The New Smoking laws in UK

[bailey_187]

So as of next year all cigarete packs will be in plain white packets and have to be kept under the counter

its not that big of a deal, but wtf are they thinking to acheive by this (except maybe people having to queue up to see if the obscure brand they smoke is there)?

just let people smoke ffs, people like it

[bailey_187]

Upaiw6VMRYs

[black magick hustla]

this is an organized attack of the bosses against the smoking classes

[bailey_187]

this is an organized attack of the bosses against the smoking classes

i know this is sarcasm but it is sort off

the whole view from people who push this shit is that smokers (working class and lumpen usually) are too dumb to make decisions for themselves

same the demonisation of parents who give their kids fish fingers and beans for dinner

[black magick hustla]

ahahahah i am a smoker too homebrother, and in the US. one year for 2012 anyway so who gives a fuck.

[Quail]

I really don't see the point in this law. Does anybody really smoke because they think, "Ooh, that fag pack looks glamourous - better buy some?" The added inconvenience of having to ask for them and not knowing what brands the shop has in stock doesn't seem like it would put anyone off anyway.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

its fucking stupid. if anything, it will attract more rebellious youngsters to smoking, the more difficult it is to get them, if you believe in that anyway.

its bad enough we can't smoke in pubs now, most non-smokers couldn't give a fuck if people smoke in the pubs. argh

[Quail]

its bad enough we can't smoke in pubs now, most non-smokers couldn't give a fuck if people smoke in the pubs. argh
Smoking in pubs/gigs was actually pretty good at disguising the smell of sweat. :lol:

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

Smoking in pubs/gigs was actually pretty good at disguising the smell of sweat. :lol:
very good point, that's an argument i hadn't thought of tbh

[bailey_187]

its bad enough we can't smoke in pubs now, most non-smokers couldn't give a fuck if people smoke in the pubs. argh

im too young to have ever been able to smoke in a pub/club in the UK :(

although, it is nice sometimes to be able to go outside for abit in a club sometimes (when its not cold)

[bricolage]

the smoking ban has fucked up clubs for non-smokers, everyone goes outside for a fag and you've either got to wait around on your own inside or go outside with them which is nice in the summer but in the winter you look like a muppet shivering outside because you have no other mates.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

im too young to have ever been able to smoke in a pub/club in the UK :(

although, it is nice sometimes to be able to go outside for abit in a club sometimes (when its not cold)
true, but sitting down in a pub with a nice ale in the winter and being able to smoke is the bollocks if you ask me

[Quail]

although, it is nice sometimes to be able to go outside for abit in a club sometimes (when its not cold)
I spend a lot of time at clubs outside anyway because it's the only place you can talk. I'm not really a club person.


the smoking ban has fucked up clubs for non-smokers, everyone goes outside for a fag and you've either got to wait around on your own inside or go outside with them which is nice in the summer but in the winter you look like a muppet shivering outside because you have no other mates.
Maybe by doing that it kind of encourages people to smoke, because you have to go outside with your friends where if you don't have your own, you're often offered cigarettes. They obviously didn't think of that.

[bailey_187]

Maybe by doing that it kind of encourages people to smoke, because you have to go outside with your friends where if you don't have your own, you're often offered cigarettes. They obviously didn't think of that.

lol thats me.

never saw the point in smoking in the park when 13/14

[Pavlov's House Party]

it's not all that bad, we already have the same deal in canada. it's stupid because people who want to start smoking can just ask the clerk which brands they have, it's not like top secret information or anything.

[Ele'ill]

ahahahah i am a smoker too homebrother, and in the US. one year for 2012 anyway so who gives a fuck.

And after 2012 when we're still alive (because we're awesome and survivors of the zombie invasion) then we'll quit- no we'll be pretty stressed and use our cherries to light the flaming molotovs of our children's tomorrows.

[Sir Comradical]

Doesn't bother me because I don't pay money to kill myself. However, I will admit that smoking is cool, relieves stress and I would smoke if it wasn't bad for me.

