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Smoking and drinking
Do you currently smoke or drink? What factors make it easier or harder to smoke or drink less?
Perhaps you’ve recently given up or cut back - what things in your local area, work place or about life in London generally made it easier or harder to do so?
49 Comments
British Culture and the stress and strain of daily life.
Never smoked. I don't understand how people can. It's so disgusting. And stinks. I'd prefer if smoking was banned completely. Sorry to everyone who is a smoker but it's the cost to our country as well as the health and wellbeing of our citizens that we should be prioritising. I know smoking generates more money than it costs of paper, but is that really what we want our society's excuse to be?
Also ban smoking from outside hospitals. All I ever see going past them is lines of doctors (who should be smarter), patients and visitors smoking.
I know I drink a lot more than I should and it's hypocrytical of me to judge smoking so much. I would like to drink less and try to cut down but there is a culture associated with it and I would love to go t total but that's not going to happen. :/
Right on mate. Ban smoking from 10 metres away from any building and in all vehicles of transport.
I miss the days when smoking was allowed inside buildings... At least then smokers were kept out of the way. There's a pub right next door to my home's train station - where it's safer to be inside the pub than outside. The smokers leave the pub for a cigarette, the 'fresh' air brings their drunken-ness to the surface and they just end up loitering around outside, smoking, staggering about and generally being a nuisance. Same goes for the gambling shops. They all hang around outside smoking, before going back inside to gamble and then back outside for a cigarette, loitering about, generally being an intimidating nuisance and making the area around them stink. Lovely.
Don't smoke. Do drink - mostly wine with food + occasional beer in pub.
I do smoke, probably too much, I do drink but well under the weekly "suggestion". I find the current attitude to smoking as getting very intolerant, especially public officials that want me to stop in my own home, I don't dictate to them to light up when they enter my home and object to being dictated to.
SInce we pay in far more tax and duty than we cost the NHS and some die earlier, saving the state pension fund money, there should be more tolerance. Attempts to restrict us still further in public spaces is going too far, even reasonable arrangements in pubs were rejected and of course the pubs have gained all the objectionable non smokers, not!, they have shut down instead.
Something does need to be done with those that cannot handle their alcohol, even in my younger years I was never an objectional or violent person, I would just fall asleep after too many, it did make my journey home interesting, when I arrived at the end of the line, :).
So live and let live, stop being adult nannies and respect other peoples own homes as private spaces.
Its a bit more complex than saying you pay more tax than you cost.
https://fullfact.org/economy/does-smoking-cost-much-it-makes-treasury/
Ultimately its too hard to quantify.
I don't smoke but do drink, at my local an integral part of a healthy society and community which sadly are declining in large numbers. Living and working in London can be stressful but I mainly drink to socialise.
I know the difficulties, but I believe that doctors individually, and surgeries collectively, could do more to wean obese patients and smokers from over-eating and smoking.
I smoke one cigar on some days - they are El Guajiro Brevas which I bought in Barcelona last year. I find it soothing to watch the smoke dissipate into the trees where I live. I would only smoke them outside and also away from people. I am generally in favour of a no-smoking policy in public areas, as well as the current laws that ban smoking inside most buildings.
Fortunately or unfortunately I am allergic to both, which can make life very difficult, especially as a passive smoker. I have no real problem if people choose to smoke at their own risk to their own health, I'm just upset that I don't choose to be a passive smoker, yet am forced to be one every day. I have had to purchase lots of different masks and medications in an attempt to help myself, when the problem would not exist if I were not forced to be a passive smoker outside every station, most offices and many bus stops and other public spaces. I realise smokers want to smoke, and am grateful many places are non-smoking for the rest of us, but if there were a way to make general public spaces non-smoking, it would really help people like myself with respiratory and other related problems. I also find it hypocritical that things like cannibis are banned (not that I am in favour of it being completely legal), but tobacco is not, when there are clear and proven links to so many medical problems both for smokers and non-smokers.
I thought only I am allergic to tobacco.
I do drink. There is too much alcohol everywhere. Everyone (almost) is drinking. I am not sure what actual benefits are, why I am doing this. My liver isn't in good shape and I definitely should avoid those extra calories. I think there are too many choices, new flavours that you want to try, attractive packing, promotions.
