I’m a Doctor and I Think It’s Wrong to Ban Smoking outside Hospitals

THE TELEGRAPH: Addicts cannot simply quit as soon as they enter hospital and the activity gives them some much-needed relief

Labour’s plan to ban smoking on hospital grounds is the epitome of a top-down initiative by a nanny-state government. It’s a great example of politicians having an idea, without actually being involved in the practicalities. They don’t understand how hospitals work because they don’t work in hospitals. This solution is a poor sticking plaster to a nation-wide problem.

When it comes to hospitals, we have to be liberal about smoking out of sheer empathy for the patients – many of whom are at the end of their lives. There’s no doubt that smoking is bad for you, so I’m not suggesting that we should encourage people to do it. But for many patients it’s a lifeline – a practice that brings comfort and relief at times of deep distress.

We also cannot ignore the fact that smoking is first and foremost an addiction – you can’t just give it up when you are admitted to hospital. Walk into any hospital in the country, even in the height of winter when it’s freezing cold, and you will see patients standing outside the main entrance in pyjamas with drip stands and drugs, smoking. Some will be smoking as relief from the stress of the intense hospital environment, some will be socialising and enjoying time together and some will be relishing the feeling of a comforting habit that they’ve enjoyed all their lives. » | Karol Sikora * | Tuesday, November 5, 2024

* Prof Karol Sikora is a leading cancer specialist, who worked as a clinical director in the NHS for more than 25 years.

THE GUARDIAN:

Smoking to be banned outside schools and hospitals in England, but pubs get reprieve: Legislation also includes ban on advertising of vapes and restrictions on flavours, packaging and marketing »

Starmer’s Killjoy State

Sep 18, 2024 | Banning smoking in beer gardens. Banning ‘junk food’ advertising. Weighing people at work. The UK’s new Labour government is putting the ‘nanny state’ on steroids. Worst of all, it’s already committed to bringing in the total prohibition of cigarettes – a move that will upend our liberties and fuel the black market. Here, Tom Slater explains why this obsession with policing our lifestyles has nothing to do with public health and everything to do with pushing ordinary people around. This is about the ruling classes forcing their own miserable ways on the rest of us, while blithely ignoring the disastrous consequences of their authoritarianism.

One can but despise Starmer. This man is the closest leader this country has ever had to the man history knows as Der Führer!

Death to the Nanny State! Death to Starmer's authoritarian regime! – © Mark Alexander

“More and More Rubbish” | Keir Starmer Slammed over Nanny State Policies

Sep 13, 2024 | On Thursday, a written statement from health minister Andrew Gwynne said the Government would introduce a 9pm watershed on junk food advertising on TV and online, as well as a total ban on paid-for online ads. Head of lifestyle economics at IEA Chris Snowdon joins Talks Peter Cardwell to discuss this further.

Revealed: How Sunak Dropped Smoking Ban amid Lobbying from Tobacco Firms

THE GUARDIAN: Investigation details industry campaign including legal threats and charm offensive aimed at Tory MPs

Rishi Sunak abandoned his “legacy” policy to ban smoking for future generations amid a backlash from the tobacco industry in the form of legal threats, lobbying and a charm offensive aimed at Conservative MPs, an investigation reveals.

The UK had been on course to become the first country to ban smoking for future generations, via the tobacco and vaping bill, which Downing Street hoped would help define Sunak’s place in British political history.

An investigation by the Guardian and the Examination, a non-profit newsroom that investigates global health threats, has uncovered how the UK’s largest cigarette companies fought against the policy, which would have raised the smoking age by one year every year. » | Rob Davies and Matthew Chapman | Saturday, June 29, 2024

