Smokers who have been hounded out of their ‘nasty, disgusting habit’, by BIBIB the ‘ban it and bin it brigade’, have in the main all put on weight. Could it be that BIBIB have carefully, and quietly of course, been hiding figures showing that the weight gained by 80% of former long term smokers is approximately 25%?

As an ex-smoker I know from personal experience that when the pangs of hunger struck, a cigarette would banish them, but now that option has gone, I nibble and, nibble. A habit, which I once classified as being, ‘nasty and disgusting, in others, has taken a hold over me.

I see that BIBIB are now trying to ban smoking in your own home or car,

Do they not know how a cigarette can banish fatigue when driving? As for lighting up while driving, a smoker could do it blindfold, and before they say, ‘removing a hand from the steering wheel means you are not in full control of your vehicle, may I humbly suggest they read their highway code and look up driver’s hand-signals; they may find them rather difficult to apply while keeping both hands firmly on the steering wheel.

I am thinking of opening a chain of smokers’ only pubs and cafes, in England the land of the free, and I will, if I so choose, claim the same rights that our Euro MP’s have granted themselves, to smoke at my place of work. Equality under the law, a British tradition that I believe we all have a duty to uphold.

What do you think?

To have your say: email:

tonyb@nottinghamshiretimes.co.uk