Video Should public places be smoke freee?

[~lostgurl~]

A new entry has been added to Drugs Archive

Description:

2 mins
31 May 2008
TV3 News (NZ)

It is Smokefree Day and a number of Hawke's Bay towns have taken up the concept by banning smokers from smoking in all parks, sportsgrounds and play areas throughout the district.

But the new smoke free policy took smokers by surprise and they are not happy about it.

Smokers beware the smoking police are about to tell you to stub it out.
The Hastings District Council has turned all of its public reserves into smoke free zones today.

“I wasn't aware it's smoke free I think it's a good idea though. There's nothing worse than watching a game of rugby and getting smoke blown in your face,” says one park goer.

But Scott Mitchell doesn't think it is a good idea and says the policy wont stop him and others from smoking in public.

“If someone approached me about it.. I'd not get aggressive but I'd certainly say what I wanted to say,” says Mitchell.

“If he's ten foot tall and pretty mean I wouldn't want to go up to him and tell him he can't have a smoke here,” says ex-smoker Rick Carson.

That is where the smoke free policy falls down for the local Council, who won't actually be policing the initiative, instead relying on the public to tell smokers to put it out.

“It could cause some friction? It could, it could but the majority of people are in support of this kind of action,” says Lawrence Yule, Hastings District Mayor.
The Council isn't apologising for targeting smokers saying it is a health issue and the less children see adults smoking the less likely they will smoke too.

Napier City Council is in the process of adopting the smokefree policy too, which will make the entire East Coast area from Wairoa to Waipukurau, New Zealand's first district to ban smoking in public reserves. Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule says it is just the beginning of the end for smokers smoking in public places at all.

To check it out, rate it or add comments, visit
Should public places be smoke freee?
The comments you make there will appear in the posts below.

Associated clips:

Kids start programme to make adult smokers 'butt out' of playgrounds

Smoke free message appears to be getting through

[Swift Serenity]

totally agree on the no smoking in public places.. like that guy in the interview said, it is so annoying being somewhere and having smoke blown into your face

[FuBai]

Not if it is in the open air and you are more than 6 foot away from the nearest person. Turning someone smoking alone on a park bench on their way to work into a criminal is ridiculous. Smoking doesn't have to affect anyone when it's done with courtesy. The Now Show did a bit about the way our values have changed ending in a scene with a man in a news agents:

Man: I'd like a copy of Asian Babes, Penthouse, Chicks and Beasts and Hardcore Anal please.
Newsagent: Right you are. Is there anything else I can get you sir?
Man (in a whisper): 20 Marlborough lights
Newsagent: You dirty swine!
Man: I'll have a copy of that too.

Smoking has become increasingly subject to gross social taboos and this typifies its worst excesses.

[Panthers007]

Reminds me of being in the wilderness with a small party - about 10 miles from the nearest road. And out of nowhere tromped young, crew-cutted, identical t-shirted Nazis carrying axes to "clear the trail." They said - the biggest blonde-haired, blue-eyed one: "We don't want you camping here." I said: "This is not an RUA (restricted use area), it is a designated campsite." Nazi: "I don't care! I want your kind out of here! NOW!" And he started across the stream, with his axe, towards me. I picked up my (much lighter and more dexterious) machete and advanced on his position. "I'll report you! I will!" And he ran off - his Hitler Youth Brigade in tow.

If I'm sitting down in the park reading a book, and smoking one of my favorite Dutch cigars (Panters - of course!), and these non-smoker Nazis drop by again, I hope they like what can be done with a Bali-Song.

[Swift Serenity]

lol well yea if you arent around alot of ppl it is fine to me..

but being with like 20 ppl that are 1 foot away from you and u light up a smoke.. rude

[Heretic.Ape.]

I will not say I'm not selfish but it bugged the hell out of me when my state banned smoking in bars. Aren't bars supposed to be smoky? But I have adapted quickly and now find it enjoyable to go outside and meet new people who have been forced to endure the weather for their drunken nicotine fix.

[Swift Serenity]

lol yea i agree they shouldnt ban it in bars

[cosmicruler]

i saw this on our local news...
the main reason they want it banned is because alot of people(parents etc) have been smoking in parks and playgrounds right next to children!!!i agree that these areas should be smoke free,because kids shouldnt have to be exposed to smoke or smoking!!!everywhere elsepeople should be able to do as they please.

[Coconut]

Instead of banning it, how about an incentive for kids to punch their parents in the face every time they light up and the child has to inhale the toxic smoke? I would have appreciated such a plan in my younger years.

[Panthers007]

Originally Posted by cosmicruler

i saw this on our local news...
the main reason they want it banned is because alot of people(parents etc) have been smoking in parks and playgrounds right next to children!!!

One can see this same mentality at play when, in a public park, two young (or old) folks kiss and tussle each others hair. "Egads! The children's virgin eyes! Touching and fondling! Call the Bishop!" And soon there is a new sign at the entrance to your favorite park: TOUCHING & FONDLING NOT ALLOWED. $50 FINE FIRST OFFENSE. 6 MONTHS PRISON SECOND.

Is it not up to the parents/guardians of young eyes & ears to explain the reasons behind behavior that kids are bound to encounter? Or is this to make being a parent easier - let the State dictate behavior so the parents can focus on more important issues than talking to their children?

I love my old home town. There is a legal war going on over the schools teaching kids that kids might have two mommies/daddies. And the quasi-religious troops have assembled. (Massachusetts - gay marriage is legal) They demand their children be removed from the school should a discussion arise that paints a picture depicting love between members of the same sex. They want their kids taught that fear and hatred are "Traditional Family Values."

It may begin with a smoker in the park. But it tends to end up in a cattle-car pulling into the siding at Treblinka. Zyklon-B - The Ethnic-Cleanser!

[Lobsang]

It may begin with a smoker in the park. But it tends to end up in a cattle-car pulling into the siding at Treblinka. Zyklon-B - The Ethnic-Cleanser!

Yes I have watched small rights taken away and a trend toward more and more removal of rights. Alaska for example was a mecca of freedom. Taking away rights was considered a high crime. Pot was legal for example in the home (and actually still is though it waxes and wanes from year to year). WE have seen rights slowly be chipped away. Things start small and end up big. The state is still a relative mecca of freedom but it is not what it was.

[Panthers007]

I was speaking to my normally conservative brother this evening on land-line. He was never a fan of Nixon or Bush, but his speech was always guarded. So I use him as a "Social-Barometer" in some respects.

On a positively-negative, or negatively-positive, reading from him he had this to say: "This fucking country has gone fucking Nazi Fascist!! It doesn't need a Howitzer to fix it! It needs an atomic-bomb!!"

That says something.