The British government is acting to reduce tobacco consumption by getting rid of point of sale (POS) displays and brand packaging. Well done, more small steps towards making the consumption of tobacco totally socially unacceptable. Libertarians object but the damage caused by tobacco is so great that it is a special case.

Tobacco companies need to replace the 5 million (WHO figure) customers that their products kill off worldwide each year. They can’t do this by recruiting adults to the drug because adults have more sense, so they recruit children by using a marketing aura of sophistication, glamour and danger. Once the children are addicted they then use the drug every day for the rest of their shortened lives. F1 motor racing was ideal for this sort of marketing  and persists, much to the shame of the sport, with Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.

There are only two types of people who smoke, those whose addiction is greater than their willpower and those who are too stupid or badly educated to understand the damage this drug does. Not only are they harming themselves, they are harming those around them. And the people they harm most are their families and friends.

The biggest disgrace is that pregnant women are still allowed to smoke, they are committing GBH against the unborn child with every cigarette they smoke, stunting it both physically and mentally. Even secondary smoking by pregnant women damages their unborn child. It is amazing that our society still allows this.

It would be good if governments worldwide did far more to class tobacco alongside heroin, crack cocaine and crystal meth whilst becoming far more liberal towards the less harmful recreational drugs, many of which are illegal in many countries with no good reason.