I believe the smoking ban is a violation of human rights (Human Rights Act 1998).
Smokers are being discriminated against in the same way black people used to be. They are not allowed to smoke in buildings or very shortly in outdoor locations, a lot of employers won't employ smokers, lots of people won't allow smokers into their friendship group and what is all this based on?
Surely it is an individuals own choice whether they want to indulge in a habit which will kill THEM early, especially considering that the elderly are costing the government £22billion a year with that figure rising as people are living longer. People choose to drive, knowing how dangerous the roads are. I hear about at least 5 accidents per day on the M60(Manchester ring road) alone and RTA's are thought to kill 23,000 people per year.
The effects of passive smoking have been somewhat exagerated. I have carefully analysed much of the data and a large number of studies were correlational which means there's no cause and effect, so these studies are scientifically invalid. Other studies have exposed participants to 60 times the normal concentration of smoke in a pub for 6 weeks only to find a difference in blood readings. I hardly think this is substantial evidence to warrant a ban, yet the government have successfully sent out the message that smoking is as bad as murder.
Discuss.
ps - don't use the argument that you choose to smoke but don't choose what race you are because the 3 main religions of the world are supposedly peacful and are largely down to faith which means that you are not forced to join those religions, so like whether a person chooses whether or not to smoke, they choose their religion.
