Freedom to Smoke

In 'Two Concepts of Liberty' Isaiah Berlin states "To coerce a man is to deprive him of freedom".

A week or two ago the European parliament was voting on taking the anti smoking ban a step further by banning smoking outside the workplace, pubs, beer gardens and such places. The fact is that they are doing everything possible to penalise the smoker short of outlawing it altogether. it is understandable enough that it has not been outlawed after-all it is still a lucrative source of income for Government and what Government wants to be responsible for criminalising a sizable proportion of its citizens.

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Comments

•°°• IcyBC •°°• said…
I agree with your observation! Smokers should not made to feel like outcasts...It's personal choice!
10 July 2009 at 00:45
Frazer said…
Good points, but as a non-smoker, I find it unpleasant walking through clouds of smoke. I'm sure I do things that piss people off, but there are things other than hardcore moral issues to think about, just a bit of courtesy in the place one chooses to smoke is all that I personally ask. I feel that people should be able to smoke whenever they want(excepting petrol stations) as long as it doesn't make someone else want to leave/throw up/have an asthma attack.
10 July 2009 at 12:43
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