Monthly Archives: July 2009

One of the puzzles of the smoking ban has been the way in which all the main political parties appear to have decided that they don’t want the votes of smokers, all 10-15 million of them. Perhaps it’s a passive … Continue reading →

Smoking and drinking and eating are pleasant pastimes. It is perhaps not possible to explain exactly why this is so, but it nevertheless is so. It is somehow or other a great pleasure to sit at a table, and drink … Continue reading →

The Devil’s Kitchen has been discussing drug decriminalisation, and it brought the following anonymous jibe: Been at the glue? Toked on a crack pipe? If so that would explain all the violent outbursts of rage and psychotic revenge fantasies I … Continue reading →

I’m still puzzling over the various essays and arguments by professional antismokers over the past few days. One common feature to them seems to be an idea that society has a right, and perhaps even a duty, to intervene in … Continue reading →

I completed an essay earlier this evening, and was all set to publish it, when somehow or other – maybe by pressing return instead of backspace – I lost the whole damn thing. Vanished. Gone. Usually when I write I … Continue reading →

Another reader has pointed me to several 2006 essays by public health professionals. Professor Iain Crombie writes: It seems self-evident that adults should be responsible for their own health. This is consistent with the ethical principle of autonomy. An individual has … Continue reading →

A reader has drawn my attention to some of the disturbing ideas that now seem to be prevalent among public health professionals. Here’s Professor Robert West of CRUK’s Health Behaviour Research Centre earlier this year, providing an overview of tobacco … Continue reading →

Before my previous post metamorphosed into something else, I was going to write something rather different about the benefits of smoking. "Smoking is Good for You" is the core message (taken from the 1978 book by William Whitby, the updated … Continue reading →

I think that, in some profound sense, every smoker knows that smoking is good for them. They wouldn’t smoke if they didn’t feel that way about smoking. People do things that they like doing. They eat foods that they like … Continue reading →