Down To The Hard Core Now....

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22567778
Numbers of smokers seem to be stubbornly fixed, are we now down to the hard core that only extreme measures would effect. What measures do you think would reduce smoking further?

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

To those among you who feel that suggestions such as prison and water cannons is even funny, or those who want more legislation, I offer this:

First they came for the smokers
and I did not speak out
because I was not a smoker.
Then they came for the motorcycle riders
and I did not speak out
because I was not a motorcycle rider.
Then they came for the fast food eaters
and I did not speak out
because I was not a fast food eater.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
By Martin Fierro

[LazyGun]

@ MoJo - Interesting adaptation of the work originally attributed to Niemoller, i think - something like that, around 1946

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

Yes LG. I thought about posting the original but I fully expected a load of "What''s that got to do with anything" replies.

[Octavius]

Are they smokey mirrors?

[whiskeryron]

The solution is quite simple. Someone already came up with a solution to get rid of council tenants in London by sending them to live in Stoke-On-Trent, so it would be easy to move all non smokers out of a selected city & then make it compulsory that ALL smokers move to that area & then we know where all the wicked ones are instead of us smart arses having to mix with 'em every time we go out. I'm sure DC can find an MP to carry this plan out.

WR.

[EDDIE51]

Already been said but the 'hard core smokers' will never give up. What we need is to stop children from starting to smoke in the first place. All the smokers I know started as teenagers at 14 to 16. We need smoking to be seen as seriously 'Uncool' something only done by 'losers'. Raising the age to buy or be in possession of tobacco to 21 would help as well.

[askyourgran]

It doesn't seem to matter what the Government do... put gruesome photos on the cig packets, suggestion of blank cig packets, cover up the tobacco shelves in supermarkets/shops more tax etc. People who want to smoke will, they will only stop when they want to. Parents who smoke in front of their children may be the ones who helped them to start smoking.
I started smoking at 15 and gave up only recently (almost 4 years), now I'm overweight and breathless because of the weight gain and the strain on my arthritic hips doesn't help my exercise plans. I would rather smoke than lose my wits with the gin bottle.

[LazyGun]

@AYG It does matter, and it demonstrably evident that what the government do affects the number of smokers.

Around 50% of the adult population were smokers as recently as in the mid -1970s in the UK. That figure has slumped to a historic low of around 20% in 2011 - A decline directly attributable to the education of the public in the proven link between the risk of developing lung cancer especially and the steadily rising duty escalator on smoking - and of course the more recently introduced ban on smoking in public enclosed spaces, like pubs and restaurants.

So although the rate of smoking cessation has slowed, the trend is still downwards. There will probably always be a small cohort of people who wish to smoke, but the government should just continue to do what they do now...

[anotheoldgit]

daisya

/// Drink? Well at least I as a drinker don't have to have one early morning or after a meal or after sex(?) seems smokers have to partake at certain times..///

There's many who have a drink before sex, and that is one of the reasons for the amount of kids they have, leading to the burden on the state's benefit system :0)

[anotheoldgit]

whiskeryron

/// The solution is quite simple. Someone already came up with a solution to get rid of council tenants in London by sending them to live in Stoke-On-Trent, so it would be easy to move all non smokers out of a selected city & then make it compulsory that ALL smokers move to that area & then we know where all the wicked ones are instead of us smart arses having to mix with 'em every time we go out. I'm sure DC can find an MP to carry this plan out. ///

At the risk of introducing Godwin's Law, I think someone else tried something similar in Warsaw.

[FredPuli43]

Be fair, aog, Stalin tried deporting and also keeping people inside their own areas.

I reckon increasing the price to astronomical heights would work. And we could do with a bigger black market! Or ban tobacco. Instead of speakeasies we could have smoke- easies.

[mikey4444]

Smoking is one of the most destructive elements in modern society. Smoking makes and keeps people poor. The very people most likely to smoke are also the ones least able to afford it. A packet of cigarettes costs at least £5.00. If someone smokes 1 pack a day, then they waste over half their Job Seekers Allowance.

Anything that can help more people to quit smoking has to be a good thing surely ?

[daisya]

I agree with you mikey about the destructiveness of it and of course the cost. I always marvel at those who seemingly cannot afford much of the good foodstuffs can always afford to smoke. How can people who are poor (?) afford to buy ciggies when they find it difficult to provide money for rent, gas, electric et al...cigarettes seem to come first because of the addiction. The only reason I loathe cigarettes is because of the horrible smell and the residue it leaves on those of us who don't smoke but who come into contact with smokers...