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oh dem poor smokers... (Read 5103 times)
cods
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oh dem poor smokers...
Jan 13th, 2018 at 9:46am
 
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/how-australias-strict-laws-have-made-...
As a smoker, I remember it well.

The lights dazzled on the dance floor, Rihanna raged over the sound system and I, gin and tonic in hand, hurriedly puffed away on what was to be my last cigarette in a club.

That was Oxford St in 2010 — the night before smoking was banned in all indoor pubs and clubs in NSW.

Little did any of us know it was just the beginning of the battle to get rid of cigarettes for good as, law by law and tax by tax, Australia adopted some of the most stringent smoking regulations in the world.

By today’s standards I feel a virtual pariah. Smoking is not just considered a dirty habit, but a danger to others.
That was the position cricketers Shaun Marsh and Jackson Bird found themselves in this week, dubbed bad role models for smoking in public while celebrating the Ashes series win against England.

The fact is smokers have nowhere to hide from the growing public reproof.

Best-selling author Nikki Gemmell has called smoking “a public declaration of stupidity” and described smokers as “relics of a bygone age”.

It’s true the war on smoking in this country is led by health concerns. And 15 years ago there were some 15,000 deaths a year attributed to smoking from illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer and respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.

But — importantly — it’s not illegal. So are the increasingly draconian laws about where you can smoke, or even what can be published about smoking, justified?

Civil Liberties Australia’s Mark Jarratt says: “The government acts like they own the atmosphere and they don’t. The coverage of smoking is almost one-sided.

“It’s the result of decades of taxpayer-funded negative conditioning which has created the impression among the wider population that one whiff of smoke and you’ll drop dead on the spot.

“There’s no middle ground for these people. What’s next? Are we going to have to sing the national anthem and do 20 push-ups before we go to work?”

For decades cricket and other sports in Australia were sponsored by tobacco companies and promoted by our top sports people and entertainers. The country’s favourite comedian when not promoting Fosters was selling cigarettes.

Planes and trains had smoking sections, and smokers were catered to as valuable patrons. The perennial of any gift shop was the souvenir ashtray.
Today I find myself in a secret society, forced out of clubs and cafes, hiding down laneways, our numbers dwindling with each puff.

Smoking is banned in all enclosed public places and certain outdoor public areas around NSW, under the Smoke-free Environment Act 2000 and the Smoke-free Environment Regulation 2016.

Currently I can’t even smoke a cigarette outside licensed cafes and pubs legally, or within 4m of the entry of any public building.


thank god!
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freediver
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #1 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 12:26pm
 
I really like that anti smoking ad with the song 'all by myself' playing in the background.
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I identify as Mail because all I do is SendIT!
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greggerypeccary
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #2 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 12:28pm
 
cods wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 9:46am:
Best-selling author Nikki Gemmell has called smoking “a public declaration of stupidity” and described smokers as “relics of a bygone age”.



Excellent description.

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UnSubRocky
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #3 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:35pm
 
Ban smoking altogether. Save the country billions of dollars in lost revenue, due to smokers wanting to burn away their money in the form of cigarettes. Save the medical costs. Save the accidental arson from people throwing their cigarette butts out the window of their cars, or when they discard cigarettes and start fires by accident. Save on the instances of nicotine rage, where smokers get angry from their cravings. Heck, with the amount of refocussed energy and improved health, Australia could move up the rankings in the Olympics.
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greggerypeccary
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #4 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:45pm
 
UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:35pm:
Ban smoking altogether.


Smiley
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Bobby.
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #5 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:48pm
 
People are now living too long because we're all too healthy.

It's time cigarettes were made and sold for $2 a packet so
that we won't have to pay people pensions for 30 years.
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greggerypeccary
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #6 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:49pm
 
Bobby. wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:48pm:
People are now living too long because we're all too healthy.

It's time cigarettes were made and sold for $2 a packet so
that we won't have to pay people pensions for 30 years.


Do you suck on fags, Booby?

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Bobby.
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #7 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:02pm
 
greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:49pm:
Bobby. wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:48pm:
People are now living too long because we're all too healthy.

It's time cigarettes were made and sold for $2 a packet so
that we won't have to pay people pensions for 30 years.


Do you suck on fags, Bobby?




You do    Grin
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greggerypeccary
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #8 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:04pm
 
Bobby. wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:02pm:
greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:49pm:
Bobby. wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:48pm:
People are now living too long because we're all too healthy.

It's time cigarettes were made and sold for $2 a packet so
that we won't have to pay people pensions for 30 years.


Do you suck on fags, Bobby?




You do   


I don't smoke, Booby.

It's a disgusting habit.

...
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Gordon
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #9 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:06pm
 
Bobby. wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:02pm:
greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:49pm:
Bobby. wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:48pm:
People are now living too long because we're all too healthy.

It's time cigarettes were made and sold for $2 a packet so
that we won't have to pay people pensions for 30 years.


Do you suck on fags, Bobby?




You do    Grin


Ggreg smokes blue vein
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Bobby.
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #10 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:13pm
 
Gordon wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:06pm:
Greg smokes blue vein



Not that there's anything wrong with that.   Embarrassed
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greggerypeccary
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #11 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:14pm
 

Gordon doing a bit of shopping:


...
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Gordon
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #12 - Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:24pm
 
greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 6:14pm:


I've been to blackpool but that's not me and I don't smoke......tobacco
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UnSubRocky
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #13 - Jan 14th, 2018 at 2:33am
 
Bobby. wrote on Jan 13th, 2018 at 5:48pm:
People are now living too long because we're all too healthy.

It's time cigarettes were made and sold for $2 a packet so
that we won't have to pay people pensions for 30 years.


I think $2 a packet was what 70% of Australians were paying 40 years ago (relative to today's pricing) which was what kept the average age of dying 10 years lower than today.
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Re: oh dem poor smokers...
Reply #14 - Jan 14th, 2018 at 2:36am
 
70% of Australian adults were smokers in the 1950s. That rate has come down to about 15% of adults. Now that the price is too high, and people don't see smoking as fashionable.
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