Smoking, not smoking, let's call the whole thing off.

I was away most of yesterday, driving and listening to the radio for company. I had been listening to Newstalk-as I am wont to do- but for some reason (Tom Dunne) I decided to listen to some music instead so I changed channel and put on Spin.
Within seconds I was busily frothing at the mouth, shaking my head furiously and using expletives that would have made a sailor blanch.
What caused such apoplexy?
Why this...
"My dream is that one day we could eventually put all tobacco products on 'prescription only' and have all nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) free of charge (cf. prescriptions for methadone replacement therapy for heroin addicts).Why not? It would also prevent a new generation becoming hooked while we do everything to help today's tobacco addicts," said Avril Doyle

Avril Doyle for anyone interested is a Fine Gael MEP, and as you can probably guess an anti- tobacco lobbyist. She was waffling on about this some time back in July when she had revealed her dream of making Europe pretty much smoke free by 2025, you can read that little wish upon a dream here.

I'm no smoker, I used to smoke and gave up almost 6 years ago. I don't like smoking, I don't miss it. These days I think it's pretty disgusting and a complete waste of anyone's money. But I also think it's none of my goddamned business if a person wants to smoke themselves into a cloud of grey. It's none of Avril Doyle's business either. Smoking is not illegal. Expensive, unhealthy and a great tax creator sure, but not illegal. People smoke, making it more difficult for them to do so does not make people NOT smoke.
This chaps my bloody hide completely. I used the 'bloody nanny state' line on Twenty's the other day when it was decreed that alcohol ought to have warnings that is isn't the greatest idea ever to drink while pregnant. Diagio are forever warning us to 'drink sensibly'. I'm still fuming that off licenses now close at 10 pm to save the hard drinking children- won't somebody think of the children!!!??
This might seem churlish, but I really don't get it. How can anyone not react to things like this, where is the line drawn? Everyone already knows tobacco is bad for you. Everyone knows drinking to excess is bad for you. Everyone knows driving without a seat belt might end badly should you and your car suddenly meet an immovable force. Everyone already knows kids prefer junk over cabbage, everybody knows large engines use more fuel, everybody knows eating crisps and white bread is not brilliant ( this is in reference to something I heard the other day where one secondary school has actually BANNED crisps and white bread from the school- oh the humanity!) Everyone knows some doggies might bite, lets restrict them! Quick, let's make a law that everyone on bikes MUST wear helmets, make it mandatory!!!!!!!!!! Quick, QUICK. Write a law. Fine them, corral them, rubber stamp them.
No, let's not. Let's just bloody well stop for a second, let's assume adults are people too and can decide for themselves how to behave with regards to their own personage, let's go WAYYY out on a limb here and afford people some fucking liberties. Even if those liberties lead them to do silly things. Let's keep our big beak out of people's private lives as much as possible. Let people live for god's sake. You can't sanitize life- as much as you might like too. If people want to smoke let them puff themselves senseless, let them drink insensibly, let them be merry, let them alone.

More cock-a-mammie rules 'for our own good' -I"m against them.