Keith Richards smoke row
p2pnet.net OT News:- The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards didn’t much satisfaction when he lit up on stage in Glasgow, Scotland.
“The city council has confirmed it is investigating reports that Richards smoked throughout the gig at Hampden Park on Friday, which was attended by 50,000 fans,”says The Scotsman.
Richards could be fined £50 if he’s found to have contravened the city’s non-smoking ban, “introduced earlier this year to combat the effects of passive smoking,” says the story.
And Hampden Park, which introduced its own smoking ban in January, “could even be fined if officials prove the venue failed to enforce the law,” says the story, which has a spokesman for anti-smoking group ASH Scotland stating:
“We welcome that Glasgow City Council is taking its responsibility to enforce the ban seriously. We realise also though, that Keith Richards did hurt his head recently and might not have been fully compus mentis.”
Richards, “is one of rock’s true hell-raisers and known for his consumption of stimulants including tobacco, but was recently in the news for an operation on his skull after falling from a tree in May, causing the legendary band to cancel some tour dates,” says The Guardian Online.
The Scotsman quotes Neil Rafferty, spokesman for smokers’ rights group Forest Scotland, as saying, “Mel Smith was prevented from portraying Churchill at the Edinburgh Festival and now a local authority is treating the biggest rock group in the world like children.”
Smith, who plays Churchill in the play Allegiance, “had flouted the ban in a photocall at the Assembly Rooms and promised to do the same on stage,” said the BBC.
The pic of Richards with a smoke is from the Ludwig Museum, Cologne.
There’s a long Wikipedia list of other iconic smokers, including another Stones guitarist, Ron Wood, of whom it says, “Once an even heavier smoker than his band-mate Keith Richards, Wood has attempted to curb his cigarette consumption after being diagnosed with emphysema in 2004.”
Also See:
The Scotsman – Probe after Smoking Stone lights up at Hampden, August 27, 2006
The Guardian Online – Keef faces cigarette rap, August 28, 2006
BBC – Smith rethink on smoking gesture, August 7, 2006
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August 29th, 2006 at 3:17 am
“The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards didn’t >>GET<< much satisfaction when he lit up on stage in Glasgow, Scotland.”
Missing the word ‘get’ in that line. Somehow doesn’t seem to have the same witty impact without it.
“Richards could be fined £50 if he’s found to have contravened the city’s non-smoking ban, “introduced earlier this year to combat the effects of passive smoking,” says the story.”
Why would a town have a ‘non-smoking ban’? Would make moer sense to have a ’smoking ban’ instead, if you want people to not smoke.
Ugh, I hate smokers. Actually, before the ‘I have the right to kill myself by smoking’ folks jump on me, I’m actually all for your right to do it, just as long as you repsect my right not to have to breath that crap of yours in when you’re standing next to me. My grandfather smoked all his life. Died recently of lung cancer, and it looked like a rather nasty way to go. My dad has also smoked all of his life too, and clearly suffers from several related health issues because of it, all of which he is in denial about. Life is hard enough already, no need to make it worse than it already is lol. Which is what makes me glad I escaped it relatively unscathed, though who knows what effect second-hand smoke had on me while growing up. I have no doubt that my father will die just like his father did. You reap what you sow I guess.