A killer in our midst - One-in-three still smoke

THE news that more Irish people smoke today than did before the 2004 ban on smoking in public places was introduced is dispiriting.

The case for the ban was irrefutable and the case against tobacco remains irrefutable yet almost one-in-three — 29% — Irish people still smoke.

Speaking in the Dáil after the figures were announced Dr James Reilly reminded us that “Tobacco kills more people in Ireland than road accidents, suicide, drugs, farm accidents and Aids combined. It causes 30% of all cancers, including 95% of all lung cancers”.

It is hard to understand why so many people, especially those who have started to smoke in recent years, would be so disdainful of their own and others’ health.