I should think so too! This draconian smoking ban would have been as undemocratic and illiberal as it would have been unworkable and unfair. It is not the business of government to interfere in an adult’s lifestyle choices. A government can and should inform of the dangers of smoking (or other lifestyle choice), but ultimately, it is up to the adult to decide. For heaven’s sake, stop this unrelenting war on smoking! Governments have far more important things to deal with. And in any case, people these days are up to far worse things than enjoying a few puffs on a cigarette. These days, people are into marijuana/cannabis, cocaine — London is the cocaine capital of the world — opioids, Ecstasy, and much else besides. And what about those awful, silly-looking, unhealthy vapes? New research is beginning to show that e-cigarettes are unhealthier than conventional cigarettes! By the way, just in case you think I am biased because I smoke. I am not! I am now a non-smoker and have been for more than two years. Moreover, even if I were still a smoker, this ban wouldn't affect me because of my age. However, I still think that such a ban is wrong. I will always defend the right of smokers. Why? Because I know how much pleasure I derived from smoking and because I know that if a government will be able to get away with such a ban, it won’t stop at smoking. Soon, other pleasures will be banned. Alcohol will surely be next. What comes after alcohol is anyone’s guess. In a few words: Stop interfering in people’s private lives; stop being so meddlesome! – © Mark Alexander

Guardian playing nanny yet again! Nanny simply will not stop trying to control us! »

Criminal Gangs Will Benefit!" Simon Clark HITS OUT At Rishi Sunak's New Smoking Regulations

Oct 5, 2023 | Simon Clark, director of pro-smoking group Forest, criticises Rishi Sunak's pledge to create a 'smoke-free generation.'

The Prime Minister has described his plan to increase the legal smoking age by one year annually as the “biggest public health intervention in a generation”. In his speech at the Conservative Party conference, Sunak said the legal age for buying tobacco should rise every year from 2009 to stop youngsters taking up smoking in a bid to “try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place”.

Clark says: "The only people who benefit from this are going to be the criminal gangs happy to sell cigarettes to children."


Chris Thomas is talking through his backside! Only Simon Clark spoke sense. It is an outrage that this unelected prime minister wants to take people's right to smoke away from them. If a young man is old enough to die for his country, he is old enough to smoke. End of story! – © Mark Alexander

Forest: Voice and friend of the smoker.

Smoking David Hockney Is a Truer Conservative than Killjoy Rishi Sunak

THE TELEGRAPH: Compulsory clean living isn’t what people vote Tory for. The party needs to rediscover the spirit of Churchill

If smoking has a bullish face, it is painter Sir David Hockney’s. From his farmstead in Normandy, the great man has surfaced to denounce Rishi Sunak’s proposal to ban the sale of cigarettes gradually. This, he says, “is just madness to me. I have smoked for 70 years. I started when I was 16 and I’m now 86 and I’m reasonably fine, thank you. I just love tobacco and I will go on smoking until I fall over.”

Here, I say, is the authentic Conservative spirit. This is a man who has taken on board the health warnings and decided to ignore them all. He has calculated the risks, set them against the benefits and decided that he’s going to carry on with smoking because he likes it and it helps him paint.

As he says defiantly, “Many artists have smoked. Picasso smoked and died at 91, Matisse smoked and died at 84 and Monet chain-smoked and died at 86. He smoked and painted at the same time. I can’t do that. I don’t smoke while I’m painting. I light a cigarette every 15 minutes when I stop to check what I’ve done … Why can’t Mr Sunak leave the smokers alone?” » | Melanie McDonagh | Sunday, October 8, 2023

Nigel Farage : Sunak's New Smoking Ban Is Anti-freedom! | #shorts

Listen to Nigel Farage speaking common sense on the proposed smoking ban here.
I never thought I would ever agree with Nigel Farage on anything. But on this, I do. BIG TIME! He has got this absolutely right. This proposed law is bonkers. It is also illiberal and anti-Conservative.

So, these young people are going to be old enough to get married, have children and be fathers; and, if we go to war, these young people will be expected to lay down their lives for their country, but they won't be able to enjoy a cigarette. They can be killed in combat, but they can’t enjoy a fag. That is bloody mad!

This country is becoming a dictatorship; it is no longer a democracy. It is also no longer the country I was born and raised in. I am disgusted by Sunak and his stupid, autocratic, poncy ideas. And this particular idea is the stupidest of them all.

Margaret Thatcher, even though she was not a smoker, would never have introduced such half-baked legislation. And to repeat her famous words to Mr Sunak: No! No! No! As Mr Farage has said in this short clip: Mr Sunak, get out of people’s lives! – © Mark Alexander

New Zealand Implements Smoking Ban | 10 News First

Dec 9, 2021 | New Zealand will implement new legislation to phase out smoking. The ban will see anyone born since 2009 unable to purchase cigarettes.

