ahhh, the other thing is...
that there isn't a huge industry of "smoking houses" unlike the pub/club/leisure industry that would rape the Government if they weren't allowed to sell booze.

Also, because they can palm off all alcohol-related diseases as an "ism" (alocoholism), then it's a mental illness, not a case of drinking cheap export lager in a bus shelter like a tramp. Smoking can (and does) cause a lot of ailments that a) can't be limited purely to smoking as a cause and, b) aren't bunched together as an "ism" - this means no profitable Social Services schemes to help you quit smoking by living in governmetn shelters and getting 3 social workers. So, smoking loses out because:
1) Health and Safety don't like things that burn.
2) You can be an alcoholic but not a tobaccoholic.
3) There is more middle-management and social work employment (not to mention police jobs, first-aid staff, etc), to be generated by people getting pissed.

In fact, I firmly believe the only reason Weed and Smack aren't legal and being taxed is that you can't ban smoking fags, but allow joints - it sends a mixed message - and Health and Safety don't like the idea of sharp needles and no-one has invented a syringe full of heroin that is both able to hit a vein and totally blunt...
(Chad, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 16:12, 1 reply)

Oh Chad
You are funny.
(cherrynicola, Wed 28 Jan 2009, 13:43, closed)