Smoking ban coming to Bluesfest?

[Rob Not Bob]

Just curious, how many of the people in the thread who are against the smoking ban are, in fact, non-smokers?

[Hartamophone]

I am very much in favour of public smoking bans, but I think outlawing smoking in general is a bad idea that would lead to massive and violent problems with organized crime. Keep selling 'em, keep taxing 'em, and keep putting up no smoking signs. It's an imperfect system, but better than the alternative of forcing all tobacco sales underground.

[Velvet]

I am very much in favour of public smoking bans, but I think outlawing smoking in general is a bad idea that would lead to massive and violent problems with organized crime. Keep selling 'em, keep taxing 'em, and keep putting up no smoking signs. It's an imperfect system, but better than the alternative of forcing all tobacco sales underground.

100% agree.

To the profit vs costs that phishtaper mentioned I'll add that most smokers die younger than non-smokers so there's that much less pension and social security costs taboot.

I am a fairly recent non-smoker, but I fully supported the smoking bans I encountered when I was a smoker*.

*Before I get called out on it I'll concede that I found the introduction of bans very frustrating at times because as a band manager I found they coincided with a couple of tours the band did. We found ourselves sitting in a few empty bars as people began to make the social shift to non-smoking environments, but it was a timing/financial issue (and one that went away) and not a why-can't-I-smoke-wherever-I-want issue.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

plus your band sucked o'course

[Davey Boy 2.0]

[SaggyBalls]

Just curious, how many of the people in the thread who are against the smoking ban are, in fact, non-smokers?

At least one - me.

[ollie]

Just curious' date=' how many of the people in the thread who are against the smoking ban are, in fact, non-smokers?[/quote']

At least one - me.

Me too.

[Freak By Night]

I'm a heavy smoker, but I fully support this ban.

Wait a minute, this is about cigarettes?

Never mind!

[edger]

I'm a non-smoker (wasn't always), and I suppose I support the ban. But I like to light up in my own way at a show when (reasonably) appropriate. I do my best to keep it low key and very low frequency but I'm sure its not always appreciated by others. I don't know... I appreciate the health aspects especially if children are around, but its nice to let loose when seeing the music that you love. I guess for many that includes smoking. Or sitting in lawn chairs. Or sweating profusely. Or singing louder than the performers themselves. Or yelling out not so witty banter... I don't know... Its too bad we have to have the government regulate considerate behaviour.

[edger]

Or whoever the regulator is in this particular case

[RobL]

I'm a heavy smoker, but I fully support this ban.

Wait a minute, this is about cigarettes?

Never mind!

Indirectly this effects the pot smoker as well. Sure the ban is not about pot smoking. It's about Cigs. As Weed is Illegal (for the most part). So not having other people smoking cigs around you will make it much easier for them to pinpoint the pot smokers. But I think when everyone is in the middle of a crowd it will be impossible to catch either smokers or puffers. Will be interesting to see how they approach it.

[phishtaper]

I'd rather ban this ...

and this ...

[Freak By Night]

Indirectly this effects the pot smoker as well. Sure the ban is not about pot smoking. It's about Cigs. As Weed is Illegal (for the most part). So not having other people smoking cigs around you will make it much easier for them to pinpoint the pot smokers. But I think when everyone is in the middle of a crowd it will be impossible to catch either smokers or puffers. Will be interesting to see how they approach it.

Indeed RobL - I posed this dilemma the pot smokers face, to his worship, the Mayor.

His response? "Let them eat cake"

[phishtaper]

more likely brownies or a fatty lot burrito.

[tigger]

What will be next , weight issues hmmm?

Seat belts on lawn chairs ?

[edger]

Seat belts on lawn chairs ?

Ha. That made me spit out my tea. I can think of a couple people that could benefit from that standard safety measure

[Velvet]

More work needs to be done to keep young people from using tobacco, including creating smoking bans and increasing taxes on tobacco products, the U.S. Surgeon General's office said in a report released Thursday.

Almost one in five high school-aged teens smokes, down from earlier decades, but the rate of decline has slowed, the report said.

