It was January 2002 that I, through the help of a friend and colleague, finally quit smoking. In the almost 12 years since, my lungs have never felt better, and for the most part, my body has thanked me for what has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

At the point when I stopped smoking, I was averaging about two packs a day and about two tubes of toothpaste a week, not to mention mouthwash and liquid soap that I took to work each day so as not to reek of tobacco. My resolve to quit, however, came jarringly front and centre one night when I got home from work, removed my shirt and was overwhelmed by the pungent smell of tobacco that literally leapt from it into my nostrils.

cold turkey

It was a battle to quit. I tried everything: Nicorette gum; I tried going cold turkey. Nothing worked. A hypnotherapist named Chara Hunter eventually saved me, and I have been smoke free ever since. These days, to me, cigarettes are the worst-smelling things on the planet, and I look back and wondered why I ever smoked in the first place.

I say all this to let people understand that I understand both sides of the anti-smoking campaign. I know what it feels like to be addicted to cigarettes, to enjoy the feeling of taking a long 'sweet' drag on a Matterhorn or Craven A and slowly releasing the smoke. I know how good it felt to have a smoke after a good meal or to enjoy a smoke while having a nice cold beer. On the other hand, I know how good it feels to not have to worry that I smell like a forest after a raging fire or not have that burning sensation in my chest whenever I try to run or go for my morning walk, or to wake up in the morning and not have a ton of phlegm on my chest.

legislation

I understand the need for a ban on smoking in public places. There is nothing more infuriating than someone messing up the air that you breathe just so they can get their 'cocaine' fix, but I get that if you smoke, you also have that right. After all, smoking cigarettes is not illegal. That is why I believe that the technocrats who came up with this anti-smoking legislation were smoking something other than cigarettes. How can you impose a ban and take away the right of smokers to smoke by not ensuring that there are areas in the public domain where they can smoke?

Nightclubs and bars depend on smokers. It is part of why they do business, and for them to continue to do good business, a balance has to be struck. It's either that or you make smoking illegal and close down Carerras and put thousands of people out of work.

The other thing is, how can you have fines for cigarette smokers that far exceed fines for people who illegally smoke marijuana?

Imagine, $500,000 for first and second offences, respectively, for cigarette smokers while marijuana smokers face a $5,000-fine in court? Come on Minister Ferguson! How in God's name does that make sense?

Where have you ever heard of someone doing something that's legal and faces penalties 100 times greater than someone who does something illegal?

By the way, ganja smokers should also fall under that smoking ban because they are smoking - and they are smoking in public.

I support the smoking ban, but it has to make sense. Senator K.D. Knight said it best. The smoking ban implemented on July 15 is a good thing that is being poorly implemented.

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