3 ms·
We know the dangers of second hand smoke. Someone drinking near you does not impact your health.
by brador 6mo ago
We know the dangers of second hand smoke. Someone drinking near you does not impact your health.
- Ylpertnodi 6mo agoYou've probably never been out on a Friday night in the Uk.
- drcongo 6mo agoThis comment doesn't deserve the downvotes, it's a very valid point.
- lokar 6mo agoIs it really that bad? Is there something I can read to learn more?
- JumpCrisscross 6mo ago> Is it really that bad? I say this as someone who quite enjoys his drink–you haven't seen a hardcore drinking culture until you've dodged multiple projectile vomiters in SoHo at like 5PM on a random Tuesday.
- ben_w 6mo agoI somehow managed to avoid experiencing this despite living in the UK up to the age of 34.
- drcongo 6mo agoI'm a bit late responding on my own sub-thread, but if you haven't seen these photos before, this is roughly what every city centre in the UK looks like after dark. https://www.maciejdakowicz.com/cardiff-after-dark/ https://www.maciejdakowicz.com/cardiff-after-dark/
- ben_w 6mo agoNot Havant, though I was there to 18 and would've only had the independence to examine the nightlife for the two years in which I was doing my A-levels; not Aberystwyth as a university student, nor Plymouth city in my industrial year even though I lived here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Capitol+Students+Central+Point+Student+Accommodation/@50.3706289,-4.1429754,64m https://www.google.com/maps/place/Capitol+Students+Central+P... Likewise, Cambridge was far too genteel for that, when I lived there. Sheffield managed one night that would've fitted in with those pictures. When my partner and I walked past the football stadium as everyone was leaving.
- drcongo 6mo agoVery surprised you never saw this in Plymouth!
- squigz 6mo agoIt doesn't? That should be good news for victims of drunk driving, and the families of abusive drunks.
- afavour 6mo agoThere’s still a difference, surely? Drinking alcohol can lead to drunk driving and it can lead to abuse. Thankfully in the vast majority of instances it doesn’t. Second hand smoke, however, inflicts damage the moment it’s inhaled.
- squigz 6mo agoI'm not saying there's no difference. I just don't that difference is as pronounced as some people think, and I don't think it excuses the apparent double standard. Brief Googling also suggests that second-hand smoke affects at least similar levels of people as drunk driving, if not more - to say nothing of e.g. domestic violence. Not to mention, there are already various laws designed to mitigate the effects of second-hand smoke, such as not smoking indoors or in cars with children. Overall, I am just not convinced that it's necessary to focus so much more on cigarettes over other drugs.
- afavour 6mo ago> there are already various laws designed to mitigate the effects of second-hand smoke And there are already various laws designed to prevent drunk driving and drunk domestic abuse. I think the broader picture here is a simple one: drinking alcohol is more societally acceptable than smoking. A government is going to be reflective of its voters, “necessary” or not, a law to ban drinking would be enormously unpopular in a way a law to ban smoking would not.
- squigz 6mo ago> I think the broader picture here is a simple one: drinking alcohol is more societally acceptable than smoking. A government is going to be reflective of its voters, “necessary” or not, a law to ban drinking would be enormously unpopular in a way a law to ban smoking would not. Sure, and this is why I put aside the issue of whether the government is doing the "right" thing in its position and focused on the people who it supposedly reflects - because it doesn't make sense to me that one is more acceptable than the other to an individual, and thinking so doesn't seem to reflect any sort of realistic view on alcohol and its impact on society, while holding cigarettes to a much higher standard.
- hyperpape 6mo agoWith all due respect, this is completely wrong. There is a difference that someone smoking nearby automatically harms people around you. With alcohol, the effect is more unpredictable, but it is equally real. Alcohol is a factor in an automobile crashes, and a factor in a significant proportion of violent crime, especially domestic violence (https://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/09/17/mark-kleiman/taxation-specific-prohibition/ https://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/09/17/mark-kleiman/taxatio... edit: this source isn't as great, Kleiman has written elsewhere about the subject, but google is failing me). If we could wave a magic wand and cause drinking to cease to exist, many lives would be saved. Note: I do in fact drink, I am not a teetotaler. But what I said above is factual. I personally believe that prohibition would be worse, and it's reasonable for individuals to make their own choices. But that does not entail denying that it goes very badly for many.
- Findecanor 6mo agoSecond-hand smoke does affect people around you. It is how people get addicted to nicotine. It is how new smokers are created. And there are some people who are more sensitive to temporary exposure to smoke (and pollution in general) than others. That is why smoking tends to be is banned around hospitals and day care centers — because those are places where you will find those people. My father was one of them, after he had got his larynx removed for throat cancer after having smoked for decades. He could not suffer being subjected to even small amounts of second-hand smoke again because then the breathing hole in his throat would get irritated, fill up with mucus and have to be cleaned with a suction device. And if you drink alcohol next to me, it does not make my clothes and my hair stink so much afterwards that I will want to wash my hair and change my clothes before going to bed.
- Sweepi 6mo agoiirc alcohol is the drug with the highest amount of 3rd party harm due to the high number of people beating their spouse, children and sometimes random strangers under the influence. (+ 3rd party property, car crashes, ...) Keep in mind this was evaluated with current laws, which bans most kinds of indoor-smoking. Still a good idea to ban cigarettes and force people to consume their nicotine in healthier ways.
- hagbard_c 6mo agoThat is, until that person gets behind the wheel or on a (motor)bike and impacts you - and with that, your health - directly. Having said that I don't like the nanny society which acts like it knows better. People sometimes want to do stupid things and I think they should be able to do so. They should also not burden society with the consequences of their stupid actions so smokers either pay in more for health insurance or get relegated to the bottom tier - e.g. "palliative care for smoking-induced illnesses, no life-extending treatments for smoking-related diseases". No smoking where it impacts others negatively - this includes minors living in their house - but if they want to smoke where it doesn't impact others just let them do it.
- ErroneousBosh 6mo ago> That is, until that person gets behind the wheel or on a (motor)bike and impacts you - and with that, your health - directly. Which is something weirdly North American - it's insane how okay USians are with drinking and driving considering how Puritanical they are about drinking generally.
- hagbard_c 6mo agoAre they? I have not experienced this myself. The Americans I met seemed to have the same position towards DUI as the north-western and northern Europeans I know: it is a bad idea which leads to needless accidents, injuries and death. Being a north-western European living in northern Europe I know far more of the latter two than I know Americans but, having visited the country many times for business and a few times for pleasure (north, south, east and west) I haven't met anyone who considered it 'OK' to drink and drive even though I did meet a few who did so anyway. The same is true for the Europeans I mentioned, some do get behind the wheel while they know they shouldn't.
- guzfip 6mo ago> Someone drinking near you does not impact your health. Hah, alcoholics have done more damage to my life than a smoker could ever dream of.
- wookmaster 6mo agoIf you just ignore alcohol fueled violence, birth defects, deaths from drivers hitting people and cars and the emotional health toll to others from dealing with an alcoholic, sure.
- temp0826 6mo agoGrow up with an alcoholic parent then get back to us
- joquarky 6mo agoI know at least one hacker news reader who didn't grow up with an alcoholic parent. Congratulations!