Forums → WEPR → Debate: The Freedom to Smoke Tobacco.
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Smoking tobacco is a worldwide pastime.
It stems from the original use of tobacco as a theorised healthy leaf that used to be chewed on for leisure or used as incense in rituals. Today we are all aware of the risks associated with such a plant.
Smoking is a tiresome addiction that provides unusual false satisfaction to the brain and costs individuals thousands of pounds/dollars a year. There is also minor support from research to suggest that second hand smoke also causes severe damage to those who may or may not be willing to inhail it. 
My late mother was a serious smoker. The room where she spent most of her time in slowly turned from a wonderful white to a sludgy yellow. When adding up the cost of the 20+ cigarettes she was smoking each day the maths come to approximately £5 x 365 = £1825. That's the cost of two macs/one jet ski or fifty full priced console games.
Now legislation (with variations around the world) has begun to promote laws to reduce the necessity of non smokers to become exposed to second hand smoke. These laws range from total bans in public places such as the Vatican City to unenforced minor laws like they have in Germany.
This debate is about whether or not you feel that smoking matters to you, and what conditions should be put on smokers when smoking in public places.
Is it right for the government to draw up and enforce laws to prevent innocent children from being subjected to their parents' smoke in cars, or should the government not get involved because these are human rights?
Are you a smoker? What effect does the biological desire to smoke have on you and your family? How should the law be fair and just for you? Is there enough help and guidance to quit smoking in your area?
Do you think that smoking is dying out on a global scale or do you believe that this legislation will eventually become ineffective?
Answers from many countries are welcome, including any insight into your personal experiences.
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