Alcohol is very dangerous, it destroys our body and mind. Of course it's not a killer in moderation but still doesn't do any good and it is easy to get addicted.
Perhaps something should be done about alcohol, like with cigarettes - plain packing, no flavours, hidden behind the counter. I would probably drink on a special occasion only buying it together with fireworks.
There are health benefits to some alcohol in certain conditions. Although for most of us we tend to drink more than that amount.
Removing flavours sounds like the worst idea ever. Hardcore alcoholics will drink anything that gets them drunk regardless of its flavour. Why ruin it for responsible drinkers (which the majority of the population are).
While I don't have a problem with plain packaging but I do find it amusing to watch the staff trying to find my brand amongst all the other brown packs, hehe. Woe betide them if someone does the usual supermarket trick, move the products around and then they are totally lost while searching the shelves. As for all the pretty pictures on them I have a cigarette case that deals with that problem.
Used to smoke many years ago. Gave up due to cost. How anyone affords it nowadays is beyond me.
I do drink. No more than I should certainly.
Its distressing to see so many pubs closing. Pubs are often the lifeblood of a community. Smoking ban obviously hasn't helped but I think everyone agrees its a lot more pleasant now. Too late to go back too. We can't pubs out of existence.
I don't do either. But I do think the state should focus more on drinking. Nobody was ever stabbed outside a pub or night club because the perpetrator smoked too much!
Agree with Bgresh that smoking should be banned completely in every public place. If people want to smoke in their own homes, it's up to them, but they should not be able to inflict it on others. As you can probably tell, I've never smoked; I'm a moderately severe asthmatic and ciggie smoke causes me big problems, apart from absolutely loathing and smell and the way it gets into my hair and clothes.
I drink a glass of red wine most days with my evening meal, and have the occasional G&T in the summer, but that's all.
I did smoke and gave up when pregnant and never went back to it. I do drink alcohol mainly wine with food. Things that would make things easier to give up or reduce consumption are:
Reducing amount of alcohol in drinks, wine now a days is often 13 or 14% alcohol so one glass is nearly 2 units. I work hard to find wine that tastes good and is at most 11.5% alcohol. The wine industry could do more to help.
There are also a lot of high alcohol beers, lagers and ciders. The alcohol does not make them taste better the industry could keep them down to 3-4%.
I understand smoking reduction is a sucess in the UK, so more of the same programs targetted at high smoking areas I guess.
Beers at 3-4% usually taste like water. Stronger beers can be much more flavoursome. Plus there is nothing wrong with drinking high strength drinks in moderation. There is a massive range of strengths available. We need to educate people more, thats all.
Gave up smoking 55 years ago That saved me some money ! Drink the occasional glass of wine or a bottle of beer .
Don't smoke & drink very little nowadays; it's too expensive & now I've virtually stopped, I don't miss it either.
Never smoked, social drinker
People should be free to make own choices
I can't respond to a reply so here it is:
"tallsam | Community Member | 11 hours ago
Its a bit more complex than saying you pay more tax than you cost."
Interesting survey but very short on anything more than the facts I already knew, 12Bn in and 6 Bn out, plus savings elsewhere.
The smoking break thing always makes me laugh as it ignores my increased output, so a non smoker producing 95% is beaten by me on 110% even with my smoking breaks.
I can only use my actual experience but at least that is fact and not the spurious figures from a think tank.
Yes I accept everybody has a different output level and that is why the smoking break argument always fail to impress me, the authors have an anti smoking agenda, therefore their evidence is tainted by skewed facts or in the current vernacular "fake news".
There appears to be a small group of bureaucrats, driving the politicians, to fulfil the bureaucrat agenda, resulting in an ever increasing nanny state. On one side we have this argument and on the other we have legalisation of other drugs, come on make your minds up. we have 2 different approaches for the same issues and until they join up their thinking then I will ignore them as an exasperating irritatant.
I smoke a lot when walking behing smokers on the pavement.
It would be nice if there could be awareness that whenever they just hold their cigarette, the people behind inhale it all.
and its not always easy to avoid/overtake.
there should be general education about smoking in public in manner respectuf of the rights of others...
