It seems that you have not read all of the preceding posts *Rhys* or you would be aware that I gave up smoking cigarettes more than 10 years ago. Also, I have not consulted with anyone who actually knows what they are talking about who considers that my mental health has declined as a result of stopping smoking cigarettes. Further, and again had you actually read everyone's post, you would be aware of the reality of their views, assuming you actually comprehend that is, as clearly you are incorrectly aware of mine?

..

If you feel so strongly about it, why not get a new job?

DreamOn,

I did read all the posts. Whether or not you gave up smoking ten years ago is irrelevant. This issue is whether people other than yourself should be forced to do so at the worst possible time of your life.
I to gave up smoking a number of years ago and am truly glad I did. The difference is I did so at a time of my own chosing.
While I could get a new job, that will not prevent the most vulnerable in our society from suffering unnecessarily as a result of this policy.
Please do not take offence at my posts. I meant no disrespect to yourself. I merely disagree with your position on this matter, just as you disagree with mine.

Nicotine replacement is not an alternative to smoking, it’s an aid to give up smoking. Who are you to dictate to someone they must need to wean from their legalised habit of smoking?

This article has helped me understand a lot. I have witnessed someone have a ‘break down’, and during that time she went from someone who despised smoking to someone who would get out of bed at 5 am to feed her need to smoke.

Nicotine patches cannot do what smoking does. When someone has an urge to smoke, they can choose just how much they want, when they want it. The person I know would have bouts of smoking every 15 to 20 minutes. What nicotine patch could keep up with that?

There’s not only this horrible akathisia, what about the psychological aspects of smoking? So you give them a patch and think it’s quite all right to make them go cold turkey on their psychological needs. And at a time when their stress levels must be through the roof. Just sounds cruel to me.

Nicotine patches just cannot replace all that smoking fulfils for the smoker.

Perhaps I could expand on that smoker/pregnancy craving analogy:

What if a pregnant woman with a killer craving for pickles was told she couldn’t have any whole ones but that there were some alternatives. She could instead slowly sip all day on pickle juice. Or perhaps some pickle puree could be offered, a teaspoon or so to be taken each half hour throughout the day. Do you think she’d be just as satisfied with these options? Somehow I really doubt it.

I agree completely Rhys. In fact, I'm quite sure that the prohibition on smoking in ordinary hospitals, is detrimental to the recovery of many patients.

A neighbour of mine, a single pensioner, was over 70, about 6 years ago, when he had a reasonably minor heart attack.

Having been stabilized, [his clot dissolved], at the local hospital he was transferred to a large city hospital. After 60 hours, when he had not been examined by a cardiologist, but had not been permitted to have a cigarette, he checked himself out. As he had no money, someone rang me for him, & I went & picked him up.

It is a good thing I picked him up in a convertible, with the top down, he chain smoked for the hour & a half it took to get him home. He emptied a packet. I doubt that sort of desperation is really much good for anyone.

As He said, he is over 70, stopping smoking is not of great importance. The hospital was built with outdoor smoking areas, so why all the bull dust.

He had upset them by not being a sheep. They took 3 months to get round to testing him. He had a stent fitted, but was not going in if he had to stay longer than overnight.

He's still going strong, smoking like a chimney, & will probably outlive me, despite all my purity, & healthy living.

Smoking causes harm not just to those choosing to smoke but also to all those around them.
Gadphli,
why stop at smokers ? Motor sport indeed many other sports are super charged when it comes to emission. Just look at the last Tour de France. All the cars, the media & spectators flying in from all over etc. Just the other day I was listening to some young people raving on about climate change due to industry then, only a moment later they started on where they were going to travel to. All over the world. So, a little smoke here'n there ? I'm a former smoker & I gave up because it started to slow me down. Howver, meanwhile I found that government policies are slowing me down way more. If we're so concerned about emission & smoking is an emission then let's be serious about it.
Smoking is a silly habit with serious side effects but so is mass spectator sport.

I guess it is time to jump back in to the fray.

Dooey,

My statement is based on several years experience working in different psychiatric settings and the well known fact that smoking tobacco is one of the most difficult addictions to deal with. Nicotine is known to be one of the most addictive substances known to man. Yet it is in the ingestion of the smoke that most of the health risks stem. I have not searched for any longitudinal studies on the issue but agree further investigation would be worthy and am confident it would support my argument that smoking is prevalent across the lifetime of sufferers of mental illness.

Individual,

You questioned me “why stop at smokers?” and then attempted to link it in a most bizarre fashion with motor sports, the tour de France, cars, media, climate change discussions in the media and young people travelling around the world. I fail to see even the most tenuous link these have with the subject we are discussing. But I will try and answer your question for a bit of fun.

Ok here goes. I wouldn’t stop at smokers, If someone is in a mental health facility because they have become a danger to themselves or others, I would also be comfortable with stopping them from engaging in motor sports, the tour de france, cars, media, climate change discussions in the media and young people travelling around the world. At least until they have been seen to no longer be a danger to themselves or others.

As an aside. I have no problem with smoking when it does not effect other people. As in the privacy of your own home or a reasonable distance from other members of the public. But why should the tiny outdoor areas that are provided for people in some mental health facilities be filled with the lingering stench of tobacco smoke, rather than fresh air.

Primum non nocere. First do no harm