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Well there's certainly no way this will create a black market, and become impossible to enforce!

Just ban smoking in public places. I don't want people blowing smoke at me when I'm walking down the street or when I'm siting outside drinking coffee. If they want to smoke in their apartment or their car it's their business. It would be easier to fight people smoking in the street than check what age every smoker is.

A lot of people here are happy to see others lose a freedom that they themselves were never going to exercise.

Comments in here really trying to argue for big tobacco, just because they don't like the word "ban". Edgy contrarians.

A lot of what has been coming from the UK government has been shit, but this is just plain GOOD. There's no reason anyone should be smoking. This law prevents a new generation from becoming smokers. "Education" alone clearly hasn't worked well enough.

Smoking sucks and I'm glad I've never done it, but I'm worried that this will push even more people to the far right because they will feel patronized as fuck.

Also not sure if a flourishing black market is much better. Seems like an enormous source of income for organized crime which might not be the best thing.

Imo it would be much better to only ban it at places where there are a lot of people and do proper education in schools so that children actually understand why it's a terrible idea.

Now, this is a good thing, but I can't help but imagine a person in 90yr old begging their friends to sell them a pack

I honestly don't think this will lead to a massive black market like some people seem to think. I don't see big profit margins that would make cigarettes an attractive thing to sell illegally. You can only make them so expensive if you can just find someone older to buy them for you for the normal price.

Besides, smoking is pretty shit really. There aren't going to be loads of people willing to go through the hassle of getting cigarettes illegally when all they do is stink and give you cancer. Especially when the people who can't buy them will mostly be people who haven't had a chance to get addicted yet.

I think this will work and be a net positive in the long run.

Going to get down voted to hell and back for this I expect, but hey, different opinions generate discussion right?

This is good legislation for the environment, for non-smokers, for the NHS, and has zero negative impact on smokers. The ONLY parties I see really hurt by this are tobacco companies, since retailers make minimal margins on tobacco.

The constant use of the word freedom in the thread comments just seems odd to me. This isn't a question of freedom, and the comments mostly seem to ignore the paradox of tolerance as it applies to antisocial activity. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance. Individual freedoms have limits and must end at the boundary of another persons personal space and freedoms. That's why smoking is banned in confined public places.

Its all very well to say tax the shit out of it and fund the NHS, but that will feel pretty shit when your parent/partner/child has to wait for an operation because the queue is full of smokers who are entitled to that spot by having paid for it. Which also veers dangerously close to creating paid tracks within the public national health service.

I don't smoke, but this is stupid.

You can't save people from themselves.

Let's see. Making tobacco illegal means the black market will florish. And then the government can't regulate the quality. Kinda what we already have with Cannabis. A lot of countries legalize Cannabis so that buyers can be sure it is of proper quality and not mixed with dangerous substances. Yes, smoking is bad and that's why it should be expensive in order to discourage people from smoking. And a lot of public spaces should be smoke-free as well so that non-smokers are affected by smokers as little as possible. Banning something completely can go fully in the opposite way, just look what the Prohibition back in the US did with regards to Alcohol.

Smoking is bad, but prohibition of drugs just drives them underground and denies freedom. Bad call UK

“UK mandates teenagers must shop with their local drug dealer for tobacco products”

Might as well buy some weed or pills whilst you’re there, “save a trip”

What is this? Good news? On my timeline?!!! In this economy?!!!!!!

RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY DOOMSCROLLING?

I think people should be allowed to harm themselves with drugs of they want. Maybe I’m a radical.

Oi cunt, 'ave you got a loicense for them cigarettes?

Prohibition is never good, removing individual freedom is never good. I can see the point for some of these restrictions, to provide a safe basis for other people around (because we can't ask people to simply be nice), but more than that… meh.

I will not be up in arms to defend smoking rights, but that's probably not the way to do it.

This law was originally implemented within New Zealand some years ago and I believe it is based on the same principles. I am all for it because it doesn't affect those that already smoke, just the ones that would potentially get into it in the future. And it has a rolling eligibility year so every year it will move, stopping all future generations from potentially being able to try it legally. Eventually it would get to the point where the generations that currently smoke die off completely and then it would be most likely looked at from an antiquated perspective. Unfortunately, in our case, as soon as the latest conservative parliament got into power, they completely rolled it back. We never got to see the long term potential positive implications of it in practice.

It seems a little arbitrary that they can deny rights to a voting tax-paying 27 year old that they give to a 28 year old.

Can they ban Capricorns from riding motorcycles? It's actually for their own good, those things are dangerous!

Good. It'll cut down healthcare costs

I've had to breathe enough cancer sticks waiting at a bus stop because I could not leave because of heavy rain, that I don't care if it works or not to make people stop smoking, as long as it works enough to make people stop smoking in places where other people may be around.
I can drink a beer in a place full of people without bothering anyone, but no one can smoke without making those surrounding them breathe it.
As long as it reduces the chances of an obnoxious asshole spreading their toxic fumes to the grandma who has to sit at the bus stop and can't move away because it's raining, I'm fine with it.

Will there be a black market and other issues? Maybe. Not the best way to do it? Ok. Someone figure out a better way. In the meantime, ban it is.

Sometimes you have to go with the "this is why we can't have nice things" method.

Did they look at Australia and the colossal failure trying the same thing, and thought "but we will be different"?

Not including vaping is kinda... Odd.

Education is the answer - not bans.
We don't need less freedom.

Lemmites normally: smoking is bad and should be banned.

UK government: ok then.

Lemmites now: YO WHAT THE FUCK.