’s associate health minister, Ayesha Verrall, said: “Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5bn better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations.”

New Zealand’s law will also be accompanied by a slew of other measures to make smoking less affordable and accessible, including dramatically reducing the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products and forcing them to be sold only through specialty tobacco stores, rather than corner stores and supermarkets.

Anti-smoking advocates widely hailed the law as a win to help New Zealand reach its goal of making the country “smoke-free” by 2025.

Although it'll fuel the black market here, bit harder for that to develop in NZ.

Vaping and de-nicotinisation: what UK can learn from New Zealand’s smoking crackdown

Plan to ban next generation from buying cigarettes has received praise from health experts - but opposition from convenience store owners

www.theguardian.com

 

[platinumsage]

There's nothing stopping people growing their own tobacco. The fact it isn't a widespread practice despite retail tobacco being so expensive suggests that smokers are either wealthy or lazy.

 

[Silas Loom]

Makes lots of sense, missed opportunity not to have done it 20 years ago before children migrated to vapes en masse anyway.

 

[moochedit]

I agreed with the smoking ban but i'm not convinced this a good idea. Surely it will just increase the illegal trade?

 

[JimW]

Drag it out, as it were?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Parents used to send their kids out to buy them fags. In the future, the kids will be sending their parents out.

 

[JimW]

There's nothing stopping people growing their own tobacco. The fact it isn't a widespread practice despite retail tobacco being so expensive suggests that smokers are either wealthy or lazy.

Needs a lot more sun than we get, doesn't it? The farmers I used to work with in Sichuan grew their own and it really knocked your socks off.

 

[moochedit]

Are they going to require showing ID? Once the age gets to say 27, can you easily tell if someone is 26 or 27?

 

[DotCommunist]

The problem is we're next door to France and Americans will give up the gun before the french stop smoking.

 

[moochedit]

Did they reintroduce limits after brexit? Or can you still claim your van full is for personal use?

 

[likesfish]

I agreed with the smoking ban but i'm not convinced this a good idea. Surely it will just increase the illegal trade?

tbf it's a bit of a faff but could be done have an old allotment book goes into details about how to grow your own tobbacco had to send it off to get dried professionaly and customs needed to be informed.

 

[Brayfart]

Filthy habit. Great idea. Stopped clocks.

 

[moochedit]

Also I'm not sure telling 14 year olds "you'll never be able to buy cigarettes" is a good idea as it'll just make them want them more.

 

[moochedit]

And in 20 years time they'll be 21 year old shop assistants refusing to sell fags to 26 year olds

 

[Serge Forward]

Needs a lot more sun than we get, doesn't it? The farmers I used to work with in Sichuan grew their own and it really knocked your socks off.

Not really, you need to start off inside and you'll also need a propagator for the colder weather. When I was a heavy smoker, I considered doing this but gave up instead.

This place flogs tobacco seeds: The Tobacco Seed Company

 

[eatmorecheese]

No problem with this at all in principle, but fuck knows how this would pan out practically.

 

[danny la rouge]

Aye, daft idea. I’m anti-smoking but I’m also anti-prohibition.

Phased prohibition is daft. You’ve got someone whose birthday is two months behind the curfew every year it’s raised. Are they giving up for two months each year? No, they’re lying about their age.

And then what you do is hand over tobacco distribution to the black market in forged French fags.

Nope.

 

[souljacker]

All the kids are vaping these days anyway

 

[ska invita]

Im not keen on banning things, especially the smoking of naturally growing plants

 

[Larry O'Hara]

This is not a serious idea: just virtue-signalling. He wants to transition after being PM to be Bill Gates’ representative on earth or similar. And perhaps his Trust Funds have just anticipated this move…

 

[LeytonCatLady]

Aye, daft idea. I’m anti-smoking but I’m also anti-prohibition.

Phased prohibition is daft. You’ve got someone whose birthday is two months behind the curfew every year it’s raised. Are they giving up for two months each year? No, they’re lying about their age.

And then what you do is hand over tobacco distribution to the black market in forged French fags.

Nope.

Same. I don't smoke myself, I think it's a filthy habit, but I think banning stuff only makes it more attractive to kids. Why not just outlaw smoking altogether by a certain deadline?

 

[platinumsage]

Eventually there will only be a few supercentenarians able to buy them for "personal use" which will probably affect the smoking mortality stats somewhat.

 

[jontz01]

As a smoker, from a family of smokers, who also usually resides in nz where this is already in force, I have no problem with breaking the cycle in this way. I'm happy that my kids won't have easy access to tobacco. People will still find tobacco, the black market will still be there too. But slowly and surely, it will start to disappear from being an acceptable norm.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Smoking kills one person every 13 minutes in the UK. I knew it was a lot, but not as many as that.

I'm not one for banning things, but this is a good idea.

I wish I had never smoked.

 

[sealion]

That'll be a whole lot of revenue lost for the government so i'd expect all sorts of other stealth taxes and fines to come in from other areas. Scaring the shit out of gullible people over the environment will probably be one of the main sources of covering the losses if smoking is banned. It's bad for you so we'll have to fine you............ it kills people so we'll profit from it ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, cunts.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Did they reintroduce limits after brexit? Or can you still claim your van full is for personal use?

They reintroduced limits.

 

[Smangus]

Does this include vaping? Wonder how they are going to replace the lost tax revenue.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Does this include vaping? Wonder how they are going to replace the lost tax revenue.

No. And yeah, duty on vaping is probably going to come in.

Looking it up, revenue from fag tax is currently at a record high - 10 billion a year. With about 6 million smokers in the UK, that's nearly £2,000 per smoker!

 

[DotCommunist]

my ma has COPD so I'm not immune to how destructive a habit it is I just don't see the practicality of it, my most cynical thought on the news was 'maybe the cheap stuff will improve in quality' because theres some proper sawdust and sweepings crap out there atm.