Smokers in Spain have a future that is darker than a slice of jabugo on a guiri's plate in a restaurant on the Rambla.
Dear ones, we are sorry to inform you that the politically correct tobacco campaign has just been launched, that is, we must respect the rights of passive smokers, narrow things down further, extend the veto to more public areas, etc. The Ministry of Health and the Department of Health have launched a competition to see who first prohibits smoking on the terraces of bars and restaurants. That, in the end, is more sensible than making tobacco more expensive. Lung and heart doctors estimate that the final thing would be to raise the price by 20%, so consumers would think about it.
There are no arrests in the Administration to attack the industry. In France they will price the package at 13 euros: if it is not a declaration of war, it is close to it. In Spain something will have to be done to contain the epidemic of deaths about which pulmonologists are tired of warning. In our country, tobacco kills 60,000 people every year (8 million worldwide). Preventable deaths. One in ten of those victims were passive smokers.
This is not about liberal democracy, but about public health. Smokers exalt their freedom, and one wonders what is so free about a nicotine addict who needs a cigarette every two hours? Look, if they force them to hold back their desire, they might give them a little push to stop. Not all the mountain is Todacitan: sometimes the treatment does not work.
One belongs to the non-smoking species. Maybe I'm missing something fantastic, I understand the addiction to tobacco, even the pleasure that comes with a puff. But I refuse to be the one who pays the bill that smoke has on my health if I haven't chosen it. There each one with his own lungs as long as he does not annoy his neighbor. And let no one be under the foolish illusion that one cigarette a day does no harm (false: one cigarette causes up to half the cardiovascular risk of twenty).
For once, I agree with political correctness. It is clear that people's civility cannot always be trusted. This article is a yes to not smoking on bar terraces. It was done in the pandemic and they remained full. Please, thank you, I ask the health managers to give clear instructions and not to confuse any more with the idea that regulating does not mean prohibiting. So what is it? Nobody goes around with tape measures in their pocket, measuring impossible safety distances or calculating the direction of the wind. Nor do you feel like arguing with the neighbor at the table, what if you, what if me, turn that off. Either yes, or no. It doesn't seem that difficult.
