Smoke 'Em

Saturday afternoon and having been locked out of my Highland retreat I found myself in the local pub. If I was nowhere then this pub was surely the middle of it. It was perched on a mountainside in the centre of a loose collection of homes in varying states of decay. One or two of these properties were clearly in the middle of being refurbished going by the volume of plant scattered around.

Anyway the bar is L-shaped and furnished in 70’s chic. It wasn't retro the furniture was original. The tables sported chipped Formica tops in burnt orange which complemented the nicotine soaked walls nicely.

I sat at the corner of the L with an unobstructed view of the pub including the alcove which is out of sight of the bar. To my right sitting in the alcove are four 40 something men who from their accents are clearly not local. For the last ten minutes they have been throwing back pints of Stella in between using the Formica tops to “chop up” lines of coke that would have made Scarface envious.

Each of them in turn snorted their lines. Throughout this I was trying to keep my eyes on the novel in my hand but as the group got louder the task became more difficult.

After a couple of drinks and a line or two of the finest Columbian the men all rose in unison before donning their coats and disappearing outside.

They returned five minutes later smelling of cigarette smoke and ordered more beers before retiring to their seats in the alcove. Clearly they believed that observing the public smoking ban was important. After all they wouldn't want to break the law now, would they?

Truly a sign of the times.

That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore

Ok, so you all know how I feel about the smoking ban that was ill-conceived and hastily implemented by the Scottish Executive in March this year. Well it appears as if the evidence is begining to stack up against our glorious leaders regarding the promised benefits the ban would bring.

If you remember Scotland's First Minister Joke McConnell proudly announced that by implementing the public ban the health of the nation would be improved as those that wished to quit would have an incentive to stop. My stance has always been that this was merely an attempt to marginalise the smoking community and that all of the "data" used to back up the parliament's arguements was, for want of a better word, a smokescreen and an attempt to obfuscate the real issues.

Well kiddies the latest figures released by The Scottish Grocers Federation show that since the ban was introduced in March this year that tobacco sales have increased by almost 5%. That's 61,000 packets or 1,220,000 more cigarettes being purchased each week.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-2405003,00.html

This increase is broadly inline with the rises experienced by other countries who have also implemented a public smoking ban. At the time of the introducion of the ban Health Minister Andy Kerr was quoted as saying

"As well as protecting people from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke it will help many people to give up smoking. Evidence from Ireland proves this." oooops! wrong again Andy.

Now the cynic in me has wondered if perhaps this was the intention all along. Each packet of cigarettes sold in this country contribues 22% of the retail price plus a further £2 in duty to the treasury. Indeed I am led to believe that the income raised from cigarette duty is comparable to the sums raised from North Sea Oil. Therefore by implementing the ban and making smoking a sign of rebellion the government has driven up tobacco sales which in turn boosts the treasury coffers.

Politicians...can't live with them, can't trust the fuckers.