Should smoking in cars carrying children be banned?

[southwell]

Originally Posted by STONEISLAND

Dude we are not talking about giving the kid a blow back!!!!!! We are talking about blowing smoke out of a car window. There is no chance at all the child will suffer from ill health from a crafty fag in the car!!

Selfish .............not

Wheres the backup to that comment? You may well be right, but why risk it?

Originally Posted by David F

yeah and if a teacher takes advantage I will allow the school to find away around it and catch him on his own one night away from witnesses and impose Dave justice upon him.

So basically your saying its ok to smoke around kids then Maggy?

---------- Post added at 12:45 ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 ----------




so at least you accept there is a risk and take precautions. I understand and accept what is like under stress as an ex smoker I can thoughly understand.

There are worse things a parent can do to and in front of a child David..and don't forget I have never smoked in front of a child...Steamed yes,smoked no.

It's an unenforceable law in the most part...like children and seatbelts,mobile phones etc..I've seen any number of these examples in recent months because there will always be those who will flout such laws.

My complaint basically is that where will the banning end?How far are we to be subject to the constant nagging as though we are children?

I'm an adult and I want to be treated like one..I want to choose my vices and I don't need anyone to tell me that a,b,c,and d are bad for me so it's banned.It should be a,b,c and d are bad for you and these are the reasons why..now it's up to you to decide what to do.

Of course smoking,drinking,drugs,coffee,tea,sex are bad for children and should be banned for them...but not necessarily for adults.

[STONEISLAND]

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

My point is that when he discovers you smoke he will think that its acceptable to smoke as long as you do it in secret. Wouldn't you sooner know he had started smoking so that you could try to do something about it?

Are we talking about crack cocaine here? Or heroin?

[supremus]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I'm an adult and I want to be treated like one..I want to choose my vices and I don't need anyone to tell me that a,b,c,and d are bad for me so it's banned.

You're missing the point. It's not about it being bad for you, it's about the potential harm you inflict on other people, particularly children.

Oh and another point when it comes to smoking it's a fallacy that children watching their parents smoke will automatically smoke later in life..I never did and my children have seen their father smoke and both have turned out to hate the habit.

---------- Post added at 13:07 ---------- Previous post was at 13:04 ----------

Originally Posted by supremus

You're missing the point. It's not about it being bad for you, it's about the potential harm you inflict on other people, particularly children.

No it's not, it's about banning smoking in dribs and drabs without ever being honest enough to just ban it outright...and it won't be long before other habits are banned because they are bad for other people...

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by southwell

Yes, but what gives a parent the right to expose their habit to an innocent child who cannot just get up and walk away? (talking about infants here) I can't see how it's fair?

Same thing that gives them right to fill them up with junk food, but no-one's talking about banning McDonalds

---------- Post added at 13:21 ---------- Previous post was at 13:19 ----------

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

My point is that when he discovers you smoke he will think that its acceptable to smoke as long as you do it in secret. Wouldn't you sooner know he had started smoking so that you could try to do something about it?

Well, fingers crossed, I'll have stopped by then

In fairness, you're absolutely right - however, I'm not so much smoking 'in secret' as just not around him (99% of the time). I would hope that he never starts smoking but, if he does, you're correct in the asumption that I would want to know

[Stuart]

The problem I have is how far do we go? I can accept that Smoking is dangerous (predominantly to the smoker themself). I can also accept that aything that districts a driver is dangerous. Although we have an offence of Driving without Due Care and Attention (which, AFAIK, did cover mobile phone use while driving even before the government introduced the new offence).

Even though it's never (AFAIK) been proved to actually kill anyone, smoking in confined spaces is also dangerous for anyone else in the space, so while any ban may have questionable benefits and cost an awful lot to enforce, I don't entirely disagree with banning smoking in confined spaces with children.

What I am worried about is where it appears to be leading to. First, we ban Smoking, then drinking. What then? Excessive amounts of sugar? Fats (obesity costs the NHS a lot after all)?
On a more extreme example, do we start banning people with infectious diseases (after all, certain diseases are as dangerous as smoking)? Cars? People of certain colours/genders/sexual persuasions (all of which have been classes as "dangerous" by various governments)?

Increasingly we are being told what we can and can't do by the Government. At best, this achieves little (if anything) and costs the taxpayer a lot. At worst, we (as a people) will become increasingly controlled and while we may not rebel, we will learn that we don't need to control ourselves.