[bailey_187]

Doesn't bother me because I don't pay money to kill myself. However, I will admit that smoking is cool, relieves stress and I would smoke if it wasn't bad for me.

i read that most studies show it doesnt releive stress overall, and sometimes smokers are more stressed

however u are correct about it making you cool

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

You know, the more hoops that smokers have to jump through in order to get hold of smokes, the more likely they will turn to bootleg suppliers. Because bootleggers don't charge you through the nose for the privilege of being patronised and ostracised by the very state that benefits from your habit.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

You know, the more hoops that smokers have to jump through in order to get hold of smokes, the more likely they will turn to bootleg suppliers. Because bootleggers don't charge you through the nose for the privilege of being patronised and ostracised by the very state that benefits from your habit.

And bootlegging its about to become a whole lot easier, it's far easier to make fake plain boxes than imitations of the various cigarrette brands.

And Duty on Cigarrets is massive and without smokers the government would loose a sizable amout of income.

[TC]

I really don't see the point in this law. Does anybody really smoke because they think, "Ooh, that fag pack looks glamourous - better buy some?" The added inconvenience of having to ask for them and not knowing what brands the shop has in stock doesn't seem like it would put anyone off anyway.


Actually packaging and visibility has a huge effect on consumer behavior (they don't pay graphic designers and product placement and advertising fees for nothing!), especially when it comes to addictive stuff because the compulsive impulses of addiction are often triggered by positive memories and anticipation, and these arise when you are exposed to the product and it looks familiar.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Actually packaging and visibility has a huge effect on consumer behavior (they don't pay graphic designers and product placement and advertising fees for nothing!), especially when it comes to addictive stuff because the compulsive impulses of addiction are often triggered by positive memories and anticipation, and these arise when you are exposed to the product and it looks familiar.

I'm pretty sure that nicotine addiction is primarily physiological, not psychological. Somebody who habitually smokes Marlboros will happily accept a rollup, I've found.

It's not like smokers see a fag packet design and think "I want a smoke now". It more like the craving comes first, and if one's first choice can't be found for some reason, then it doesn't matter what the design on an available packet is.

Just because the ruling class puts effort into something does not mean that the effort was necessarily entirely useful. The US government has funded psychics, but that doesn't mean there is anything to claims of psychic ability.

[TC]

I'm pretty sure that nicotine addiction is primarily physiological, not psychological. Somebody who habitually smokes Marlboros will happily accept a rollup, I've found.

It's not like smokers see a fag packet design and think "I want a smoke now". It more like the craving comes first, and if one's first choice can't be found for some reason, then it doesn't matter what the design on an available packet is.

Just because the ruling class puts effort into something does not mean that the effort was necessarily entirely useful. The US government has funded psychics, but that doesn't mean there is anything to claims of psychic ability.

Like sugar and dietary fat, and alcohol - its both physiological and psychological - there is a feedback loop. Noticing withdraw symptoms triggers psychological cravings - psychological cravings make people interpret physiological signs as being vastly more significant than if they were caused by a mere cold or tiredness (even though colds and tiredness may cause worse headaches and nervousness and distraction than nicotine withdrawl).

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Like sugar and dietary fat, and alcohol - its both physiological and psychological - there is a feedback loop. Noticing withdraw symptoms triggers psychological cravings - psychological cravings make people interpret physiological signs as being vastly more significant than if they were caused by a mere cold or tiredness (even though colds and tiredness may cause worse headaches and nervousness and distraction than nicotine withdrawl).

In the case of nicotine, the cravings are satisfied by any nicotine, not just one's favourite brand.

[the last donut of the night]

that sucks

[Tim Finnegan]

So as of next year all cigarete packs will be in plain white packets and have to be kept under the counter

its not that big of a deal, but wtf are they thinking to acheive by this (except maybe people having to queue up to see if the obscure brand they smoke is there)?

just let people smoke ffs, people like it
The thing to remember about the British state's obsession with harassing smokers is that it's essentially a decoy; by attacking the symptoms of working class misery, that is, indulgence in potentially harmful narcotics, they can make themselves look like they're doing something about working class misery itself, without ever having to, y'know, do anything about it. This new round of legislation is nothing more than a way of allowing the Tories to reassure the middle classes that they share their paternalistic concern for the contemptible oikish masses working poor.

[bricolage]

Some more smoking news...

