Modern-day 'lepers'

Soon in Malta smoking will be prohibited in public places. As an educational measure I fully agree with this. I myself suffer a lot from passive smoking as I have heavy smokers in my family. And besides this I suffer a lot when going to bars, where my eyes start watering and my chest feels as if someone was standing on it. And although it is not proven yet that smoking kills people, I strongly believe it definitely damages the health of the smoker and of the people around.

Nevertheless, I am seeing a dangerous development going on. With laws like this a new kind of segregation is being introduced. Smokers will be banned from certain places and they will be seen as criminals.

People will also blame them only for their lung problems. In one sentence: Smokers will become criminals of a lower class and being observed wherever they are. I am very much afraid of how this could develop.

I would also like to point out that something will be lost with such a law. This certain smoky atmosphere in a pub, which has become a sub-culture, will be lost. A beer, some good rock and the smoke of cigarettes - that is pub culture. Although I always used to suffer a lot from the smoke, I will definitely miss it. Of course, the health sector claims huge expenditures for the diseases caused by smoking. And something should be done about it.

But why does it always have to be the consumer, the taxpayer? Of course, the taxes on tobacco and cigarettes could be easily raised. But would this really help to stop people from smoking? Smoking is an addiction and it takes big efforts to come over it and to say "No".

The smoker, in the end, is the weakest part in the chain. Why is a start not made with the manufacturers of cigarettes? And I don't mean taking them to court and let them pay because you smoked for 30 years and are now suffering from lung cancer. Make their sales more expensive! Take more taxes from them! Make it more difficult for them to sell their products. And also check them from time to time.

Analyse their products and take more responsibility. Probably nothing will happen. Smokers will be banned from public places and they will become lepers in the eyes of the rest of people. The public duty and responsibility to help them will be lost completely.