"Free choice does not exist when addiction drives desire".

Addiction Economy Thought for Today - "Free choice does not exist when addiction drives desire".

Nicely put here in today's Leader in the Times. We wholeheartedly back the policy in principle, though unsure how it is going to work in practice, still, better to try than not. Some offcuts:

"The “right” to smoke is a fake freedom, a cynical fiction punted by the most murderous industry of modern times. No one who surveys the damage inflicted on humanity by smoking since it was first linked with lung cancer by British scientists in the early 1950s can come to any other conclusion.

"Addiction to nicotine does not admit choice, except in the act of freeing oneself from it, a testing and often unsuccessful process. Those who mobilise liberty of the individual as an argument for allowing fellow citizens to poison themselves to death by inhalation of tobacco — while poisoning others around them — may as well deploy that argument in favour of heroin. Governments ban all kinds of lethal things. In Britain guns are hard to get; in America access is much easier. Britons are less free than Americans when it comes to owning a handgun or semi-automatic carbine but distinctly more “free” when it comes to surviving a robbery.

"Of course, there will be issues. A black market may develop and some youngsters may be attracted to smoking simply because it is forbidden fruit. People of similar age will be treated differently. So be it. A line must be drawn. A universal ban would criminalise millions and almost certainly fail. Perfect should not be the enemy of good enough.

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BTW The Guardian wants your views on the smoking ban - please do give them - click here:

https://lnkd.in/e7WdDKc6


https://lnkd.in/eB4Av_dZ