Smoke alarm

It’s ironic that while campaigners are fighting for the right to legalise cannabis, the issue of smoking is still a hot potato. Bring up the subject anywhere and you’ll spark vehement arguments from both sides of the divide. Our iVillage debate, spurred by research that recently revealed passive smoking for just half an hour dramatically affects the circulation of blood within the heart, certainly took off.

‘I’d like to see smoking banned in all public places,’ says one iVillager. ‘Ideally I’d like it made illegal. As an ex-smoker, I know just how awful it is.’
‘I think smoking should be banned from all public places and smokers should only be able to smoke in the privacy of their own homes,’ adds another.Other iVillagers jumped in to agree. ‘Smoking is a selfish habit that might give my kids lung cancer,’ says one concerned parent. ‘I think it’s reasonable to ask smokers to restrict their pollution to their own homes, smoking areas of restaurants and pubs and less-crowded streets. I don’t think it is fascism in any degree to wish to protect myself and my kids from cancer.’

Perhaps not surprisingly, such demands got short shrift from many smokers – the battle lines were drawn.‘Non-smokers should be glad that so much has been done to stop smoking in most places, but give them an inch and they want a yard,’ responds one fed-up smoker. ‘I’m a lifelong smoker but I believe in personal freedom,’ adds another. ‘For everybody. That includes smokers.’

But what of those non-smokers who face passive smoking in pubs and restaurants? How much personal freedom do they have?‘Smokers are very hot on the issue of freedom – the freedom to smoke, the freedom to pollute other people,’ says one. ‘What about my freedom? Do I not have the freedom to enjoy smoke-free air? If I choose not to smoke, what right have you got to pollute my lungs?’

Another member feels smokers have to get a grip. ‘Just recognise how this chemical has control of your mind, just like a heroin junkie who will argue anything to get the money for his fix.’‘If you’re addicts, get help,’ agrees another. ‘Other addicts that don’t accept help are ultimately ostracised by society, for better or worse. If you’re not addicts but are instead making a lifestyle choice, stop whingeing about the fact that the rest of us find your habit repellent.’