If the government is fully convinced of the evils of smoking, then why aren’t they banning the production, sale and consumption of tobacco? Because either (a) they’re not convinced or (b) they can’t afford to live without the tax revenue.
All the rest of it, the ban on advertising, the warnings, the massively funded “stop smoking” programmes and the new ban on showing the product1 is just nonsense. People know the risks and if they choose to smoke then it’s their own damn choice. Stop with all the rest of the shite and let people get on with it.
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1 – Because hiding it from view and making retailers use plain packaging eradicated the porn industry nicely, didn’t it?