Jacinda Ardern has got tyrannical tendencies. The silly woman should be stopped. (I speak as an ex-smoker.) Apparently, Ardern used to enjoy cannabis! That says it all. – © Mark Alexander

New Zealand smoking rates fall to lowest on record, but vaping on the rise: Overall smoking rate falls to 8% as country pursues goal of becoming smoke-free by 2025, but many may be switching to vaping instead »

I’m all for New Zealand giving tobacco a kicking – but don’t criminalise smoking: Making substances illegal has never worked, simply because it fails to address the reasons why people use them »

Austrians Fear Smoking Ban Threat to Café Culture

BBC AMERICA: After years of debate, Austria's government has announced plans to introduce a total smoking ban in cafes and restaurants by 2018.

Anti-smoking groups say that is too long to wait, but there have been protests by some restaurant owners, who say their business will suffer.

Austrians like order, or "Ordnung" as they say in German. It is hugely frowned upon for a pedestrian to cross the road on a red light. And the streets and underground network of Vienna are kept remarkably clean.

But smoky air in cafes and restaurants has been widely tolerated for years.

Cafe culture

"Smoking is a sort of culture, especially in Austria," Margit Schwed told me as she sat in Cafe Ritter in Vienna, with its gilt chandeliers and marble table tops.

"In the typical Vienna Kaffeehaus you take your coffee and your cigarette. I think people like the flair in the coffee houses."

Austria has one of the highest rates of smoking in Europe, particularly among young people: 33% of Austrians smoke regularly, according to a 2012 Eurobarometer study. Only Greeks, Bulgarians and Latvians smoke more. (+ BBC video) » | Bethany Bell, BBC News, Vienna | Sunday, May 31, 2015

Russia: Smoking Ban Met With Skepticism

THE MOSCOW TIMES: The new anti-smoking law that came into force last week and is seen by the government as a measure to fight population decline has been met more with skepticism than strict implementation.

The measures that took effect on June 1 are the first phase in a large-scale program designed to change the public's attitude to smoking by imposing strict restrictions in public places and significantly increasing prices on tobacco products.

Many of the restrictions introduced last Saturday pertain to smoking in places where it has already been prohibited, such as on public transportation and in schools, museums and hospitals.

But now, added to that list are universities, sports facilities, stairwells of apartment buildings, municipal and office buildings, playgrounds, beaches, filling stations and any area within 15 meters of a metro entrance, as well as bus stops, train stations and airports.

The law, developed by the Health Ministry and signed in February by President Vladimir Putin, was designed to put a dent in the death rate caused by smoking and help boost a dwindling population. » | Yekaterina Kravtsova | Tuesday, June 05, 2013

Tasmania Considers Cigarette Ban for Anyone Born after 2000
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Australian state of Tasmania is considering a ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after the year 2000 in an attempt to create a smoking-free generation.

A week after Australia upheld its world-first laws plain packaging laws, Tasmania's upper house unanimously passed a motion to introduce the ban from 2018.

The measure was proposed by Ivan Dean, a Tasmanian independent MP, who said the ban would be easy to enforce because the state already has restrictions on sales of cigarettes to minors. It would be the world's first such age-based ban and is also reportedly being considered in Singapore and Finland.

Mr Dean, a former police officer and mayor, said the ban would prevent young people "from buying a product that they can't already buy" but would not affect adult smokers. "This would mean that we would have a generation of people not exposed to tobacco products," he said.

"It would be easier for retailers to enforce because when they ask for ID, all they would need to see if the person was born after the year 2000 ... As the generation reaches 18 years, there will be fewer of them smoking and while some of those first turning 18 might smoke, as time goes on fewer and fewer will."

The state government, which will now consider whether to back the proposal in the lower house, indicated support for the ban.

