Smoking in Otago

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networkn

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#262184 9-Jan-2020 10:58

During a recent stay in Otago, I was unpleasantly surprised to notice just how many people smoke. Central Dunedin was particularly bad. It was pretty much impossible to walk 3 minutes without cigarette smoke wafting in your face, and the Octagen was the worst of all, with people smoking outside pretty much all the restaurants. Vaping seemed popular, but less prevalent than say, Auckland or Christchurch based on recent experience. I was probably even more noticeable because the city was pretty much deserted.

Is it a known "smokers" hot spot?

Malaysia and Germany (less so Paris) were the last time I saw this.

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#2388981 9-Jan-2020 12:29

When I lived there it certainly wasn't the case.

Sadly, these sort of observations will be anecdotal at best... kind of like saying 'Auckland drivers are worse at using their indicators than Nelson drivers' etc.

djtOtago

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#2388989 9-Jan-2020 12:37

I find it very much depends on what cruise ship is in.

networkn

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#2388990 9-Jan-2020 12:40

djtOtago:

I find it very much depends on what cruise ship is in.

There were a lot of them (cruise ships), but most of the ones I noticed, seemed to be locals.

halper86

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#2388997 9-Jan-2020 12:50

About one in 10 Dunedin locals smoke:
https://www.orc.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-media-releases/2019/july/hub-now-smokefree

networkn

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#2389009 9-Jan-2020 12:53

halper86: About one in 10 Dunedin locals smoke:
https://www.orc.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-media-releases/2019/july/hub-now-smokefree

Hmm and 12.9% in Auckland. I guess those ones that do are in areas I don't spend any time in. I am surprised that the number is higher honestly.

halper86

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#2389011 9-Jan-2020 12:56

I went camping recently with a crowd in dunback, near Dunedin and was suprised how all of the adults and even a few of the teens were smoking

networkn

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#2389014 9-Jan-2020 12:58

halper86: I went camping recently with a crowd in dunback, near Dunedin and was suprised how all of the adults and even a few of the teens were smoking

We did the Otago rail trail, when we stopped at local places to stay and eat, the numbers were a lot higher than 10% that's for certain.

halper86

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#2389044 9-Jan-2020 13:48

When I was in Wellington a few months ago, the amount of smokers was the worst I have seen in years

Dunnersfella

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#2389056 9-Jan-2020 13:57

I sat in the smokers section outside a Wellington bar a few months ago, out of 10 people in the area, 9 were smoking...

...I was the odd one out.

Basically, smokers have become increasingly visible now they can no longer smoke inside in public spaces.

It is what it is.

andrew027

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#2389057 9-Jan-2020 14:04

Dunnersfella: I sat in the smokers section outside a Wellington bar a few months ago, out of 10 people in the area, 9 were smoking...

90% of the people sitting in the smokers' section were smoking? Am I missing something obvious?

networkn: During a recent stay in Otago, I was unpleasantly surprised to notice just how many people smoke ... Malaysia and Germany (less so Paris) were the last time I saw this.

I was in Germany (Cologne and Dresden) and didn't notice many people smoking at all - definitely more smokers in Paris when I was there a week or so earlier.

I was also in Singapore recently and noticed the number of smokers has dropped significantly from when I used to go there a lot for business 20-odd years ago, but I assumed that was at least partially due to their severe anti-littering laws (people won't want to be caught dropping their butts on the street).

Geektastic

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#2389335 9-Jan-2020 21:51

networkn:

During a recent stay in Otago, I was unpleasantly surprised to notice just how many people smoke. Central Dunedin was particularly bad. It was pretty much impossible to walk 3 minutes without cigarette smoke wafting in your face, and the Octagen was the worst of all, with people smoking outside pretty much all the restaurants. Vaping seemed popular, but less prevalent than say, Auckland or Christchurch based on recent experience. I was probably even more noticeable because the city was pretty much deserted.

Is it a known "smokers" hot spot?

Malaysia and Germany (less so Paris) were the last time I saw this.

I suggest you avoid Vietnam!

Handle9

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#2389346 9-Jan-2020 22:12

andrew027:

I was in Germany (Cologne and Dresden) and didn't notice many people smoking at all - definitely more smokers in Paris when I was there a week or so earlier.

I regularly visit Germany and smoking is much more prevalent. Here in the UAE people still can smoke inside!

Handle9

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#2389347 9-Jan-2020 22:13

And cigarettes start at $6 a packet (they just doubles the excise tax!)

cddt

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#2413843 6-Feb-2020 20:06

andrew027:

I was in Germany (Cologne and Dresden) and didn't notice many people smoking at all - definitely more smokers in Paris when I was there a week or so earlier.

Roughly 30% of Germans smoke, compared with roughly 16% in NZ (Wikipedia, 2015 data).

networkn

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#2413869 6-Feb-2020 21:15

Having just spent 2 weeks in the US, it was even more apparent how obvious the smokers were here than there. I did see people smoking, but I can't recall smelling anyone smoking, maybe once. The number of people I saw smoking was almost negligible, in fact it was noticeable how few people I saw doing it. Perhaps there they hide the smoker's areas better. The other thing I noticed here, is how often you can see butts on the ground. It's much less of a problem where I went. I am sure I saw some, but it wasn't like it is there, where every gutter has them etc etc.

Vaping was probably about similarly popular.

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