So so with you on this.... e cigs at least don't make me wheeze.... very few considerate smokers.
Thanks everyone for sharing your views.
Many of you mentioned you consider yourself a social or occasional drinker.
Current guidance suggests that people should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week. That equates to 6 glasses of wine or pints of beer.
How does that relate to your levels of drinking? Do you think about the health impact when drinking alcohol, or not?
Talk London
I think 14 units is a fair amount. I seem to fall below this most weeks and don't feel I'm having to say no to drinks to stay below the limit.
I know I'm a fairly responsible drinker so don't worry much about health effects beyond having a rough head the next day if I drink more than 3 beers.
Don't drink spirits. Only beer, wine and cider.
I drink less than that most weeks if at all, then ill go on a proper night out once or twice a month, im a light weight but prob still classed as binge drinking as im petite. Much better then in my teens/20s tho! But thats down to opportunity/horrible hangovers also gotta keep your wits about you getting home via bus/night tube!. I don't drink wine only beer/cider and spirits/mixers mostly socially. I'm not a perpetual wine o clock or with my evening meal type. I see this a LOT with the comfortable marrieds etc. They don't think getting through 6 bottles a week is a problem...crazy! Check out the recycling boxes in the middle class areas of west London...hilarious! Full of wine bottles!!
Also i think people my age etc just drink more at home these days via the supermarket 'bargains' and watch bad TV/phone zombie socialising. Im a big believer and lover of pubs and bars its use em or lose em!
14 units is still q damaging.
Gave up smoking many moons ago. I do drink but just what I would class as a social drinker. Smoking nowadays is a very anti social habit and a very expensive one.
My biggest bug bear with smokers are those that throw their butts on the floor. How is that ok? They should be fined the same as anyone else who litters. Crack down on it for a few months and it'll become common behaviour.
I'd go as far as suggesting flicking ash on the floor is littering too but I don't think that'd be very easy to enforce. Not hard to carry an ash-tray is it?
Catch-22. People throw their butts and ash on the floor because there aren't enough places to bin them, because having a place bin them is deemed as too much of an encouragement to smoke...
Honestly though is ash on the pavement really that bad? You should see the amount of soot that builds up on my window sill from general city pollution in one week.
I strongly oppose smoking. Nicotine is an addictive drug and causes more deaths than heroine or cocaine. In fact all heroine, cocaine and crack users start by smoking cigarettes, then move on to cannabis, then cocaine...
I believe smoking should be banned in all public places and that if people must smoke, they should do it in the privacy of their own homes away from everybody else.
I also want to see the E cigarettes banned anfpd their use inside restaurants, pubs, under shelters, etc.
I drink one maybe two units of alcohol a week or a fortnight, very rarely any more.
More needs to be done to educate the children of today of the severe dangers of smoking and alcohol and how if they saved the amount they would spend on cigarettes and/or alcohol they would not experience the financial issues that many of those who decide to smoke or drink do and they may be able to spoil themselves with nice meals out or great holidays instead of standard ones.
My fiance'e quit smoking 15 years ago, has no debts, has saved over £45,000 - which she would have spent on cigarettes and we go on 4 and 5 star holidays to places like Mexico, Cuba, America, etc
I have never smoked and don't intend to start. I do like a drink but only socially.
Non smoker and non drinker. I think smoking is disgusting and should be banned everywhere. I agree people should be free to make their own choices but not when the choices they make affect the rest of us. I don't want to pay for health care for people who smoke or people who drink too much and need NHS emergency. 10 cigarettes cost £4 and a pint of beer £3 say 3 times a week = £1092 . I wonder if people realise this ? Smokers and drinkers should have to pay for NHS care.
We are heavily taxed for the privilege, far more than the NHS cost and with the added "benefit" of less state pension payments.
I smoked for 40 years but gave up 3 yrs ago with the use of E-cigarettes. Why anyone continues to smoke after the advent of non toxic nicotine delivery is a mystery to me. I am no longer a pariah with smelly clothes and breath, and no one minds if I vape in their home.
I, too, drink but not to excess. It ruins the enjoyment.
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