A ban on public smoking? Sounds good, eh? ~By Alex

Hey, Alex here. I've been instructed by The Gremlin to do some blogging on his blog. And, I've decided to open with the traditional complaint (also known as Complaint I or The Complaint); A complaint over the news.

Anyone who watches the TV news (I'm guessing not many) would have heard the other night that a certain western-NSW town has plans to ban public smoking. Completely. Now, many people would approve this, thinking "Great, no more cancer. We're now safe from all the evils of the world, and the filthy, evil smokers can do nothing about it." But just think about it for a second. Imagine you are a smoker. Every day you participate in a habit that you most likely can't wait to break, you fork out thousands a year for cigarettes (most of which is tax, so if you hate paying taxes, how much must smokers?) Sure they can quit, and many do, but it's not easy in any respect.And, before someone tells me "These taxes smokers pay are used up by them in years to come when they eventually get lung cancer and die," let me tell you the truth. Only 1 in 3 people who smoke die of it. That's a lot, but when you add up all the tax, the tax goes elsewhere as well. Life sucks as a smoker then, eh? But even if you are a non-smoker (like me) then we shouldn't treat them like rats. If you ban public smoking completely, you are essentially making life as difficult as you can for smokers. Unless of course they plan to quit, in which case they probably will.

Let's look at the best scenario here. The plan is implemented. Most people are happy about it. Some die-hard smokers leave the town, but they are replaced by some couples with small children who believe that 'the air is cleaner'. These couples leave when they realise the lack of various facilities in a small town, and the town has a small decline in population. In summary, very little happens.

Now let's look at the worst case scenario. The plan is implemented. It is an immediate total and complete success. Why is this so bad? Let me tell you:

The state of NSW decides to implement it, soon to be followed by the rest of Australia.

Soon enough, the sale, possession and consumption of tobacco is deemed illegal.

Not a safe move. For one, 3.5 million people (as of 2005, source: ABS.gov.au) going through withdrawal symptoms can't be good. Many would oppose the bans, and probably take violent action. Cigarettes will be sold illegally, and will become the next illicit drug to see a rise in consumption. You'll see dodgy looking characters lining the streets with cartons of Winfield Reds hanging out of their trench-coats as they try to not look suspicious. I'm sure most non-smokers would prefer public smoking to a rise in crime, dodgy 'dealers' and of course, a giant tax hike. Who's going to pay the smoker's hefty taxes now that they're no longer allowed to smoke? The answer is simple; everyone else.

As for medical statistics, as more and more sellers of illicit tobacco start to run out of stockpiled cartons, they will turn to growing and making your own. As such, cigarettes would most likely be of worse quality and made with less tobacco leading to a probable increase in deaths from various cancers, as well as deaths from smoking in general. More funding would be needed for hospitals, and as such, taxes would go up again. All so that when you walk down the street over the course of the day, you don't get some "inconsiderate" smoker leaving a cloud of smoke around a small area, causing you to get mildly inconvenienced. Let me ask you, which do you prefer?

Finally, let me just say most blog posts I make are not as serious as this. This is just one which raises some interesting questions. But remember, if you ever have to vote on something like this, remember what I told you.

Any questions or anything, please leave comments.

~Alex