Smoking outside hospitals is now banned under new legislation.
Anyone caught lighting up within 15m of a hospital building in Scotland could be fined up to £1,000.
The regulations become law from Monday, and apply to all NHS hospital settings used for patient treatment and care.
The new rule follows a voluntary smoke-free policy introduced at hospitals in 2015 and is the latest step in the Scottish government’s plan to create a tobacco-free Scotland by 2034.
Given that the only health risk is to the person smoking the cigarette, this is very much about spite, not health. If you are a smoker and hospitalised for any length of time, too bad, you have to suffer. We see the same thing at the local driving test centre. You cannot smoke within the boundary, but stand outside on the pavement and it’s okay. There is as much logic here as we saw in the insane covid restrictions.
As for going smoke free, firstly, that is a personal matter and nothing to do with the state and secondly, that war on drugs, how is that going? Winning yet? And how did Al Capone get so wealthy?
Fuckwits, the lot of them.
“Voluntary”, was it? They kept that quiet, with their huge posters blocking the glass entrance doors of every hospital saying, “THE DAYS OF SMOKING AROUND HOSPITALS ARE AT AN END”, and The Caring Professions™ yelling at patients.
Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary, now the only overnight-stay hospital in the north of the city, sits next to one of the busiest junctions on the M8. And they’re worried about the occasional oily rag?
“And how did Al Capone get so wealthy?”
Oh, they know one of his rackets very well indeed. “Nice place you got here…”
Yes never about health. Just the usual control freaks trying to run peoples lives. Don’t mind trousering the tax though do they ! One of the reasons for the chronic decline of the pub industry was the stupid smoking ban. Visit a smoking bar abroad with their modern ventilation systems and you would hardly know that smoking is allowed. They are very busy too !
Quite. It’s an individual matter. I don’t smoke and never have, but I don’t presume to tell others what to do. My tolerance to smoke varies. Most of the time, I barely notice it and sometimes it irritates, in which case, I move away.
And this is Why it is important to simply say, “NO!” right at the start to anything, even the smallest thing, that exceeds ordinary reason.
Because they will never, ever, be satisfied until the very last smoker, AND the very last vaper is dead and buried no matter how much you give them up to that point.
Think of it as being like a small fishmonger, when the Mob moves into the neighborhood and one of their gentlemen walks up to your counter to tell you that they have come to help you out and keep your business safe for just a very, very small monthly contribution. To be extra convincing, if you hesitate, he’ll pass on the sad news of Charlie’s Grocers in the next town over who had turned down their help and then two days later had their register cleaned out, their stock swept off the their shelves and their main window smashed — while the police, responding long after the damage was done, just shrug their shoulders and say that it looks simply like a group of kids had popped in and had some fun that got a little out of hand. Be a real shame if that sort of thing happened at the fishmonger’s, wouldn’t it? And it’s only five shillings a month.
A year later it’s 100 shillings a week, and you’re required to add “side packets” with 50 grams of heroin to every “Blue-Listed” order of fish, and your teenage daughter’s working for them down in the dance district.
In Florida USA right now the Antismokers/Antivapers are pushing for bans on beaches (Maybe because it’s a fire hazard? Heh, that was the claim of the head of one antismoking group during a radio debate about a more limited beach ban in New Jersey believe it or not!)
For justification of course they wave the bodies of our children in the air, the poor, poor children who are choking to death on clouds of smoke or have to stay safe at home in dark shuttered houses instead of enjoying the sunshine and waves. In addition to the children, there are the poor workers, lifeguards unable to breathe and perform their duties while sitting up on their platforms because of the clouds of smoke that envelop them.
Are ANY bans reasonable? Maybe. Possibly. Sometimes. Perhaps a limited section of beach specifically marked for families with small children where smokers are asked to refrain.
But once you step over a very limited boundary of freedom… you’re dead in the water.
Don’t be dead. Say NO! And put up with whatever minor hurts may come from doing that — you’ll be grateful, and gratefully thanked, later on.
– MJM, who was rudely introduced to the Antis in the 1970s as they brought about the destruction of an important and unique nonviolence training center in Pennsylvania — and has been fighting them ever since.
During a European flight, where I had to change flights in Zurich, the nicest place to stay was in the smoking area, which had comfortable seating, and an air conditioning unit which made the air quality the most amenable. It can be done, if the authorities cared about their customers and citizens.
Just been through Edinburgh airport and cigarettes and cigars are in an enclosed area like a methodone dispensing unit in a chemist
But Scotland’s high drug death rate is Westminster’s fault
Reasons I suppose
I sadly despair