"Other measures [besides the smoking ban], including banning advertising and raising the minimum smoking age and the tax on cigarettes, have made Britain more hostile to tobacco than any other country in Europe"

I find that last statement EXTREMELY hard to believe. Several countries had the smoking ban before Britain, you'll have had to be 18 to purchase tobacco, and it's more expensive in at least one other European country, wouldn't surprise me if there are a couple more at least on the same price level. In addition to this, there are restrictions on how much tobacco you can bring into other countries when you've been abroad. According to the same comment I've quoted above there is no such restrictions at work here.

The whole thing just seems even more unserious when they've quoted a Mr. Rafferty from a pro-smoking lobby talking about the new age limit "It has nothing to do with protecting children and everything to do with making smokers feel bad about themselves". Now, I'm a smoker, but I want to punch this guy in the face just for being a stupid fucking cunt.

DiScuss.