Leave my smoking breaks alone!

What an excellent idea. Thank you NICE. Of course, smokers should be given paid time off by their employers to attend smoking cessation clinics. But such a good suggestion shouldn't stop there? The overweight should be given time off to see dieticians, that'll make the tubby more energetic; those who like a tipple and arrive at work with the odd unproductive hangover, well they could be sent to alcohol concern workshops; and the naturally unenergetic could be sent to the gym or doped with uppers to give them a bit more fizz; and. . .

Jeepers! What an astonishingly crass idea. Let's ignore the practical objections. Let's ignore the unfairness of loading onto business the costs of fulfilling an individual employee's choice. And let's ignore NICE's unfitness to judge what makes a company more productive. Let's instead focus on the obnoxious assumption behind the proposal: that it's the State's duty to ensure that we are compliant, productive little worker bees, who maintain our health so that we can boost the GDP (and afford to pay for an army of bureaucrats, "smoking cessation workers" and smoking ban compliance officers). I am not a drone, I am a free man!

It's worth checking out Simon Clark's Taking Liberties blog. He fights the good fight for harassed smokers in Britain. He has a sharp post on the latest British Medical Association prodnosing, and is promoting a pro-smoking CD of songs. Good man.

Robbie Millen

Comments

[mandy vincent]

Nice one Daniel, That is exactly how I feel, I wrote this months back, hope you like it. When all the workers who smoke go outside for their smoke breaks. the antis will start raging again.
Given that the HSE say this, why are the unions not getting off of their backsides to give equal rights to all employees, for those who already enjoy a seperate smoking room (2006)
http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/fod/oc/200-299/255_15.pdf

9 The evidential link between individual circumstances of exposure to risk in
exempted premises will be hard to establish. In essence, HSE cannot
produce epidemiological evidence to link levels of exposure to SHS to the
raised risk of contracting specific diseases and it is therefore difficult to prove
health-related breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act. Inspectors
are therefore urged to exercise caution in considering any formal
enforcement action in relation to SHS (with one exception – see below).
However, the full impact of the smoking ban is difficult to foresee
completely, and if serious circumstances emerge where inspectors
believe they must consider enforcement, then they should consult
Health Unit and the Policy Team (see Annex 2 for contacts) before taking
action. The exception to this guidance relates to pre-existing health
conditions of employees which can be made worse by exposure to second
hand smoke e.g. respiratory or cardiovascular disease, or to pregnancy. In
such circumstances, specialist and medical advice may be necessary to
secure support for enforcement action.

The Goverments sting
It starts with a vision, a powerful sting,
Disruptive forces, to all he will bring,
Muted Voices, ears do not hear,
Into a web, a web spun, to fear

Into his hive, with his army of bees,
Subduing the workers, who tirelessly please,
Degraded, with stigmas, the workers revolt,
They see through his web, a vindictive cult.
M J V

feedom2choose.co.uk

[Kassie trenton]

If you're a smoker then you know how important these comments are . Go to http://www.badspace.com to post more comments & see articles on the banding of smoke breaks

[Tony Francis]

Several years ago, the States sued the tobacco companies, and eventually got $ billions in settlement. The legal theory was that my tax dollars had gone to treat the medical illnesses of smokers. So my question: "Where's my part of the settlement?" Well, the taxpayers got nothing. The money went to the states to use in anti-smoking campaigns, among other things. One law firm got over a billion dollars. Later, they discovered North Carolina (a big tobacco state) was using the money to promote smoking. Here in the US, all the smokers have been congregating around the doors of buildings for years. Now there is a movement to get them away from the doors.

[quit-smoking-niccine-drug]

Niccine: a new approach to quit smoking This is a different approach to the quit smoking problem similiar to by the drug maker Pfizer's Chantix

Swedish anti-nicotine vaccine to be tested in Nordic countries "A Swedish vaccine against nicotine will be tested on 400 people in three Nordic countries," Heavy smokers who would like to quit, will get counselling along with the new drug, initial test will run for 4 months.

Niccine is supposed to help the immune system build antibodies against nicotine. Interesting approach to the problem: Niccine will latch onto the incoming nicotine and preventing it from reaching the brain's reward system, thereby preventing the smoker from getting that addictive smoking "kick" or hit.

Niccine, has been developed over the course of 10 years by Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute, under the guidance of professor Torgny Svensson who founded Independent Pharmaceutica.

This is a different approach to the quit smoking problem used by Pfizer's Chantix should I use Chantix or wait for Niccine ?

Quit smoking, smoking cessation drugs,smoking cessation medicine

www.chantix-smoking.blogspot.com

[chantix-quit-smoking]

Nicotine patch inventor dies Dr Murray Jarvik at 84 died May 8 at his home in Santa Monica, California

He wasa pioneer researcher of smoking addition and co-inventor of the nicotine patch, Cuase of death was congestive heart failure The patch became available with a prescription 1992.
Over the counter sales were approved 4 years later. He was a pioneer in the area for smoking cessation.

Dr Jarvik's research into the absorption of tobacco through the skin began with studies of farmhands who harvest it.