[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by Shasown

Wouldnt the world be a fairly backward place without industry, aircraft and motor vehicles? While the damage on the human body that their fumes can do is not to be ignored, measures have been put in place to reduce it as low as possible, e.g. lead free fuel, emission control etc.

It is only right that the potential damage caused by smoking be reduced to innocent bystanders and its no great sacrifice on the parts of smokers to suffer a little inconvenience for their pleasures.

Oh I agree that we need industry, aircraft, vehicles ets - it doesn't negate the point however - although I understand precisely the point you're making.

There is such a thing known as democracy - smoking is legal, the government made it legal and continue to allow it to be a legal drug - why? Because they make so much revenue in taxation. As I mentioned earlier: there are very few places that smokers actually infringe upon 'non smokers', and given the amount of money that smokers contribute to the economy - in it's own warped way, non smokers should be grateful to us: otherwise everyone's tax bills, their included, would go through the roof.

Plus, as I mentioned earlier; smokers actually contribute the same PAYE as non smokers - but don't live as long, thus we in effect, 'leave more than our fair share of monies paid for pension funds', to those non smokers remaining alive once we've popped our clogs.