Four more days...

The deadline is looming. The final hour of the warm, comfy indoor smoker, as the notion of the woefully ineffective limited "smoking area" in a closed space is finally made extinct. And some disgruntled fumeurs francais are kicking off, one in particular who decided to air her frustration in Liberation this week, arguing that the role of ministers, instead of pushing through such legislation, ought to be (again, dodgy translation): "Weave tightly the tapestry which makes society a place where all people are not the same". I like the image, though the argument makes me irate.

Smoking ban today, she warns, obesity stigma tomorrow, "mandatory euthanasia" of old people next thursday (were such a thing not a contradiction in terms). I hate the "this today, that tomorrow" formula of argument. Smacks of cop-out. If something works today, who cares.

I think the one thing smokers can say that approximates to a legitimate complaint, would be to point out that policy-makers hammer them whilst turn a blind eye to a collective drinking problem (more the case in the UK & Ireland than France, where the practice of drinking to get drunk is less widespread) The element of personal harm & responsibility is no counter-argument, as factors of drunk-driving & violence make it as much if not more of a risk to other people (ok, if you're a happy drunk without a driving licence you're off the hook, but let's stick with the macro vision here, for the sake of argument) Majority rules, cultural factors like smoking falling increasingly out of fashion, and perhaps most ministers also quite like a drink. Then again, they do tax the hell out of alcohol, as with tobacco. Nevertheless, there is not nearly the same social stigma as has built up and exploded in the face of smokers recently.

So yes, Mme De Virieu, we all have our differences, and in principal: all different - all equal, goes the little mantra. However, to paraphrase a man who knew how to make a fierce cup of tea - some differences are more equal than others.