"Saying that those people who sell cigarettes legally cannot sell cigarettes to a certain age is appropriate," said Michelle O'Byrne, the state's health minister. "We do it now. What the smoke-free generation would say is that, potentially, anyone from the year 2000 would not be able to buy cigarettes ever, because every year, it would just get that little bit older." » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Gruselbilder: EU-Kommission will Rauchern Angst machen
FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU: Politiker in Brüssel wollen die Regeln für die Vermarktung von Zigaretten deutlich verschärfen. Vorbild könnte das australische Modell sein, das auf eine besonders drastische Methode setzt.

Die EU-Kommission plant die Regeln für die Vermarktung von Zigaretten noch einmal deutlich zu verschärfen. Das sagte am Donnerstag ein Sprecher von Gesundheits- und Verbraucherkommissar John Dalli der Frankfurter Rundschau. „Wir wollen Jugendliche noch stärker davor abschrecken, mit dem Rauchen anzufangen“, erklärte er. Die neuen Vorschriften wolle die EU-Kommission Ende Oktober oder Anfang November vorstellen.

Schon jetzt sickern einige der Ideen der Brüsseler Politiker durch. Von Gesundheitskommissar Dalli ist bekannt, dass er Sympathien für das rigorose australische Modell hegt: Dazu gehören Einheitspackungen für alle Zigarettenmarken mit gruseligen Abbildungen von missgebildeten Babys oder kranken Lungen. Zudem würden die Markenlogos von den Schachteln verschwinden.

Die Tabakkonzerne sind gegen diese Vorschriften vor das höchste australische Gericht, den High Court in Canberra, gezogen. Sie beklagen unter anderem, dass sie enteignet würden, wenn sie ihre Logos nicht mehr verwenden dürften, die sie mit Milliardeninvestitionen aufgebaut hätten. Dafür wollen sie entschädigt werden, was für Australien im Falle einer Niederlage teuer würde. » | Von Daniel Baumann | Freitag, 13. Juli 2012

RT.COM: Californian city extends smoking ban to include apartments: The ability to light up a cigarette in Santa Monica is about to go up in smoke for many residents of the coastal town outside of Los Angeles. The city’s board voted this week to soon impose a ban inside the homes of local tenants. » | Friday, July 13, 2012

Smoking Ban Splits Bulgarian Public
SOUTHEAST EUROPE TIMES.COM: A new law adopted by parliament in mid-May, extending Bulgaria's smoking ban to all indoor and some outdoor public areas, took effect on June 1st against the backdrop of a lingering war of words between the measure's opponents and supporters.

The move comes seven years after smoking was first disallowed in government buildings, schools, kindergartens, airports, public transport and taxis in Bulgaria.

Smoking is now also fully prohibited in cinemas, playgrounds, school courtyards, at open air events as well as restaurants, bars and cafes -- where, over the past seven years -- such facilities had to create separate sections for smokers in order to stay in business.

Patrons who wish to light up in between meals or drinks must now go outside or risk being fined 150 to 250 euros. Fines for owners -- or managers -- range from 2,500 euros for a first offence up to 5,000 euros for a repeat violation.

Nearly half of the 7.4 million Bulgarians smoke regularly, making the country the second heaviest-smoking nation within the EU after Greece. » | Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times in Sofia | Saturday, June 16, 2012

Outdoor Smoking Ban Comes into Effect in New York But Smokers Remain Defiant

MAIL ONLINE: Tourists in New York might find that the air is that little bit fresher on their next visit to Central Park after a ban on outdoor smoking came into effect on Monday.

Smokers can no longer legally light up in the city's public parks, beaches and promenades. Pedestrian plazas are also no smoking zones, including the ones in Times Square and Herald Square.

But many smokers said they would flout the ban, despite the threat of a $50 fine.

People will be fined for lighting up in any New York parks - except the Roberto Clemente, Riverbank, Gantry Plaza, Empire-Fulton Ferry, East River, Bayswater Point, Clay Pit Ponds State Parks.

