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Should people have to buy a permit to smoke cigarettes?

  2. mattbrawn
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A proposal put forward today could see a ban on the sale of cigarettes to anyone who does not pay for a government smoking permit.

Speaking about the proposal, Lord Darzi, the health minister appointed to oversee NHS reform, said that "many smokers would be helped to break the habit if they had to make a decision whether to "opt in."

One of the paper's writers, Julian Le Grand has spoken to reporters about his proposal that he believes is a fine example of 'libertarian paternalism,' where the government "would leave people free to make their own decisions but it would "nudge them" in the right direction."

According to initial reports the permit might cost a small amount, maybe £10, but could be made difficult to acquire if application forms are sufficiently complex.

I don't think people should have to pay for a permit to smoke, you don't have to have a permit to buy a drink, so why should smoking be any different?
mattbrawn

21 responses // Should people have to buy a permit to smoke cigarettes?

  • If they did this in the U.S., I'd hope they'd also lessen (or eliminate) the "sin tax" that they put on ciggies in places like Chicago.
    jennatar
  • Oh come on! Can't we do ANYTHING without having to pay our well hated goverment!? I don't even smoke but thi is just out of hand! They're ONLY doing this to try to say "Our countrys fitter than yours" OR/AND "We're richer then yours" THIS IS SO ANOYING! I'LL START SMOKING JUST BECAUSE I CAN NOW! TAKE THAT LABOUR GOVERMENT! I WISH I WAS'NT BORN HERE!
    steadward
  • Smoking was recently banned in public places where i live (cleveland oh) and its wonderful. I don't smell awful at the end of the night and i am not coughing all night

    but

    just because i dislike smoking, all the controlling they are doing is no good.

    its like trying to control a wiley teen! we'll all start rebelling and having sex and then what?!
    samonster34
  • http://current.com/items/88817678_losing_a_daughter
    I think you should buy a permit to drink too... and drunk drivers could lose that permit!
    dbocaz
  • Until the day that cigarettes and alcohol are categorically equal to cocaine, crack, and heroine, there will exist a great paradox in our society.
    stephenthomson
  • And just when you got really tired of me... here's an anti-smoking video too...
    dbocaz
  • Stephenthomson... totally! I'm amazed that such highly addictive substances like cigarettes are legally and socially accepted. It's one thing when you don't know better like in the early 1900's but now... what's our excuse. And how many smokers REALLY want to keep smoking. They're addicted. They can't stop.
    dbocaz
  • dbocaz, i smoked for 8 years and quit last year. I smoked about a pack a day, and for a brief period, 2 packs a day!

    so, I totally understand the smoker's (addict's) mindset. I'm working on a video now to tell the story of how to quit.

    (and in doing so relating it to larger issues of Global Warming, sustainability, spirituality, etc.)
    stephenthomson
  • But I should also say, that although I think these substances should be categorized equally, I do not believe they should be outlawed.

    A permit to smoke makes a lot of sense, because, as JFK put it "we all breathe the same air." Certain spaces like bustops and outdoor markets are too small to escape the molecules of secondhand smoke.

    Alcohol on the other hand, is not as "distributive". I do empathize greatly with someone who loses a loved one to drunk driving, and we need to find ways to mitigate that tragedy. alcohol causes a whole lot of problems that societiy does not need to be endorsing.
    But if a person is standing beside me drinking, at least i'm not receiving carcinogens just by breathing the air.
    stephenthomson
  • A permit for smoking cigarettes sounds awfully like the stamp to smoke marijuana...
    uroborus8
  • a stamp to smoke marijuana? what's that all about?
    stephenthomson
  • sieg heil! double plus good! you will be assimilated!

    (about the mj stamp: govt at one time unable to outlaw possession, so enacted a stamp act, then printed no stamps!)
    SPECIALIST
  • samonster34, I live in Cleveland too! And it's Middlesbrough, and I disagree! I hate the ban (even though I don't do it) aswell as the place! The pubs, they STINK of people's BO! That does'nt smell like a pub at all! (I go in rarely and don't drink, but STILL!)
    steadward
  • i.am.disabled.since.the.smoking.ban.i.find.it.hard.to.get
    in.and.out.of.pubs.to.smoke.now.i.am.house.bound
    thanks.to.the.anti.smoking.idiots.keith.bowland.
    pocklington.east.yorks
    johndeere12
  • stephenthomson... I'd love to see your quitting smoking video when it's done... I have friends that smoke that really want to quit but it's so hard.

    johndeere... do you think smoking is okay? Would you quit if you could or you don't see a problem with it? I'm just curious. Most smokers now days seem like they'd quit if they could. I'm always interested in hearing from people that think it's perfectly okay.
    dbocaz
  • dbocaz, for your friends, here are two quick bits of advice:

    1) read the book "Quitting Smoking is Easy if You Know How", by Allen Carr. The man smoked 5 packs a days for more than 30 years, and quit cold turkey one day and never smoked again. His philosophy is the only one that will work in the face of addiction.

    2) I personally told myself I wanted to quit a thousand times, but I only really meant it once.
    stephenthomson
  • i.dont.have.problem.about.smoking.its.my.bit.of.
    pleasure.i.have.i.dont.drink.maybe.you.might.get
    totally.pissed.all.the.time.is.that.a.problem.dobcaz?
    if.want.to.smoke.i.will.and.i.wont.stop
    johndeere12
  • http://www.procon.org/AddictChart.htm
    Let me smoke some pot on the street then I might not care if I'm inhaling toxins that CAUSE CANCER. Lets see some sanity in our drug laws so we might stop incarcerating millions of non-violent citizens for there peaceful life styles.
    mrtodd724
  • this has got to be the most rediculous thing i have ever heard... what happened to our free country? they want to ban smoking out side, they have banned smoking in public places,and they have banned smoking in cars with your children and if you dont like to smoke with your children in the house... where do they expect you to smoke ? in your car ... no car then what??? and added to all that they want you to pay the government to smoke... is there anything else they want to take from us because our freedom doesnt seem like freedom any more... what else will the us do...a permit for ciggerettes is ridiculous and people will smoke with or with out one... fines or no fines jail or no jail... smoking will not stop...
    babyalexia06
  • permits shmermits. there should absolutely no permits for anything anywhere. no permits.
    thedismembermentplan
  • babyalexia and thedismembermentplan you act like you do not understand what you do kills people around you. Plus, I'm sure a couple billion people lighting up isn't too great for the environment when you consider the total disregard about 30% of the population at large cares about littering. So I say no to your "freedom" to hurt me and my landbase.
    mrtodd724

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