No Smoking Day - Preaching won’t work

YOU’D need to be living on Mars not to know smoking is bad for you, so bad it kills millions of people addicted to tobacco in one form or another.

But despite Ireland moving towards a Nanny State, people still have a choice. Lecturing those who smoke is like telling a punter who enjoys a quiet pint not to drink. It is counter-productive in the extreme.

On national No Smoking Day it is fitting to pay tribute to the Irish Heart Foundation for informing those who kicked the habit of the hazards of a lifetime devoted to dragging on a cigarette.

Information should be the template of all policies relating to drugs and drink, whether legal or illegal. When people are armed with unadulterated and clear facts they are better placed to make crucial personal lifestyle decisions.

Preaching to someone on what is good for them is not the answer. In a country where the ravages of tobacco account for a huge slice of our health budget, the dissemination of clear facts should be the foundation of every drugs policy with the aim of helping people make up their own minds.