But some smokers on the streets of New York said it was worth risking the $50 penalty. Continue reading and comment » | Paul Bentley | Friday, May 27, 2011

My comment:

America is no longer 'The Land of the Free.' Wherever you go in the US today, there are restrictions. The US used to be a wonderful, fun country to go to. That's all changed now. Political correctness has taken over. Alas, this side of the Atlantic, we copy every ridiculous idea Americans come up with. We have no backbone to do our own thing, in our own way. To show a little tolerance is always a good thing. I am not a smoker. I am an ex-smoker. But when I gave up smoking a couple of years ago, I vowed that I would never allow myself to become a whinger. Bloomberg used to be a chain-smoker. But when he gave up, he became just that: a whinger!, He expected the rest of the world to give up because he did. Surely, if someone wants to enjoy a smoke, let that person do so. To worry about second-hand smoke in New York is about as sensible as worrying about snow on a skiing holiday in the Alps. In the Alps, you find snow; in a city like NY, you find pollution. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Pub Chiefs Send Smoke Signals to Government

EVENING TIMES: Pub bosses are starting a campaign to allow smoking in bars again, five years after it was banned.

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) claims that 800 pubs have gone out of business since the smoking ban was introduced in 2006 and argues Scotland has the toughest anti smoking legislation in Europe.

Scots publicans will meet today with landlords from countries where smoking in bars is still allowed.

Legislation is in place in some countries to protect staff and non-smoking customers from second-hand smoke.

Publicans will hear from bar owners from the Netherlands, Croatia and Hungary, where laws are in place that allows smoking but prevents involuntary exposure to smoke by staff and customers.

The SLTA’s Paul Waterson said they did not want to overturn the smoking ban, but wanted it changed to allow choice for drinkers and flexibility for pub owners.

He said: “We have invited operators from countries where there [are] more flexible law[s] on smoking.

“We think that after five years it is appropriate to revisit the smoking ban and see if there a solution that is sympathetic to both sides. » | Stewart Paterson | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

New York Adds Parks and Beaches to Smoking Ban
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New York City has added the city's parks and beaches to the list of places where smoking is banned.

The ban, which officials hope will prevent problems caused by second-hand smoke, adds to the city's 2003 ban on cigarettes in bars and restaurants.

The new law will not be enforced by police but by some 200 parks personnel who watch over the city's 29,000 acres of park land and beaches. Violators face a $50 fine but officials say the ban is meant to be largely self-enforcing.

"We don't think that people should be exposed to those chemicals when they go to a park to enjoy the fresh air," city Health Commissioner Thomas Farley told Reuters. » | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

New York Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment »

China Introduces Smoking Ban – But with No Penalties
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: China has banned smoking in public places in an attempt to placate the World Health Organisation, however, there are no penalties for those who flout the rules.

China has the world's most serious smoking problem, and more than a million Chinese die each year from smoking related diseases, according to the China Centre for Disease Control.

The country's 300 million smokers are now banned from smoking in public places indoors, such as hotels, restaurants and bars. However, smoking in the office is still allowed.

The ban appears to have come in response to pressure from the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO), which castigated China for failing to comply with a global anti-tobacco treaty. The WHO has said China's decision to finally implement a ban is a "groundbreaking" move. » | Malcolm Moore, in Shanghai | Sunday, May 01, 2011

China to Ban Smoking at Indoor Public Places
REUTERS: China will ban smoking at all indoor public venues from May in an effort to shield the world's most populous nation, and its largest cigarette producer, from the harmful effects of the habit, the health ministry said.

China, which has more than 300 million smokers, will require businesses to display prominent no-smoking signs, forbid vending machines from selling cigarettes and ensure that designated outdoor smoking zones not affect pedestrian traffic, according to a ministry statement reported in Chinese media on Thursday.

Businesses should educate customers about the health hazards of smoking and workers should attempt to stop smokers from lighting up, the ministry said.

The ministry did not state specific penalties -- a sign that the new ban might not be rigorously enforced. Read on and comment » | Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Chris Lewis | BEIJING | Thursday, March 24, 2011

Hospitals Shift Smoking Bans to Smoker Ban
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Smokers now face another risk from their habit: it could cost them a shot at a job.

More hospitals and medical businesses in many states are adopting strict policies that make smoking a reason to turn away job applicants, saying they want to increase worker productivity, reduce health care costs and encourage healthier living.

The policies reflect a frustration that softer efforts — like banning smoking on company grounds, offering cessation programs and increasing health care premiums for smokers — have not been powerful-enough incentives to quit.

