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Originally Posted by fireman328
Try telling my G/F that alcohol is not dangerous to her health, she is an A&E sister in a London hospital who has been assaulted a number of times and had her arm broken once.
Strangely enough all the incident reports she has submitted have included "patient smelled strongly of ethanol"
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I did not say alcohol is not dangerous to health. I said it is not dangerous to health to anything like the same degree as tobacco is. Statistics bear this out. Tobacco smoking is the single biggest cause of preventable premature death in the UK, by a very, very long way.
There is no safe level of smoking - unlike alcohol.
There is no way of smoking that is not dangerous to the person sat next to you - unlike alcohol.
Alcohol carries a degree of risk, which is already recognised by laws which are currently more stringent than those applied to tobacco. You can't buy alcohol until you're 18. You can buy cigarettes when you're 16. You can only buy alcohol within certain licenced hours. You can buy cigarettes any time the shop that sells them is open. In many towns and cities in the UK, you cannot drink alcohol in the street (or can be told to stop by the police). You can smoke outdoors wherever and whenever you like.
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Originally Posted by SlackDad
I'm sorry but you talk about a sensible discussion while firstly, disregarding many of the points around alcohol - I mean, come on, you only need to venture into a town centre on a Fri/Sat night to see how socially destructive alcohol is - and secondly, if the points are accepted that either a separate room for smokers is required or banned completely from public places, then why is thier habit 'indefensible'. Many of the habits of non-smokers may not be to my liking but doesn't mean to say that I would feel I have the right to stop them doing it.
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As Andyl just said very succinctly, problems arise with alcohol when it is abused. Problems arise with tobacco when it is just used.
I'm not ignoring alcohol as an issue. I am merely saying that in the context of a discussion of tobacco, its use, the dangers of its use and possible restrictions on its use, it is a red herring, or worse, a smokescreen, tokeep banging on about alcohol. You can decry the demon drink all you like, but it doesn't make tobacco any less dangerous and it doesn't make the need to restrict tobacco use any less pressing.
The habit of smoking is indefensible because every smoker is fully aware that their habit is killing them and is adversely affecting those around them also. While it may not be the smoker's deliberate intent to harm themselves or anyone else, they cannot possibly be ignorant of the fact that this is happening. Arguments about freedom and choice pale into complete insignificance next to this. Choosing to indulge in the habit of smoking (I say choosing, some people are big enough to admit they want to stop but don't have the willpower), is absolutely indefensible.