Nicholas Craig column

Feb 17 2006 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

This is about the time most of us give up on New Year resolutions. Thank goodness.

Bludgeoned into near submission since January 1 by the media, well-meaning colleagues and family, I could now be on my way to svelte sobriety. Determination in the face of such moral blackmail is, I feel, a sign of British backbone. I have stuck to my guns and way of life. It may not do the arteries much good, but it is infinitely better for the soul. I enjoyed a good lunch to celebrate defeat.

The current debate raging about smoking in restaurants and bars strikes a similar chord. As a reformed smoker I appreciate clean air. Yet thinking back to smoking days, the haze of unwinding smoke around a group ties them together in a way crisply clean-cut air does not.

The slightly illicit pleasure of smoking can add much to the enjoyment of a drink with friends. It is a well-loved way of life with many who light up a cigarette at the club or pub rather than their home or work.

Smoke-free public places are, of course, the best possible thing for our health. Sectioning off parts of bars simply does not work. Smoke seeps over the entire room, and the stale smell lingers long after the nicotine addicts have left.

The rights of the minority - the smokers - should be considered, say many. They are enjoying a cigarette that they are legally entitled to buy. Who are we to say they cannot do so in their favourite eating and drinking establishments? Yet we accede to many other, equally stringent regulations forced on us in the name of public health and safety without turning a hair.

The niggling doubt I have about a smoking ban is that it crystallises the country's obsession with ultra-healthy living at the expense of a more relaxed enjoyment of life. Our fascination with fitness can be seen in the food we buy, which details the fats, sugars, calories and puppy-dogs tails it contains. The TV regularly dreams up new ways to show plump people feeling ashamed of themselves pre-makeover. We are becoming fixated with living longer, if not happier, lives.

I agree that smoke-free places in which to eat and drink are undoubtedly better for our personal health.

They also presage a more prescriptive and less tolerant society - and that is something we should stub out now.