this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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New Zealand repeals world-first smoking ban passed by Jacinda Ardern (www.independent.co.uk)
submitted 7 months ago by throws_lemy to c/publichealth@mander.xyz
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[โ€“] indomara@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It may not justify a flat ban, and such heavy handed measures often fail, as this one has.

Perhaps instead we could focus on harm reduction? The amount of tar and nicotine in commercially available cigarettes today is astronomical compared to historically available tobacco.

"In the 1970s, Brown & Williamson cross-bred a strain of tobacco to produce Y1, a strain containing an unusually high nicotine content, nearly doubling from 3.2 to 3.5%, to 6.5%."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco#Contemporary

The average cigarette today has around 10.2mg of nicotine.

We do not ban people from driving cars, but we have laws that require seat belts.

We do not ban drinking alcohol but we have responsible service laws, age limits, and don't allow driving while intoxicated.

We do not ban extreme sports, but we have mandates for helmets and protective gear.

Not having these measures in place affects everyone.

[โ€“] cali_ash@lemmy.wtf -3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

By all means, smoking is disgusting and should be reduces. But that's really not my point.

[โ€“] indomara@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Your point was originally that it doesn't affect others, and we were discussing the ways that it does, and how those negative effects might be reduced.

I'm actually really glad to see these sorts of exchanges here more and more.

I love lemmy. <3