'We have come a long way since the days of smoking on airplanes and in college classrooms, but we have a long way to go.'

—Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. secretary of health and human resources

It says it's particularly important to stop young people from using tobacco because those who start smoking as teenagers can increase their chances of long-term addiction. They also quickly can experience reduced lung function, impaired lung growth, early heart disease and other health problems like asthma.

More than 80 per cent of smokers begin by age 18 and 99 per cent of adult smokers in the U.S. start by age 26, according to the 920-page report, which is the first comprehensive look at youth tobacco use from the surgeon general's office in nearly two decades.

"In order to end this epidemic, we need to focus on where we can prevent it and where we can see the most effect, and that's with young people," Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We want to make our next generation tobacco-free, and I think we can."

Anti-smoking campaigns recommended

The report details youth tobacco use, health impacts, and tobacco marketing and prevention efforts in the U.S. Officials hope the information will reinvigorate anti-tobacco efforts and spark public activism in reducing death and disease caused by tobacco use.

The report also recommended anti-smoking campaigns and increased restrictions under the Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate tobacco as other ways to prevent adolescents and young adults from using tobacco products.

Benjamin did not point fingers on why youth tobacco use continues in the U.S. Instead, she wants to see how the nation as a whole can best address the issue, she said.

"I don't want to focus on blame, I want to focus on prevention," she said. "I want to make sure we're doing everything that we can to prevent kids from ever starting to smoke or use tobacco products."

The surgeon general's office last issued a report on youth tobacco use in 1994, the first wide-ranging report on the topic by federal health officials. The new report is the 31st issued by U.S. surgeons general to warn the public about tobacco's risks. The first report in 1964 declared tobacco to be deadly.

Since the 1994 report, smoking among high school students has declined from 27.5 per cent to 19.5 per cent, or about three million students, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent years. About 5.2 per cent, or 600,000 middle-school students, also are current smokers. According to the report, every day in the U.S., more than 3,800 people under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette and more than 1,000 of them become daily smokers. They replace the 1,200 people who die each day in the U.S. from smoking.Company defends cigarette marketing

The report also examined advertising and promotional activities by tobacco companies, which have been shown to "cause the onset and continuation of smoking adolescents and young adults."

Tobacco companies have spent increasing amounts of money on marketing efforts to reduce prices, which health officials said in the report could influence access to price-sensitive youth and make cigarettes more affordable.

Nearly $10 billion was spent in 2008 on cigarette marketing by the nation's five biggest tobacco companies, a 48 per cent increase from what was spent in 1998, when some of the companies agreed with state attorneys general to curtail or stop some of their marketing efforts. That 25-year, $206 billion settlement also pays states for smoking-related health care costs and to support tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

"We have come a long way since the days of smoking on airplanes and in college classrooms, but we have a long way to go," Secretary of Health and Human Resources Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement accompanying the latest report. "The prosperity and health of our nation depend on it."

In a statement Thursday, Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc., parent company of the nation's largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, which makes the top-selling Marlboro brand, said it agrees that kids shouldn't use tobacco products and that it markets its products to adult tobacco users through age-verified direct communications and at retail stores.

"Underage tobacco use is a difficult issue, and there is not a simple solution," the company said. "We agree there's still more work to be done."

[ollie]

Why not make underage smoking illegal then?

[Davey Boy 2.0]

I think that's ss. 22.1 of C-30, actually

[Esau.]

Why not make underage smoking illegal then?

In my opinion, the same reason they aren't going directly after the makers of the cigarettes or even go after the sellers/stores of the cigarettes in terms of tighter controls, taxes, even bigger fines for selling underage or licenses to sell revoked for selling to underage etc.

Just not enough money to be made from it.

Just last year the gov't gave tax breaks to a Quebec tobacco company (GVA) even though they owed over 20 million in outstanding excise tax. The gov't was working out a deal on that owed tax money so GVA could remain operating (they owe almost every province money btw) - later GVA used the money they saved to lower their prices. (like mentioned above in Velvet's post) They have no interest in stopping smoking, in youths or adults.