NEWS that a
And her situation isn’t helped by the latest sales figures. Sales of cigarettes have increased in
Last year saw tobacconists netting sales of €12.5 billion, a growth of 1.4% on the previous year, according to the Ministry of the Economy.
However, it’s also true that anti-smoking laws are applied with considerable variation between regions.
She’s struck unlucky with
In other words, a bit like trying to play croquet on a football pitch! In fact, maybe she’d be advised to move to
On the whole, I think the anti-smoking laws are generally adhered to quite well in Andalucia. That said, anyone found smoking knowingly next to a pregnant person should, in my opinion, be heavily penalised.
Non-smokers should not be forced to inhale other people’s smoke in public places, although smokers should feel free to slowly kill themselves and their family/ friends in the comfort of their own homes.
Well, let’s face it, on average they die earlier and so draw less in pension.
They die more cheaply, not lingering on in homes with dementia at an estimated current cost to the
They pay £9 billion in tobacco tax each year – almost one tenth of the NHS budget.
They smell like ash trays, have wrinkly skin and look like someone who’s been trapped in a lift for a week with Bruce Forsyth.
Now, I’m old enough to remember the battles in the
And has that happened? No!
Alcohol surely kills at least as many innocent victims in road traffic accidents and random, drunken assaults as tobacco does with passive smoking.
That’s why drink-driving is illegal – and so is assault, alcohol-fuelled or not. The tobacco industry has spent a fortune trying to disprove the effects of passive smoking, and convince smokers they’re a put-upon minority.
It preys on the poorest and most vulnerable in society, not just in the West but worldwide, encouraging them to become hooked as young as possible on a drug that’s highly addictive, kills them slowly but surely, but is only mildly euphoric.
That’s a pretty bad trade-off, if you ask me.
Nora Johnson’s novel, The De Clerambault Code (www.nora-johnson.com) available at Amazon. Profits to Cudeca