Daring FireballApr 24
United Kingdom to Pass Smoking Ban Only for Those Who Are Not Yet Legal Adults
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/04/23/united-kingdom-smoking-ban
United Kingdom to Pass Smoking Ban Only for Those Who Are Not Yet Legal Adults

Link to: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/world/europe/uk-smoking-ban-2009.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dVA.f9yJ.YMVg9N8QOlio

Daring Fireball
Show threadBen KirtonApr 24
@daringfireball You are from a country that famously declares you an adult at 18 and yet you can’t drink until 21, but this is a step too far?
You can’t be a rep until 25, senator until 30, pres until 35. So many others.
Absolutism while ignoring all the pragmatic aspects of something is just a reaction based on feels, not the actual law as presented.
Show threadJohn Gruber

@bjkirton First, while my inclination is to object (as I wrote, on the grounds that it violates the notion that all adults are equals), but I do see both sides here, which is why I find it fascinating.

To your points, 21 for drinking (and smoking in many places now), 35 to be president, 65 for Medicare -- everyone turns those ages eventually. It'd be absurd to pass a law that says no one born after 2008 can ever be elected president, or ever receive Medicare benefits.

Apr 24 at 1:39pmIvory for Mac
Show threadBen KirtonApr 25

@gruber I see the distinction, but it ignores the actual law. If it needs to be perfect, nothing will pass.

This hurts literally no one except the tobacco companies, and it would be hard to find someone not employed by them to do anything other than cheer.

There are a million laws in your country and mine that don’t fit perfectly with the ideal, but work to gain the intended effect.

The killer piece is to review and update as required, which our politicians all seem unable to do.