[Acrylic-bob]

And so the argument goes round and round and round. It seems that smokers are more the object of criticism than terrorists these days. It seems any excuse will do to have a go at us, from "you are killing yourselves", "you are killing those around you" even to accusations of child abuse!

Are we not getting all this a little out of proportion? ASH, who campaign against smoking claim that smoking costs the NHS £750,000,000 per year. Presumably they calculate the cost on the number of smoking related deaths, which, it must be said, is a bit suspect, since we all have to die of something and would be a net cost the NHS whatever we died of. Secondly through direct taxation, the smoking fraternity coughs up net reciepts to HM Treasury of £20,000,000,000. and every year that sum increases at a rate above inflation.

Just think of the numbers of operations that twenty billion quid pays for; to the benefit of smokers and non-smokers alike! Treating people who have so little self-control that they cannot control their eating costs the NHS far more than treating smokers and this is a figure which seems set to rise and rise!

You don't like the smell of tobacco smoke, Ok. There are lots of smells I'm not too keen on, women drenched in perfume being among the chief of them, but do you hear me calling for the banning of perfume on the grounds of general nuisance and danger to health; excessive levels of the chemicals used in perfumes also exacerbate respiratory complaints?

You prefer not to have your clothes tainted with the smell of tobacco smoke during a night out. Fine, go someplace where smoking is not allowed.

You prefer not to have to breathe someone elses smoke. Will you also start complaining about having to breathe vehicle exhaust fumes or the fumes from factories? Will you now give up your cars and public transport in case you are inadvertantly the cause of respiratory illness in others?

There are two health messages on my current packet of cigarettes, one of which reads, "Smoking when pregnant harms your baby" This is undeniably true but, so do many other things, many of which are equally avoidable!

It comes down in the end to a matter of choice and an assumption. I choose to smoke. It is my body and I am free to use and abuse it in any way I see fit and I reject completely and utterly any attempt to dictate to me what I may or may not do with it. The assumption is based on the fact that the people around me are aware that I smoke and yet still choose to associate with me, in spite of my habit. Thus I can only assume that they do not mind overmuch.

Yes, like Gayle, I would wish that some Parents would refrain from smoking in front of their children. Just as I would wish that some parents would refrain from abusing and neglecting their children and filling their impressionable minds with all manner of irrational fears and hatreds. But the world in which we live is an imperfect place at best and I think there are things in it that are much more deserving of getting hot-under-the-collar about than smoking.