The new rules essentially treat cigarettes like an illegal narcotic. Applications now explicitly warn of “tobacco-free hiring,” job seekers must submit to urine tests for nicotine and new employees caught smoking face termination.

This shift — from smoke-free to smoker-free workplaces — has prompted sharp debate, even among anti-tobacco groups, over whether the policies establish a troubling precedent of employers intruding into private lives to ban a habit that is legal.

“If enough of these companies adopt theses [sic] policies and it really becomes difficult for smokers to find jobs, there are going to be consequences,” said Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, who has written about the trend. “Unemployment is also bad for health.” >>> A. G. Sulzberger | Thursday, February 10, 2011

New York Smoking Ban Extended to Parks and Times Square
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lawmakers have voted to extend New York City's smoking ban to parks, beaches – and Times Square.

The ban approved on Wednesday by a vote of 36-12 is one of the most ambitious outdoor anti-tobacco efforts in the U.S.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn says the new law will save lives and make New York a healthier place to live. >>> | Thursday, February 03, 2011

Butt Out: New York City Council Bans Smoking on Beaches, in Public Parks in 36 to 12 vote
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: A unusually divided City Council on Wednesday passed a total ban on smoking in parks, beaches and public plazas.

Council members in favor of the bill gave impassioned speeches about loved ones who died of smoking-related cancers and children who suffered from asthma.

Opponents crowed about civil liberties, but came up short in rallying enough votes to strike down the ban.

It passed 36 to 12.

The ban on smoking in parks is the latest proposal from Mayor Bloomberg to curtail New Yorkers' bad habits. >>> Erin Einhorn, Daily News City Hall Bureau | Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Smoking Ban for Beaches and Parks Is Approved
THE NEW YORK TIMES: After a bitter debate over individual liberties and the role of government, the City Council on Wednesday handily approved a bill to ban smoking in 1,700 city parks and along 14 miles of city beaches.

By a 36-to-12 vote, the Council passed the most significant expansion of antismoking laws since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg pushed to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars in 2002.

The Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, said the ban was an affirmation of the rights of nonsmokers. “Their health and their lives should not be negatively impacted because other people have decided to smoke,” Ms. Quinn said at a news conference.
Opponents of the bill spoke strongly against it; several members derided it as an overly broad law that would infringe on individual liberties.

“We’re moving towards a totalitarian society if in fact we’re going to have those kinds of restrictions on New Yorkers,” said Councilman Robert Jackson of Manhattan, who described himself as a marathon runner and nonsmoker.

Others said the ban would set a dangerous precedent. Councilman Daniel J. Halloran III of Queens said, “Once we pass this, we will next be banning smoking on sidewalks, and then in the cars of people who are driving minors and then in the homes.”

A compromise that would establish designated smoking areas outdoors was scuttled by Council leaders in favor of an all-out ban. The bill will become law 90 days after Mr. Bloomberg signs it, which he is expected to do this month. >>> Javier C. Hernandez | Wednesday, February 02, 2011

ANTI-RAUCHER-STADT – NYC: Rauchverbot in allen Parks und Fußgängerzonen
KRONE: Die härteste Anti-Raucher-Stadt der Welt bleibt ihrem Kurs treu: Das Stadtparlament von New York City hat am Mittwoch eine Ausweitung des bereits bestehenden Nichtraucherschutzgesetzes auf öffentliche Plätze beschlossen. In den 1.700 Parks und Fußgängerzonen der Stadt kostet ein Griff zum Glimmstengel 50 Dollar Strafe.

Die Mittagspause mit Kaffee und Tschick im Central Park, die Rauchpause am Times Square und der qualmende Spaziergang am Flussufer werden für die New Yorker Raucher bald der Vergangenheit angehören. Die Abgeordneten des Stadtparlaments votierten am Mittwoch mit 36 zu zwölf Stimmen für das strikte Rauchverbot, das neben Restaurants und Bars künftig auch in den 1.700 Parks der Stadt, an Uferpromenaden und in Fußgängerzonen gelten soll. >>> | Donnerstag, 03. Februar 2011

New York adopte l'interdiction de fumer dans les lieux de plein air
LE MONDE: Il sera désormais interdit de s'en griller une petite sur les pelouses de Central Park. Après les Espagnols, c'est désormais au tour des New-Yorkais de devoir se conformer à une loi antitabac particulièrement restrictive. Le conseil municipal de New York a adopté, mercredi 3 février [sic], l'interdiction de fumer dans ses parcs, sur ses plages et autres lieux de plein air.

