My wife and I were over at a local park walking last night and they posted a sign that said effective Oct 1 that all tobacco products are not allowed including ecigs and smokeless tobacco. Most people go there to exercise and the only people you see smoking are kids skateboarding and they never bother anyone, how ridiculous… Guess the next thing they are going to say is you can’t breath the air. Anyone else have similar laws outdoors? What a joke.
How can you ban smokeless tobacco outside? What are cops going to arrest you for popping a portion in your mouth. Utter nonsense! It looks like it’s time to start erecting guillotines in town squares, when they try to take away our freedoms we take away their heads.
In my State, North Carolina, with its extremely rich tobacco history, it is illegal to use or POSSESS tobacco - be it smoke or smokeless, on any Public School property. OK you think, that would be OK - but bear in mind that in rural areas like mine, the Parks and Recreation use the schools property for weekend and afternoon activities - thereby it is a de-facto ban in parks in most areas as well. This has been in effect for around 10 years or so. I have seen Parents cited for smoking at kids ball games, but have not seen anyone ever cited for dip or snuff or chew - however, those you can at least be discrete about. In this area e-cigs currently are regarded as “not tobacco” and it is an anything goes mentality.
Spain: a 50 (or so) meters perimeter around schools and high schools, public or otherwise, must be devoid of tobacco smoke (the funny thing it’s that they’re usually surrounded by cars shooting their toxic fumes on the children faces and the government doesn’t seem to care). I’ve never seen a cop enforcing this law, though. The most stubborn and short sighted groups aimed to make a punishable offense to smoke anywhere but in your house (!!) which I think was not enacted because some more rational members of the Parliament have a reasonable fear of a band of rebelious nicoto-maniacs reducing our beautiful country to ashes. And well, Snus importing is banned in the EU (though, absurdly, makla is available almost everywhere and most tobacconist would order some cans for you if you ask them), so the smokeless products are practically non-existing and thus non-regulated, except for vaping, currently banned on schools and high-schools and I think also subjected to the 50 meters nonsense. It reminds of when they banned drinking and partying in the streets in Santiago: people kept on littering, drinking (in their houses) and making noise just the same, pubs revenue didn’t go up and no healthy effects were recorded, but they fined the asses out of many young people, which nowadays are afraid of being seen by a cop sipping a beer on the streets. It’s funny how the implementation of nanny state, moralistic politics of fear like these is not accompanied by an increase in government’s ecological, social and civic conscience, and it further demonstrates that the rhetoric they use to impose such restrictions is a mask to cover the intentions of certain lobbies and economic groups. But what can we do? If we reclaim such “privileges” for us, we would just be labeled “selfish”, “irrational” addicts who need their fix instead of what we really are: individuals wanting to do whatever they want without disturbing anyone, that know the real nuisances and health issues keep unaddressed by our dear leaders.
Don’t ask me, Im just waiting for the end of the world…
No smoking or vaping In bars no smoking on school grounds, if you do smoke be prepared to deal with peoples shit. Look mean and act the part. Then most people will stfu. Otherwise the only safe place around here to smoke is in your car in your house or Outside but faaaar away from establishments One time when i was a lot younger I fractured my hand and went to the hospital, the security kicked me out cuz I was smoking right before coming in… At the back door… With 0 people coming or going… Just me and my fractured hand which hurt like hell and I’m not one to complain. They still kicked me out… But I had a few choice words for them after that
We’ve reached the tipping point of over “civilization”. We’re on the downward slope. Anyone who knows their history can see that. I feel like Nero sometimes, laughing while Rome burned. =))
city next to mine just banned smoking in the whole city apart from in youre own house or apartment it even includes e cigs
No smoking on public beaches in Victoria, Australia. No laws about smokeless on beaches, but no need to worry, it’s illegal to sell it. In Jakarta, on the other hand, it’s as much as they can do to stop people smoking in large shopping malls and so on. Usually, they enforce a ban for a few weeks, but customers complain so loudly that they start relaxing on it a bit. In some coffee shops, they operate a form of passive-aggressive tactics: you’re not allowed to smoke, so we can’t provide you with an ash tray. On the other hand, if you do smoke, we won’t do anything to stop you, but you’re on your own if the heat walks in. Since a couple of years ago now, you can no longer smoke in public transport, on school premises, or in hospitals. Fair cop, gov.
