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Smoking 3
The third installment in an occasional series about smoking. Check out Smoking and Smoking 2 for more on this subject.
It’s now 4 July - Independence Day for our American cousins - and while they are busy celebrating their freedom, in the UK we’ve lost part of ours, as the ban on smoking in enclosed public areas has now been in force for four days. [So far, the one change that I've really noticed is that there are a lot more people smoking while they're driving, which can't be good for road safety!]
I’ve already said that I’m not in favour of the ban for several reasons; the over-bearing “nanny state” attitude, the removal of personal liberty and the freedom to choose, and arse-about-face way that it’s being done. For instance, we now have to have “No Smoking” signs everywhere - even though there’s a blanket ban. As someone else said, do we have “No Murdering” or “No Burglary” signs? No. Why do we need all these “No Smoking” signs when it’s banned everywhere?
So I was cheered to see on the local news this evening the story of a vicar who tried to get himself arrested for smoking - by lighting his pipe in a police station. Good man! (This link should take you to a video of the story.) Unfortunately, it’s not a police matter - this stupid regulation is dealt with by local councils - so they just turfed him out.
But I think what his story does demonstrate is that there is quite a bit of feeling out there against this new legislation, not because lots of people want to be able to smoke but because they see it as another step along the slippery slope to total governance of our daily lives.
Of course, you can argue that the nation’s health is more important and you might have a point - if all of the medical evidence against smoking is actually true. I’m currently reading Slow Burn by Don Oakley which argues that a lot of the evidence against smoking is anecdotal at best and represents clever manipulation of statistics. I must admit that at the moment (not very far through the book) I am unconvinced by some of his arguments, but he does have the figures to back some of them up. I’d certainly recommend anyone - smoker or not - to check it out for a different viewpoint, if nothing else.
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