Smoking Bans Cure all Ills

The problem with Singapore's new ‘smoking ban’

It's illiberal? It's divisive? The people don't want it? It's not necessary? Do tell...

As of today, Singapore will introduce a “no smoking zone” [...] It sounds controversial – restricting people’s right to smoke in public spaces, as a way of tackling air pollution

Singapore want to tackle air pollution by telling people they can't smoke in the street

smokers will be concentrated in 40 designated smoking areas, spaced 100-200 metres apart.

Well not quite 'can't'. Can as long as your doing it in one of the Government designated smoking pens

Air pollution is a major challenge for cities around the world, as it’s a significant cause of death and ill-health. City dwellers have a hard time avoiding the impacts of poor air quality, and children, the elderly and people with pre-existing medical conditions are most vulnerable.

Which shits on the usual rallying cry of the anti-smoker - "I have the right to breathe clean air"

Clearly, any attempt to develop solutions should be welcomed. But Singapore’s no smoking zone is an odd intervention

Not so odd when you think about it. We've already crossed into the realm of all diseases are causes by smoking. It's now quite common knowledge that non-smokers die of nothing, so presumably the next logical step is that all air pollution is also caused by smoking

The no smoking zone simultaneously displaces smoking and concentrates it within small smoking areas. The level of pollution caused by each of these areas will be influenced by the environment around it, so ideally these environments will help to dilute and disperse smoke

You know what else dilutes and disperses smoke in the open air?

Air! Open air!

Secondhand cigarette smoke significantly affects air quality in areas frequented by pedestrians, but this is only one ingredient in a very potent cocktail of pollutants

Nope. Second hand smoke in the open air, is not part of a cocktail of pollutants, it's nothing. Nothing at all. A wisp of smoke in the outdoors can have no affect whatsoever on air quality or the people breathing it

For Singapore, the challenge is that herding smokers into the 40 designated areas might result in a concentration of microplumes

LOL! "Microplumes". How long before that nonsense becomes a regular part of the anti-smoker lexicon?