The European Commission wants Member states to ban cigarettes, e-cigarettes and heated products tobacco from outdoor areas, according to new recommendations published on Tuesday (17 September).
I'm not sure how I feel about this, and I'm a non-smoker who hates cigarette (well, any kind of) smoke, and despite getting permanently nose-hit by CoVid, I can still smell cigarette smoke from miles away.
As much as it sounds lovely at first, this is restricting smokers way too much. If, as a European you find it ridiculous that you have to hide your alcohol bottle/flask/can with a paper bag in public in parts of the US, then this is even more restrictive. Apart from the dismissive answers to the question "Where should I smoke now", the only typical answer is "at home". Now, if these smokers live together with non-smokers then this is either forcing them to smoke under their nose or find the nearest place where it is allowed (good luck).
On the other hand, fuck yes. It is forbidden in bus/metro stops where I live, but not in the narrow, enclosed passageway leading out of the stop. Therefore, smokers get out of the train, start smoking as soon as they leave the stop (to be honest: right in the stop), and the two slow walkers right in front of me prevent me from overtaking, and the same is true behind me - so I have to inhale that shit while we walk along that long passageway.
And not like it was much different on a busy pavement, in outside seating, etc.
I'm a former smoker, I miss them like I miss my first true love. Every now and then I still go for my pack and its been 5 years. I STILL chew nicotine gum but stop being pussies and fucking ban cigarettes. Stop trying to nudge smoking into this shitty little niche, Stealing peoples liberties inch by fucking inch is a bitch move.
Either be willing to fight the fight with the addicts and big tobacco or not.
Cigarettes, sure, but including ecigs sounds unreasonable? I quit smoking couple of years ago and regular cigarette smell makes me gag but Iqos and liquid vapes are not that offensive outdoors.
Indoor smoking bans in public places made sense, but this is just dumb as fuck.
Second-hand cigarette smoke is a health hazard when frequently ingested and it was probably refreshing to not have everything smell like tobacco. But this harmed the hospitality sector and made smokers far less inclined to go out drinking. A lot of pubs shut after the 2007 smoking ban introduced by the UK and the hospitality sector hasn't really recovered since. A good 'best of both worlds' approach would have been to allow larger establishments to have a ventilated indoor smoking area and make it a soft-ban, but unfortunately big tobacco is the enemy.
And now Keir Starmer (British PM) wants to push through a similar outdoor smoking ban to what the EU are proposing, where it would become illegal to light up outside a hospital or in a pub beer garden.
This moronic plan would basically kill what is left of the hospitality industry, and if Keir Starmer's grand master plan to solve our country's housing crisis is to make more pubs shut so greedy parasitic landlords and property developers can snap them up and turn them for a profit, then he's gonna be remembered as the UK's worst prime minister. And believe me when I say that the Tory bastards who killed thousands with austerity measures, dragged us kicking & screaming out of the European Union, partied in 10 Downing Street while we were forced to lock down from COVID, and who crashed our economy with tax cuts have put up some stiff competition.
Fun fact, you used to be able to smoke on airplanes, and the air quality on flights actually decreased after smoking bans were put in place, because the regulations around air conditioning were also cut.
Lmaooo good luck, like half the population under 30 vapes now. Those wrappers all over aren't all one "vape georg" who is more nicotine than man.
If anything, if Europe wants to save it's entertainment and restaurant industries from streaming and ghost kitchens the #1 thing they could do to instantly boost interest in local spaces is to allow vaping indoors.
Huge reason no one goes to cinemas anymore is cuz you can't vape in there as freely as you can at home.