England is to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces from the summer of 2007, playing catch up with several other countries in the UK, who have already taken positive action over the past few years. This is fantastic news and mirrors the actions of many other states over the past few years, since it finally became politically correct not to endorse these little death sticks and all of their evils.
Smoking is an evil, horribly disgusting activity, which adversely affects me as a non-smoker. I don’t want to inhale smoke passively and risk acquiring lung cancer just because somebody else wants to smoke next to me. In fact, in the past I have been known to carry face masks around in public to remind those who decide to smoke that I very much don’t consider their actions to be reasonable. This being said, I’m not against people smoking (if they want to kill themselves, then that’s entirely their own decision – I’ll even support their right to free treatment on the NHS because of the tax they pay) but I am against them doing it in enclosed public spaces and in places where I am going to be eating. If people want to smoke then they should do it somewhere else – at home, outside where there’s less risk, etc. We don’t let people walk into bars waving guns in the air, so it’s a good idea to stop them from waving death sticks too.
This isn’t a civil liberties issue either because my rights as a non-smoker outweigh those of smokers in this matter. Nobody is going to convince me that this ban is anything but a good idea.
Jon.
Tobacco is legal. I should have every right to go to a bar and smoke. You should have every right to choose which bars to go into.
Liberty is about choice.
Frankly, fuck you.
Er hm. I also agree with the ban, sort of (in that I don’t disagree). This statement is curious:
“This isn’t a civil liberties issue either because my rights as a non-smoker outweigh those of smokers in this matter.”
Why do they? The only reason they do is because there are more nonsmokers than smokers. You probably would think someone who kicked up a fuss about having to breathe pollution while walking next to a motorway would be an idiot, but if you take the time to deconstruct the thinking behind both examples, it’s remarkably similar. Except that because most people drive, it’s accepted.
This should be setting off civil liberties alarm bells all over the place, not nullifying them just because the ban happens to not affect you.