You know what? I've never been a huge anti-smoking lunatic. I'm more of the kind of guy that realizes that there's not much you can do if someone has made the decision that they wish to kill themselves. Yes, I understand that there is a pleasure element to smoking, and I don't want to get too far off topic but if you can take away all the emotions and crap, that is exactly what smoking is. It's not good for you, so therefore it's bad for you and if you knowingly do it, regardless of that fact, well.. then you are killing yourself faster than Father Time does everyday. Gosh.. that sounds terrible...
Anyhow!
Being originally from Toronto, Ontario, I experienced the "hoop-la" surrounding a government mandated smoking ban in most public places. Personally, I don't like when government gets so involved that private establishments can't decide whether or not they want to have smoking in their businesses, and then consumers can't decide for themselves if they wish to support either business, both smoking and non-smoking, with their dollars. I guess I'm an idealistic capitalist. I've been reading about the upcoming smoking ban in the UK, and been suffering from some serious flashbacks. Both Canada and Britain are essentially socialistic democracies, and unfortunately one of the main characteristics I find of country's who live by those principles is that everyone loves to tell others what to do. And my usual M.O. (motis operandi) is to not play that game, take my ball and go to the next sandbox :)
HOWEVER! I was surprised to find that there's a new angle being thrown around to play on everyone's heart strings and while this guy does believe in making sure your pet has the best life possible, I think it's a bit of a stretch.
Organizations such as the Bolton Primary Care Trust are urging smokers to quit for their pet's sake, now that the ban has forced them back into their homes to smoke more frequently. It wasn't good enough to ban them from public places, now they are trying to bribe them with this new reason to quit.
Personally, I think if someone's going to honestly quit, they'll do it for their own sakes. It's a selfish decision to start smoking, and it's an even more selfish decision to quit. You don't need to play on their love for their pets. It's just ridiculous.
I really can't see there being much more smoking done at home now that the ban will be enforced as of July 2007 than there was previously. Do you?
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1384963.0.smokers_are_urged_to_quit_for_pets_sake.php
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