THE average age for taking up smoking in Britain's most deprived town is just NINE, an NHS study has found.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3457234/Smokers-take-up-habit-aged-9-on-average-in-UKs-poorest-town.html

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

Some more smoking news...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3457234/Smokers-take-up-habit-aged-9-on-average-in-UKs-poorest-town.html

Yeah, that's made up. The Sun is hardly the bastion of journalistic integrity.

[bricolage]

Yeah, that's made up. The Sun is hardly the bastion of journalistic integrity.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12685236

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12685236

Fair enough then. Depressing news for Wales, but then a lot of towns which lost there industries suffer from horrific deprivation, this is just a symptom of that problem, one that the Tories and there massive cuts to Welfare are doing little to help.

[Vanguard1917]

Our law-makers clearly have quite a flattering view of the public: essentially a mass of impressionable children easily led astray by shiny packaging - half of which is already adorned by Orwellian 'health warnings' and pictures of dead people or rotted organs.

Probably explains why party electioneering these days is usually just one big colourful advertisement/PR campaign (and devoid of any actual political debate).

If they don't believe we can decide for ourselves something as mundane as whether or not to smoke a cigarette, i'm sure they have lots of faith in our ability to make political decisions on the future of the country...

[Die Rote Fahne]

It takes away the ability to make "cool" packages.

I was a kid once, the cool packaging appealed to me.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

It takes away the ability to make "cool" packages.

I was a kid once, the cool packaging appealed to me.

Only now instead of enticingly swish packet designs, there'll instead be these anonymous boxes that authority figures will actively deny to you. And when you finally do get hold of one of them and sample the contents, and end up not hacking up your lungs or keeling over dead as a result, you'll be less inclined to take whatever else they have to say about similar matters seriously.

Great plan, you stupid, patronising do-gooder fuckwits.

[praxis1966]

Only now instead of enticingly swish packet designs, there'll instead be these anonymous boxes that authority figures will actively deny to you. And when you finally do get hold of one of them and sample the contents, and end up not hacking up your lungs or keeling over dead as a result, you'll be less inclined to take whatever else they have to say about similar matters seriously.

Great plan, you stupid, patronising do-gooder fuckwits.

^This. I had this exact experience when I discovered that every authority figure I had ever met was lying to me about weed. I then proceeded to experiment with loads of other shit just to see what other bullshit they'd been spoon feeding me.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

I hope they put crosswords on the back of cig boxes.

[bailey_187]

I hope they put crosswords on the back of cig boxes.

or motivational quotes

[Vanguard1917]

or motivational quotes

Or, if they must put anything at all, at least something objective and non-hyperbolic.

E.g.: "Although the majority of smokers will die from causes unrelated to smoking, a good percentage of smokers will die from causes related to smoking."

Bit of a mouthful, yes, but at least true. And if they used very small font, they could even fit it in somewhere on the packet where you only saw it if you wanted to see it.

'SMOKING KILLS' is, for the most part, a factual inaccuracy.

[Tim Finnegan]

They should also put something similar on cars. And staircases. And breakfast cereal. I mean, let's be consistent here.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

I think they should put a select number of Revleft posts on packets.

[bailey_187]

E.g.: "Although the majority of smokers will die from causes unrelated to smoking, a good percentage of smokers will die from causes related to smoking."

oh damn, didnt know this (not too controversial if u think about it tho i guess). u got a link for this where i can read more?

[Vanguard1917]

oh damn, didnt know this (not too controversial if u think about it tho i guess). u got a link for this where i can read more?

It all depends on the duration of smoking. They say about half of those who never give up smoking will die from it. That is the largest percentage they have.

But since many who take up smoking will give up before they die, that death rate will be radically less for those people.

For example, according to the major study reported on in this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3826127.stm) article from the BBC, if you quit before you're 30, you will have the same life expectancy as the average person who has never smoked.

If you quit before 40, your life expectancy will only be 1 year lower.

All in all, therefore, the majority of people who smoke today will not die from smoke-related illnesses.

This is not me trying to encourage people to take up smoking (i myself gave up at least partly because of its health effects). It's just worth countering government nonsense, especially when that nonsense helps legitimate its intrusion into our everyday lives.

[bailey_187]

thanks for the info, i guess ill stop before im 30 then :thumbup1: