I’ve never been a smoker myself so I don’t have the problem, but I do have great sympathy with those who are addicted.  Presumably there is nicotine in cigarette smoke whether it is actively or passively received.  Nicotine should be recognised as a drug and treated just like any other.  The law of addiction states “administration of a drug to an addict will cause re-establishment of chemical dependence upon the addictive substance”.   So unless I am mistaken, this “administration of the drug” will apply to cigarette smoke whether it be actively or passively received.  This must have had a severe affect and made it much more difficult for people trying to quit.

How could a person who had been struggling all week to manage without a cigarette enjoy an evening at the pub where they would be exposed to passive smoking  

Apart from the obvious benefits to everyone’s health, it seems to me that this new ban will have a very important ‘knock-on’ effect, cutting the number of new smokers and helping existing smokers to give up – which can only be a good thing for everybody’s health – not to mention wealth.   

Peter

27 June 2007