Dr. Neil Hair

One of the things I LOVE about America was its early banning of smoking in public spaces. I remember clubbing in California back in 97 and coming home without the stale smell of ash about me. Similarly, one of the things I hate about the UK is arriving in Manchester Airport and walking through the smokers lounge areas of the terminal to get to the train station. Finally though there is an end to this practice in sight - I am proud of my fellow countrymen for banning this in all public places (the law comes into effect Jan 1 2007), and even more so that major pub chains are already enforcing the rules ahead of the Jan 1 deadline. What surprises me however is that the French (not wishing to be left behind as they so often are in cultural trends - I mean, who eats horse and little canaries for goodness sake) are following suit. I read a really interesting article on how outsiders view this change as it relates to national culture (an area that I have been intersted in for some time now). It posed an interesting question for me as a traveler who loves Paris. Can you imagine a cafe without people puffing on death sticks? I'll depart from protocol and admit that I have been an avid anti smoker since an early age but to ban smoking in France seems a little out of place. In terms of the world wide movement affecting smoking in public places I offer a number of questions that interest me as they relate to culture and national identity;

1. Will we come to define sophisticated cultures by their abstinence of smoking in public places?
2. Will we see a backlash of consumers intent on defining themselves as counter cultural?
3. Will western societies be seen as backward by others for denying the basic human right to kill onself slowly with such products?
4. Will we use less detergent in our lives?
5. Are the French seeing such attempts to ban smoking in the UK as a threat to their national security? I mean we should live longer right?