Simply put, people need to learn self control and to take responsibility for their actions. Most people won't knowingly put their (or any) children at risk. How will we expect our children to learn what is safe and what isn't if the government has already banned anything remotely dangerous? This isn't specifically aimed any potential smoking ban, but children learn by making mistakes. How are they going to learn if they aren't allowed to make mistakes?

---------- Post added at 13:47 ---------- Previous post was at 13:29 ----------

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

My point is that when he discovers you smoke he will think that its acceptable to smoke as long as you do it in secret. Wouldn't you sooner know he had started smoking so that you could try to do something about it?

That is, of course, assuming that the child in question tries smoking and decides he/she likes it.

Innocent people have died due to smoking. It's a selfish deadly habit, and some who go outside to smoke, only do so because they're more concerned about their homes smelling fresh and clean. If only they'd care just as much about themselves and others.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Enuff

Innocent people have died due to smoking. It's a selfish deadly habit, and some who go outside to smoke, only do so because they're more concerned about their homes smelling fresh and clean. If only they'd care just as much about themselves and others.

The problem there is that innocent people have died as a result of any number of things, not just smoking. I smoke outside for a number of reasons, only one of which is the fact that I don't want the house to stink. I don't think anyone's arguing that smoking is a deadly habit, but isn't that tempered even a little by the fact that it's also an addiction?

I actually don't agree that it's a selfish habit - I either smoke outside on my own or, if one of my neighbours is out also smoking, I'll talk to him. If I'm in the pub, I smoke outside with other smokers or, if I'm at work, I smoke outside with my colleagues - I really don't see what's elfish about me smoking with other smokers...

This is why any debate on smoking is pointless no one is interested in anything other then their viewpoint and isn't willing to see manipulation where it is being used. I grew up in a house where all the adults smoked all my extended relatives smoked and smoked heavily around me and my cousins are we now gasping for breath, are our lungs shot to pieces, are we cancer ridden no none of us are.

For those worrying about catching cancer sorry people too late you already have it everyone has cancer cells in their bodies and always have had. It only becomes a problem when those cells are triggered and start to aggressively multiply. Smoking can cause this and for some stress can cause it shall we ban stress ??? for others it can be as simple as a knock on the head fact is there are dozens if not hundreds of ways it can be triggered and you can't ban them all.

Right now it suits some to turn smoking into something it isn't and while i agree for some smoking is intensely annoying and not pleasant to be around the same can be said of many things. What this debate needs to get back is some perspective with people actually making rational choices not choices made for them by groups with their own agendas looking to impose their will and view on to all.

[supremus]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Oh and another point when it comes to smoking it's a fallacy that children watching their parents smoke will automatically smoke later in life..I never did and my children have seen their father smoke and both have turned out to hate the habit.

It's a fallacy because your children didn't take up smoking? That's quite an in-depth investigation you've got there.

The only fallacy is suggesting that studies would claim every single child of a smoker would take up smoking themselves.

No it's not, it's about banning smoking in dribs and drabs without ever being honest enough to just ban it outright...

That would be another fallacy. The subject header clearly states what this is about. It doesn't suggest an all-out ban.

and it won't be long before other habits are banned because they are bad for other people...

Alarmist speculation. Smoking is a unique threat, and it should, and will be be dealt with accordingly.

"That would be another fallacy. The subject header clearly states what this is about. It doesn't suggest an all-out ban."

No it is yet another step towards it though and it is interfering in another area of people's lives on what they do and where they can do it. Neither this government or any other has the courage or the way to make up the shortfall in finances to outright ban it but they are trying to do it in such a way that it won't be them directly to blame.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by supremus

Alarmist speculation. Smoking is a unique threat, and it should, and will be be dealt with accordingly.

That's just it. It isn't a unique threat.

[jennyhicks]

Any form of smoking whilst driving should be banned. It is yet another distraction along with eating, using a mobile phone, listening to music. How can anyone drive properly is they are doing all that???

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by jennyhicks

Any form of smoking whilst driving should be banned. It is yet another distraction along with eating, using a mobile phone, listening to music. How can anyone drive properly is they are doing all that???

Well, if they were doing all that, they wouldn't actually be driving, as they'd have run out of limbs to actually do anything

The simple answer to how can people drive whilst smoking is simple - if you light your cigarette whilst stationary (either before setting off or while at lights for instance), you're not actually taking your eyes off the road