Australia to license smokers?

[The Straight Story]

WHAT have these people been smoking? Certainly not tobacco. No legal weed could produce this type of lunacy.

But, no, they're serious. The anti-tobacco lobby at the weekend launched a campaign to introduce a licence to smoke cigarettes.

Terrific idea, isn't it? What better way to introduce a new tax, create a few thousand extra pen-pushing jobs in the public service, allow politicians to intrude further into our lives, and set new levels in people management?

The campaign is headed by an academic, which is hardly surprising. He is Prof Simon Chapman, an expert in public health in NSW.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/licensing-smokers-is-nonsense/story-fn6bn88w-1226061429223

[AndyTiedye]

1. ?

:wtf:

[Odin2005]

2. OK, I'm for public smoking bans, but this is just plain DUMB.

[Boojatta]

3. What percentage of smokers started smoking before reaching the legal age for smoking?

Where did they get tobacco from? Now, they could get it from anyone old enough who is willing to buy it for them. With licensing of smokers, there would be fewer options, and it might be easier to determine who is buying tobacco from retailers for resale to minors.