Kick the butt... I've heard it and so have you. Statuary warning is different from a government imposed ban. It doesn't fit right, even if you look at the larger picture in the long run. Okay, lets get this straight, prolonged usage of tobacco is injurious to health, just like T.V, porn, the X-BOX, alcohol and food. Excess makes mess, but should we not have the 'right or the freedom' to make mess?
This so called Utopian creation kicks a whole lot more than just a nasty habit. Although, I am neither anti nor pro smoking - it takes a little common sense to observe that non-smokers often treat smokers as a tight-arsed chick would treat a diseased dog. The facial exclamations, the fake cough, the sly asides of 'Oh, my god, I am choking'... all are dirty tricks to ask a smoker to --- go do it somewhere else' . Politely enough, they apologize and move away or stub that butt.
In a recent conversation with the Childmom who detests smokers, she claimed that they had no sense of ethics or manners... and i could not stand that assault on them as I have seen them in the best of their manners - be it dancing in a pub, where the ciggs are raised high in the air to not accidentally burn someone. Or for instance they refrain from smoking in front of kids or old people. It's not the guilt of doing something wrong, but the plain respect.
I guess the ban will set in in a couple of weeks, although I see people still smoking secretly in alleys, parking spaces and cabs. We will get used to making smoking an occasional 'cool tripper' like we do it weed, manali, hash et al. secretly relishing the joy of ecstasy.
Dope Watch
After the dammed ban was announced, narcotic cops raided a pub in the suburbs and found more than 200 hundred people high on some substance. The press claims so, thorugh a random test of their blood reports.
Loud mouth like many others was relishing the news. It is a sadistic kind of joy, on one hand you would condemn it and on the other envy that they are getting all the fun and therefore deserve to be punished. It was a regular discussion that was aborted by his silence. A silence that came from being a puritan.
(yes, i get aggressive with my stand sometimes)
He claimed how people today are nose deep into addictions. My retort was simple - we all are addicted, for starters he is addicted to the morning paper and chai. I am addicted to books and movies. We are all addicted to something or someone. so what if others are addicted to things like tobacco or dope?
Banning or raiding is not going to stop that, it will instill fear and curiosity for the object banned. remember Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. If God hadn't banned the tree of knowledge, they would not have been tempted.
Between, the best decade ever across the world were the 60's when drugs, love, war, music, revolution, genius, pop art and peace walked and in hand...
The only solution is to get-over the addiction... legalize it! People may smoke-up every day and then one fine day get bored of it. Like Beer drinkers in Germany or S&M in Amsterdam - its a no-issue in the country.
Point is - when educated professionals indulge, it must be taken for granted that they know what they are doing. they are not naive like teens in college or school, these people are aware of what they are snorting, inhaling or injecting. they are responsible for the repercussions of their acts of indulgence. So let them BE!
I have a question for our Narcotics Dept and the sensation sellers (who pretend to be news gatherers) Why don't you guys ever raid the Kumbh Mela? test the blood of those obscene sadhus - and find an answer to their devotion. If you got the galls - then do it and see how the gov. reacts. Don't punish us because we follow the law. Selective justice and concern is the most plain face of hypocrisy and a prime sign of a degenerated state.
Bugger off.