L'interdiction, immédiatement salué par le maire de la ville, Michael Bloomberg, s'étend aux 1 700 parcs et aux quelque 22 kilomètres de plages de la ville, ainsi qu'à des quartiers piétonniers comme Times Square ou aux promenades, de Brighton Beach à Brooklyn.

Michael Bloomberg, un ancien fumeur devenu adversaire acharné de la cigarette, s'était heurté à une forte opposition en 2003, lorsqu'il avait interdit de fumer dans les bars et les restaurants. Il était, à cette date, un pionnier de la lutte contre le tabagisme passif mais, depuis, des centaines de villes à travers le pays, dont Chicago et Los Angeles, ont interdit de fumer dans les parcs et sur les plages. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Jeudi 03 Février 2011


THE GUARDIAN: Times Square becomes smoke free as New York extends ban outdoors: Smoking prohibited in parks and beaches in biggest anti-smoking push since ban from restaurants and bars in 2002 >>> Ed Pilkington in New York | Thursday, February 03, 2011

New York used to be a fun city to visit. Alas, those days have long gone. I have spent a few great short breaks in the Big Apple; but I doubt that I shall ever return. There are many other, far more tolerant cities to visit. And I speak as an ex-smoker! So the smoking ban would have absolutely no effect on me.

But there is something quite objectionable about the lengths that Michael Bloomberg is going to to stop New Yorkers having any pleasure from life. But let's face it: There is something quite objectionable about Michael Bloomberg himself, anyway. So what else can we expect from this little squirt, this little pip squeak?

At a mere 5' 6" tall, the man displays all the characteristics of a man overcompensating for his physical shortcomings, for his physical handicap. Indeed, it would seem that he suffers from the notorious Napoleon complex. The man is an utter killjoy! A despicable, obsessed killjoy at that! Further, he is clearly neurotic. Check out his profile on Wikipedia. He is so obviously a man with far more money than sense.

Meanwhile, I feel sorry for the poor New Yorkers who have to be subjected to this man's nasty, selfish little ways. He has spoilt the fun of many New Yorkers. Now it’s the parks and beaches. Next it will be the sidewalks. Then it will be smoking in anyone’s home (already a reality in many apartments in the city, I’m told), and then it will be alcohol, etc. He’s already started his battles against salt, and trans fats. Did this man lack his own nanny, or what? Couldn’t his mother afford one for him? Is this why he now wants to nanny everyone else instead?

The sad thing is that these ridiculous laws will soon be enacted this side of the Atlantic too, since our European politicians are incapeable of thinking for themselves. As a result, any crap the Americans come up with is soon copied here. It appears these days to be de rigueur in European politics to copy all things American.

When I gave up smoking, I didn’t expect the rest of the world to give up with me. Not so Michael Bloomberg. He is an ex-smoker – I believe I am right in saying an ex-chain-smoker (has Google expunged this fact for dollars?) – and when he decided to give up, he also decided that everyone else was going to have to give up with him! And as he couldn’t achieve that goal, he decided that he was going to use his money and cocky ways to make life as difficult as possible for those that refused to comply!

Although I have given up, I recognise that I derived many hours of pleasure from the habit; and I have no desire to deprive others of the joy it gave me for many years. And yes, as much as people these days don’t want to hear it, smoking can be cool, smoking can be sexy too. But it all depends on the smoker, of course.

Let all sensible, fair-minded people hope that this kind of health fascism doesn’t reach Europe to the same level of magnitude. America used to be considered the land of the free. Sadly, those days have gone. Everything in Ameerica is so restricted these days. It’s all about what you can’t do, not what you can do! Let us all hope for better, freer times. However, I doubt that we shall see them return in our lifetimes. Things have gone way too far! – © Mark

This comment also appears in The Guardian, here