No smoking hospital
 

Patients complete with night wear and wheelchairs smoke outside the main doors of Wrexham's maelor hospital ignoring the no smoking signs. The temperature was 3 degrees!

[img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5183309690_6fb52eacb4.jpg[/img]

Karen

Karen good capture the same scene is captured around the country at hospital I have seen a guy hooked up to a IV unit sitting outside having a puff. Just a very hard habit to kick for some!

Yeah I agree, Pavman and to be honest I think its ridiculous that people on drips, on oxygen and some recovering from major surgery are expected to sit out in 3 degrees! I am not a smoker but find it ludicrous that a heroin addict in hospital can have methodone subsitiute yet a smoker has to go cold turkey. The no smoking rule is obviously not working so why not put an area aside rather than have this awful scene outside the main doors?

Karen

Unfortunatley I had to spend time in Christies and have seen the same outside there, i guess they think its too late ( oh dear)

[QUOTE=karenoliver;27288]Yeah I agree, Pavman and to be honest I think its ridiculous that people on drips, on oxygen and some recovering from major surgery are expected to sit out in 3 degrees! I am not a smoker but find it ludicrous that a heroin addict in hospital can have methodone subsitiute yet a smoker has to go cold turkey. The no smoking rule is obviously not working so why not put an area aside rather than have this awful scene outside the main doors?

Karen[/QUOTE]

I agree Karen. There should be a smoking room with a ventilation system and void of any flammable materials inside the hospital grounds. Forcing recovering patients to go outside in near freezing temperatures is ridiculous. Considering smokers pay a HUGE amount of tax on each packet of cigarettes they purchase, you'd think it would cover the cost of providing a room for them.

I quit smoking nearly 10 years ago. I don't like to sit in a smokey room but, I agree with peoples right to smoke if they choose and an area should be set aside from them.

I can't remember how much junkies pay in VAT on each gram of heroin they buy, but I'm sure smokers pay more. You also tend not to get nicotine addicts, mugging or breaking into peoples homes to fund their habit.

I think all drugs should be legalized. Outlawing them has done NOTHING to stem the tide of it coming into this country. If it was made legal and available over the counter like alcohol and tobacco, you could ensure no drugs were cut with anything dangerous and you could also generate tax revenue from it.

If you got a free needle and syringe with every fix, then users wouldn't be inclinded to share them, thereby helping to prevent the spread of HIV, AIDS, heptatitus and other diseases. In one fell swoop you would put all the organised crime syndicates and dealers out of business.

Right, off my soap box.

Great capture Karen!!

So your making drugs leagal ? I hope you never have children that are hooked on them because they are available. I too was a smoker 25 years ago, hence the trip tp christies , perhaps if they were not plastered on the tele and the walls and readily available , WELL enough said, we all have our views i supose

Thanks both for the feedback. Hope you're well now, Mark and fully recovered.

As for drugs I've no idea what the solution is to be honest, Aaron. Here in Wrexham its pretty rife now and not a day goes past when I don't see someone stoned out of their mind or wandering all over the place with a can of beer in their hand, a carrier bag full of cans in the other. We have just got to hope that the kids in school see them also and think they don't want to be like that and promise to themselves to avoid drugs at all cost.

Karen

Hi Mark,

Its a taboo subject but the sad truth is, whether drugs are illegal or not, people get hold of them and use them. Its this that society on the whole has largely fails to address. We think that by banning drugs, we are somehow protecting our children and safeguarding our communities. The sad reality is that this is not the case.

3 people I went to school with died of heroin overdoses. No law saved them. I know many more people than that, who were or still are heroin addicts. I know many people who have regularly taken cocaine in the past and the effects of that on their families.Some were from broken homes. Others were from very well to do and wealthy families. Regardless of whether drugs are legal or not, people do them. In fact, because of their illegal status, many youngsters see it as a way of rebelling against society and are more attracted to them.

I also see first hand the fall out from banned substances, as dealers fight over turf or smash the hell out of people who don't pay up. I see armed police storming masionettes opposite me or have my dog attacked by a dealers dog which is nothing more than a weapon of protection for him.

Look at the US in the 1920's and 30's when alcohol was banned. This gave rise to massive criminal organisations like those run by Al Capone. Just because its banned, doesn't stop people doing it. All that happens is that people continue doing it and ruthless scum gets rich from it, allowing them to expand their operations into things like prostitution and gun smuggling, which spreads like a cancer on society.

How many people a year die from alcohol abuse compared to those that die from the results of taking ecstacy? The numbers are staggering in comparison yet, society doesn't shun the off license owner, the guy with the bottle of wine in his shopping basket or the man in the pub. How many violent crimes happen as a direct result of alcohol? People get aggressive on it. People who smoke marijuana go the other way and get chilled out.

We need to educate our children and tell the truth about drugs. A lot of what is pushed on kids and adults today is false, especially regarding marijuana which has an amazing amount of real health benefits to people with medical conditions. Big pharmaceuticals don't want people to have the ability to grow marijuana and alleviate their symptoms. It costs them money. As far as I'm aware, there has never been one reported death as a direct result of smoking weed, yet we have millions dying globally from smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol.

We have to face up to the realities of this world. [B]People have free will[/B]. A law will not stop someone from doing anything. Murder, rape, assault, theft, drugs.... all illegal. People still do it. Drugs have been banned for decades, yet we still see the results of it across the nation and its getting worse! What we could do by legalising it, is make it safer for people that do decide to do it and stop criminals empires from wreaking havoc upon our communities by getting rich from those that decide partake.

Another nice image Karen - and sums up a part of our society nicely. I like the way it's at night and they're kind of in the shadows making what they're doing seem a little dirty and shady - which it is...

...but that's another topic I'm not getting drawn on (ex-smokers unite!) :)

Cheers
Andy

Hey amk1977
Your point of view is very well put and to some degree i agree but the fact that people have free will and [B]the law wont change that [/B]is a sad point, should we therfore give everyone a gun or a knife because its going to happen wether we like it or not! I dont think so. The drinking laws have been extended and we see a rise in alcaholism and binge drinking on the streets, because we made it available.
The law only raps the knuckles of criminals that have killed and maimed and perhaps thats where we start. Our values have changed and we are less caring to others, perhaps because of our greed who knows.
It has been said to me that all the people that take drugs should be put on an island with all the drugs they need, perhaps that will stop the drug barons and the crime and burglary and rape and muggins. Just to feed their addiction.
Nice to get your view thou :)