No smoking on public beaches in Victoria, Australia. No laws about smokeless on beaches, but no need to worry, it’s illegal to sell it. In Jakarta, on the other hand, it’s as much as they can do to stop people smoking in large shopping malls and so on. Usually, they enforce a ban for a few weeks, but customers complain so loudly that they start relaxing on it a bit. In some coffee shops, they operate a form of passive-aggressive tactics: you’re not allowed to smoke, so we can’t provide you with an ash tray. On the other hand, if you do smoke, we won’t do anything to stop you, but you’re on your own if the heat walks in. Since a couple of years ago now, you can no longer smoke in public transport, on school premises, or in hospitals. Fair cop, gov.
Tobacco you smoke I can understand, that gives off smoke which does affect the health of others. If you’re smoking in a public place without the consent of everyone, you’re being a jerk. But banning smokeless tobacco in public places is completely ridiculous.
Just FYI, @Valiant at the “introduce yourself” thread pointed me towards googling the Clive Bates blog, and it provides us with some very insightful pieces of information, besides the sinister attitude of the WHO on harm reduction… Thanks! It seems that while there’s internal dialectics about whether or not condone a harm reduction approach to smoking addiction (by means of snus and vape, snuff keeps on being ignored and that’s pretty cool), the main line of the WHO is to adopt a narrow minded, obscurantist policy, aimed towards “eliminating nicotine completely”, which translates to “keep on the Nicorettes or cigarettes approach, guys, we’re on the money!”. Besides that, and talking about the treatment of tobacco in India, I’ve discovered this misinformed, ignorant pamphlet that confuses facts and mixes them with frightening and misleading claims. Some examples of its fine rhetoric include: “A chillum is shared by a group of individuals, so in addition to increasing their risk of cancer, people who share a chillum increase their chances of spreading colds, flu, and other lung illnesses. A chillum is also used for smoking narcotics like opium. " (Fine, so let us ban kissing because of the flu and hypodermics because of heroin. Why not? But I thought we were discussing tobacco, not paraphernalia and its misadventures.) " Dry snuff : This is a mixture of dried tobacco powder and some scented chemicals. It is inhaled and is common in the elderly population of India. Snuff is responsible for cancers of the nose and jaw.” (Oh, good argumentation boys, completely factual! Also, “scented chemicals” it’s, perhaps, the spookiest way to say “flavors” or “aromas”, good work! But I think I’ll keep on snuffing anyway, cos y’know, if its popular with the elders it might be BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT ******* DEAD!) Heck, I think I can do it as well as them, let’s try it out! Handsome, muscular guy : “This man (specially popular among teen girls everywhere, a population group specially subjected to its deceitful charms) wants to kiss you, married ladies, so besides breaking your household and wrecking havoc everywhere (and your heart, with the possible related depression ) it can help to spread the contagion of avian flu and other dangerous diseases. Besides, his body is usually covered with malevolent scented chemicals (like the most dangerous “Hugo Boss” and “Old Spice”, which claimed many a girl’s life on dramatic anaphylactic shocks). If you have any kind of thought of approaching a guy like this, call us, we can help you NOT to take your own decisions. Together, we can eradicate them from the world (both undesirable men like these and people taking their own decisions). Thank you.” On a serious note, this is utter madness. Do any of these “benefactors” really care about smokers’ health? I stopped smoking on a regular basis because of my health concerns, and snuff was a great aid on that. I can see vaping and chewing as a perhaps not THAT safe, specially in the case of the polemic Guthka whose carcinogenic potential is more related to betel than to tobacco, or as safe as I think snuff is, but indeed safer than smoking, cessation help for many people, so I think that the lobbies behind the continue bashing of harm reduction by both the WHO and the ACS are related to big pharma and big tobacco indeed (the fact that most of tobacco consumed in India slips out of the control of the Big Tobacco companies might play a role on the violent approach to tobacco addiction in India by… an American society). Finally, what I find utterly nonsensical, its that they ban smoking in some places to keep real anti-tobacco lobbies happy. It’s contradictory and absurd, but I think it must be quite profitable because otherwise it’s impossible to understand.