As one who strugglesd over many years to quit smoking, I’ve been appalled how governments have stood by and watched as a whole new generation becomes addicted to nicotine.
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I suspect much of the standing back has to do with choice and personal responsibility. One might also like to think that parents would help their children to avoid such things, but many simply don’t care.
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No way. Incompetence more like. Governments, having spent decades and goodness knows how many millions on anti smoking campaigns and goodness knows how many billions on smoking related illnesses, allowed free access to the addictive component of smoking products which was reckless and incredibly stupid. The only reason for vaping was as mechanism to quit smoking. Allowing it to proliferate with flavours, including flavours that appealed to children was unforgivable.
Trust me, this is a disaster in progress.
A random search turned this up….
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Wow, I have some will power.
How can you help people who dont want to be helped?
A long time ago, I loved smoking, exotic tobaccos, Zippo lighter tricks, all that stuff - ‘sophisticated’ and gauche. Then met a fashion designer who hated smoking, not for health reasons, but because it made clothes smell. For her I stopped. Our relationship ended decades ago, but I never had another cigarette.
Big thank you A, wherever you are!
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Thats nice
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Worth saying the obvious, that some seem to develop nicotine addiction more readily and strongly than others, which may not be so true of other drugs.
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Well, having the things on prescription would have helped and pricing. I mean what to we pay bloody health ministers/secretaries and secretaries general of departments/ministries for? We shouldn’t have to come up with ways of protecting our kids from what is obviously a dangerous product being pushed by unscrupulous bastards. That’s the job of the officials we pay and they have screwed up big time on this. These things have been targeted at kids to get them hooked. It really is a disgrace.
It’s interesting though how comparatively quickly attitudes changed in the UK. As a teenager in the late 60s my mother would give me packets of Rothmans that my stepfather had brough back from overseas trips (he’d go at least once a week to CE) but within 20 years or so it was becoming an ‘uncool’ habit and I think it’s only with the advent of vaping that smoking has again become popular. I don’t watch enough contemporary cinema to be able to comment on vaping in that medium, but it would be interesting to know where it stands.
Back where we started due to stupid politicians and lazy cvil servants?
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True but re apply my sentence, they dont want to be helped. After they get sick its a different matter.
There’s a very difficult balance to strike between protection and suppression. My inclination oscillates between wishing capital punishment for anyone caught in possession of any kind of drug, and complete and free availability of all kinds of drugs (to be supplied by government agency, making sure they’re cheap and clean to eliminate the illegal trade).
The problem is likely to be ordinary people. In a liberal situation too many would not understand self-control and in an illiberal one, drugs will acquire a mystique and attraction that familiarity might partially dispell.
Look at the way say the french behave with introducing wine to children compared to the binge drinking brit? I dont know enough about french family culture to actually draw any conclusion but purely observation the french kids behave far better. Sort of supports your idea. My worry is without some recreational use of substances we wouldnt have got to CBD which seems to be helping so many so there is a place for some things.
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My parents introduced me to modest drinking from an early age, and I never really did the binge drinking thing, for which I’m extremely grateful.
Despite my parents not doing that and as a result neither did I engage in binge drinking, I did do that with my children. A little wine with the main meal of the day even though at that time I had no idea it was a French ‘thing’.
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I gave up smoking 42 years ago when my first son was born. Beer goes out of date with me, only have a few cans in the fridge for visitors.
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As I am often the nominated driver yet do enjoy a glass, the relatives bought the dreaded alcohol free lagers for me. With the dread of Kaliber from years back I tried theirs in a blind test against real lager. The Lidl alcohol free is actually rather realistic and perfectly acceptable.
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Your tastebuds must be totally shot then. I would rather decline and go thirsty than drink that no alcholic brew.
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Tried them?
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The no alcohol Guinness isn’t bad, and I really don’t like no alcohol beers.
As for vaping, it’s hard to go to any shopping area without having to breathe in that cloying perfumed muck that people seem to need to suck into their lungs.