"I saw them again the other day, shivering in the cold, in the rain, without jackets or coats. The looked out, expressionless, as the great world, busy and purposeful, hurried by on the street. They were lined up along the wall of a business office. At their feet were a small mountain of cigarette butts and litter.

They are the punished, the shamed. They are the Smokers. As they stood there--I imagined a wreath of smoke curling round their shoulders like the wooden collar of the stocks of the 17th century--I thought: Why don't we stop this?"

I find myself agreeing with Peggy Noonan, and all of a sudden I want a cigarette ;)

I just quit smoking, its been a little over 5 weeks, but I still think a lot of the anti-smoking laws in this country are silly.  I worked for a while in Europe, and in most places, could smoke at my desk.  In Oslo, when a co-worker asked to be seated at a no-smoking table, the waitress sat us down between several tables of smokers, and placed a no-smoking sign on the table.  Where is the harm in letting folks smoke?  The EPA finds that second hand smoke kills 3000 folks a year.  Thats really not a lot.  If folks want to kill themselves smoking, let them!

In any case, a very good article which anyone with feelings on either side of the issue should read.

[via Guanubian]

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