The Countries Banning Smoking and Taking On 'Big Tobacco' | 60 Minutes Australia

Dec 26, 2019 • What a fight it's become as governments around the world line up against Big Tobacco to outlaw smoking. Liz Hayes travels to California and Norway where they believe at last they're starting to win the war with tough new laws that say no ifs, no buts, no smoking - full stop.

The world is full of meddlesome people! They are not very consistent, either. At the very same time as the world is clamping down on cigarette-smoking, it is relaxing laws on the smoking of cannabis and other substances. How sensible, or logical, is that?

Furthermore, doctors and medical people are encouraging e-cigarettes and vaping; yet we don’t know the long-term consequences of that habit. Many a young person has suffered from “popcorn lung” because of vaping; some have even died.

Smoking cigarettes is not a healthy habit. That we know. But so many other habits are not healthy either. Moreover, are Americans today that much healthier than they used to be when they smoked a lot? I would say that they aren’t. Diabetes and obesity are huge problems in the States, indeed in the West in general. Diabetes, in particular, leads to cardiovascular disease just as smoking tobacco does. I would therefore posit that by making it difficult, and often virtually impossible, to smoke tobacco, we have merely traded in one set of illnesses for another, namely tobacco-related illnesses for sugar-related ones.

If you truly want a healthier population, find a way to encourage people to quit smoking (voluntarily) without those people taking up other bad habits to compensate for their loss of pleasure from smoking. But the fact remains that people throughout the ages have always got their fun, pleasures and kicks from something or other. If you take one source of pleasure away from them, they will find something else to replace it, something else to fill the void. And that ‘thing’ might yet turn out in the long-term to be unhealthier than smoking ever was! – © Mark

New York Plans to Ban Smoking Outdoors
THE TELEGRAPH: New York City officials have announced a plan to ban smoking outdoors.

City officials said that the new legislation would outlaw smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas throughout the American city.

That means no smoking in Central Park or on the Coney Island boardwalk.

People who break the ban could be issued with quality-of-life summonses by the parks department. >>> | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

NYC Will Pursue Smoking Ban in Parks, Beaches
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Broad extension of city’s smoking ban would mean no smoking in Central Park, on Coney Island boardwalk

New York City wants to take its tough smoking ban outdoors.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other officials announced Wednesday that they will pursue a broad extension of the city's smoking ban to parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas throughout the city.

That would mean no smoking in Central Park, no lighting up on the Coney Island boardwalk and putting the cigarettes away if you're lounging on the traffic-free Broadway pedestrian plaza in Times Square.

Officials said they are basing the proposed law on claims that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can pose health risks.
“The science is clear: prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke, whether you're indoors or out, hurts your health,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “Today, we're doing something about it.” >>> Sara Kugler Frazier, New York , The Associated Press | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

How do New Yorkers put up with Bloomberg? He’s a despicable little tyrant. And I mean little. At 5’6” he’s diminutive! But that means he’s just the sort to have a Napoleonic complex.

This man is tyrannical, arrogant, and self-righteous.

Many years ago, I remember reading that he used to be a chain-smoker. He decided to give up. That was good for his health. Unfortunately, at the same time as he decided to quit, he decided that the whole world should quit smoking along with him. Ex-smokers are often like that. By the way, Google seems to have been purged of all reference to Michael Bloomberg having been a heavy smoker. I wonder why?

I am an ex-smoker; and I have successfully quit. I derived years of pleasure from smoking; but the time came to stop; and I did so. But at the same time, I promised myself that I wouldn’t become an insufferable ex-smoker. That means to say, an ex-smoker who cannot tolerate other people’s smoking faiblesse. In fact, even though I have given up smoking, I am quite happy to be in the company of smokers: it gives me great pleasure to see others enjoying themselves, and feeling relaxed. Unlike Mayor Bloomberg, I am not a killjoy.

I like to think that I take a balanced view of the evils of smoking. Of course it’s not a healthy habit. But then so many things in life aren’t healthy either. Is it healthy to have tattoos? Is it healthy to have piercings? Is it healthy to eat a lot of saturated fat, or salt, or cholesterol-rich foods? Is it healthy to walk for a long period on the sidewalks, or pavements, with vehicles belching out exhaust fumes? What is Mayor Bloomberg going to do about the pollution from the traffic in New York? Surely that is far more injurious to the health of New Yorkers than a small amount of second-hand smoke, sitting next to someone on a park bench in Central Park!

Come to think of it, what is Mayor Bloomberg doing about the infestation of bedbugs there in New York city? I can’t imagine anything more important for him to tackle than bedbugs. I certainly think he’d be better advised to tackle that problem first. The problem is acute.

I remember visiting the Big Apple when times were very different. In those days, not so long ago actually, prior to Bloomberg becoming Mayor of the city, one could enjoy oneself there. Really enjoy oneself. Even though I am a non-smoker, I really can’t imagine getting much enjoyment from a trip to that once great city now. It would be far, far too restricting and oppressive for me. I think I’ll wait for Mayor Bloomberg to be ejected from office before my next visit. Surely it can’t be that much longer before New Yorkers get the great idea of ridding their wonderful city of such a mean-spirited, domineering character. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: New York smoking ban: a lot of huff over not much puff – New York's proposed smoking ban is a bad idea, argues Jenny McCartney. >>> Jenny McCartney | Saturday, September 18, 2010

Barack Obama as a College Freshman
Photo of the cigarette-smoking Obama as a college freshman courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Cigarette clamped between thumb and finger, a louche Barack Obama leans back with playful eyes and draws smoke deep into his lungs.

When he agreed to model for an aspiring photographer’s portfolio, the prospect of this image re-emerging 28 years later as he prepared to enter the White House as president probably never crossed his mind. >>> Tom Baldwin in Washington | December 17, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>