Is the UK following our lead in making sure the concept of individual / civil liberty is forced out of people's heads? Sorry, but I can't help but see this as coercively enforced indoctrination gone mad, assuming it goes through. :wtf:
quote:
Ban on street smoking suggested
A Leicestershire council is considering whether smoking should be banned from the streets in a bid to cut littering.
Councillor Nick Rushton from North West Leicestershire District Council said he had received a number of complaints about cigarette ends on the street.
The idea to ban smoking on the districts' street is being discussed but no decisions have yet been made.
The Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco (FOREST) said the ban would not work.
"I am pretty sure nothing will come of this as it has already been tried...and got howled down," FOREST spokesman Simon Clark said.
"I have a lot of sympathy for the argument about excessive cigarette litter...but local authorities need to do much more in terms of providing cigarette bins and we would encourage smokers to use them."
Weekend rubbish
Cllr Rushton said his constituents were concerned about the litter problem.
"I get a lot of people who don't smoke and who don't like litter...such as cigarette ends on the street on a Saturday and Sunday morning when it's been a busy night in the pubs.
"If this litter is a major driver of public dissatisfaction, it's something which could be improved.
"I get equally as many complaints from people who have to walk through crowds of smokers and that's not just at night."
Mr Rushton said he would consult his fellow cabinet members to see how to best resolve the issue.
'Smoking police' hit the streets to shock people into quitting
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:06 AM on 20th September 2008
Smokers will be stopped in the street and asked to take a carbon monoxide test in London's most hard-hitting anti-smoking campaign.
'Smoking police' will target people at betting shops, bus stops and shopping centres to shock them into giving up cigarettes.
They will be asked to breathe into a monitor to show how much carbon monoxide is in their bodies, and could then be signed up to local stop-smoking services and given access to counsellors.
Pro-smoking group Forest described the campaign as a humiliating infringement of civil liberties.
Ealing Primary Care Trust, which is funding the œ75,000 scheme, said it could help 2,400 people to give up.
A team of 11 young people have been employed to approach smokers, in a similar way to charity fund-raisers - nicknamed 'chuggers' - who ask passers-by for donations.
Project spokeswoman Fran Pearce admitted: 'They will have to be careful when approaching smokers in case they become aggressive, but we are interested to see how it pans out. If someone says no, they will not pressure them to take the test.'
Project manager Phil Robinson of Ealing Stop Smoking-Service said: 'The law to ban smoking in public places was hugely effective, but since then some focus has been lost.
'We want to put stopping smoking back on the agenda, so 50 per cent of our current activity is about personalising and localising our campaign and taking our message direct to smokers.'
He added: 'We will be focusing on betting shops, transport stops, walk-throughs, shopping centres and leisure areas where most smoking takes place.'
There are 75,000 smokers in Ealing, and it is hoped 7,500 will take the new test, with 2,400 going on to quit completely.
Forest spokesman Neil Rafferty said: 'It shows the authorities think they have a blank cheque to treat smokers how they want - to harass, humiliate and victimise them.
'This is an outrageous abuse of freedom and privacy. It is the health Nazi equivalent of chuggers.'
Originally posted by shaolin_Z
Is the UK following our lead in making sure the concept of individual / civil liberty is forced out of people's heads? Sorry, but I can't help but see this as coercively enforced indoctrination gone mad, assuming it goes through. :wtf:
OK first one is a Conservative councillor in a local council where over 70% of councillors are also Conservative meaning this area is some kind of ass-backwards countryside retreat for farmers and assorted posh people, so if this councillor wants to push his hair brain idea through in this council then I couldn't give two s (not likely to happen tho)
This is a classic Daily "Hate" Mail article in which they invent an issue, report on it, and sit back as their readers burst various vessels shouting at their newspaper so much. I'm just disappointed the Mail passed up such an obvious opportunity to have a go at the Muslims as well, but maybe they were on the front page? Anyway, what does the article actually tell us that is different from the story we saw in the headline? Well, there are no police involved, it will be entirely voluntary and will be done by a charity. So, this story about a charity trying to help people quit smoking by offering them a carbon monoxide test has been twisted by the Hate Mail into portraying Britain as some kind of Orwellian nightmare...excellent from the newspaper that supported Hitler in WW2!
shaolin_Z
Ok, good. For a second I thought people had completely lost their minds.
pkcRAISTLIN
quote:
A Leicestershire council is considering whether smoking should be banned from the streets in a bid to cut littering.
one council from bum idaho isn't really my idea of a big deal.
i support the idea that people can smoke outside, but i also realise that cigarettes are a pollution problem. and most cigarette smokers, most of the time, are active litterbugs.
George Smiley
quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
one council from bum idaho isn't really my idea of a big deal.
i support the idea that people can smoke outside, but i also realise that cigarettes are a pollution problem. and most cigarette smokers, most of the time, are active litterbugs.
If you get caught dropping a cigarette butt in the UK you get an automatic £50 - £75 fine (the police will march you to a cash machine!). I think that's incentive enough not to do it without banning it! (And also why I have a pocket ashtray-pouch!)
pkcRAISTLIN
quote:
Originally posted by George Smiley
If you get caught dropping a cigarette butt in the UK you get an automatic £50 - £75 fine (the police will march you to a cash machine!). I think that's incentive enough not to do it without banning it!
oh yeah, we have fines for that too. we also fine people for smoking in cars with children.
quote:
Originally posted by George Smiley
(And also why I have a pocket ashtray-pouch!)
haha, yeah i have one of those lying around somewhere. was given it in some promotion or other. i used it as a multi-purpose container for when i was going out, never for butts :D thanks local government!
LazFX
smokers are now the new "colored" pretty soon we won't be able to vote ;)
Jake Benson
Yeah what's the world coming to? I mean I can't even masturbate in public because it's considered "wrong" by everyone else. My cum doesn't even shoot 1/30th as far as a cloud of cigarette smoke can be smelled, yet these s want to restrict MY freedom of expression because they think I'm invading their space! It's not like they can't even walk TWO feet around my jacking off escapades, but they want me to do this in private now!?!??!
Cigarette smoke is an unwanted physiological stimulus just like loud music. Likewise, it's NOT okay to blast your music in public everywhere and you can get fined for it. If you want to smoke your cigarette, do it in your OWN space or a designed area that permits it, NOT public. I hold the same values on marijuana smoke.
Civil liberty my ass.
shaolin_Z
quote:
Originally posted by Jake Benson
Yeah what's the world coming to? I mean I can't even masturbate in public because it's considered "wrong" by everyone else. My cum doesn't even shoot 1/30th as far as a cloud of cigarette smoke can be smelled, yet these s want to restrict MY freedom of expression because they think I'm invading their space! It's not like they can't even walk TWO feet around my jacking off escapades, but they want me to do this in private now!?!??!
Cigarette smoke is an unwanted physiological stimulus just like loud music. Likewise, it's NOT okay to blast your music in public everywhere and you can get fined for it. If you want to smoke your cigarette, do it in your OWN space or a designed area that permits it, NOT public. I hold the same values on marijuana smoke.
Civil liberty my ass.
What have you been smoking Jake :D ?
Jake Benson
quote:
Originally posted by shaolin_Z
What have you been smoking Jake :D ?
Not cigarettes... :cool:
shaolin_Z
quote:
Originally posted by Jake Benson
Not cigarettes... :cool:
Haha, at least it not killing you or anyone else right? :p
EDIT: Here man, just in good fun...
...don't take it too seriously, it's just a joke ;).
