R.F.Wilson writes: I do not smoke myself, but I get really annoyed when I hear about governments throughout the world terrorising smokers into submission and pretending that the war on cigarettes is their grand mission. You know, as if smoking is the most disgusting and dangerous habit and needs to be eradicated completely.In Britain the Labour government has been leading a crusade against smoking for over a decade now. This is the same government, mind you, that has been promoting - I have no other word for it - 24-hour drinking and gambling and relaxing laws on drug use.One of the stupidest ideas that the Whitehall mandarins have come up with in their war against smoking was deciding to force shops and supermarkets to place all cigarettes under the counter so that people, and especially the little ones, of course, would not be tempted by the sight of all these alluring packs of ten and twenties. These brave plans also included banning vending machines from pubs and restaurants so that anyone who would want to buy a pack of cigarettes would have to approach the bartenders directly. The idea is that vending machines are an easy way for children to buy fags; as if children hang out in bars and restaurants all the time, looking to buy cigarettes, have a drink and chat up totties. cheap wow gold It is rubbish, of course, and the hypocrites in the government who come up with all these restrictions are perfectly aware of it.Now I have a few questions to the anti-smoking commissars: have they ever heardabout families splitting up because of smoking or encountered numerous cases of smoking related domestic violence and abuse? Or may be they can tell us about addictive smokers committing crimes to feed their habit, or terrorising whole town centres on weekends?cheap cigarettes Or how about poverty caused by smoking and women turning to prostitution to have as much fags as they want? Or families losing all their saving because of their addiction to smoking?It is drink, drugs and gambling that cause all these problems but tackling them, you see, isn’t as easy as slapping ban after ban on smokers. Drinkers, drug addicts and gamblers would not take it on the chin, like smokers did when they were banned from all public places, if their rights are infringed. ed hardy Caps So, the hypocrites in the British government not only ignore them but actually encourage them to get on with it. Drink round the clock, they say, gamble as much as you want and, wink-wink, we would not really go after you if you smoke a joint or two or, if you’ are a celebrity, snort cocaine all day long. So this crusade against smoking is nothing more but a cheap stunt intended to prove how busy the government is looking after its citizens. It is in the same category as saving Africa while your own pensioners are terrified to switch on the heating in the winter, or helping the orphans of Asia when many of the children in your own country live in poverty.ed hardy clothing It sort of makes you look cool and internationally aware, if you know what I mean, and does not really demand a lot of effort on your part. Not to mention that no one can really check whether you are doing a good job or not.Governments are prone to cheap gimmicks and stunts. It makes their life so much easier, you see. Our job is to see through the smoke, so to speak, and hold them to account. |