A date has finally been set when a smoking ban will come into force across Wales.
I've never got along with smoking. This isn't a dig at the smokers at all (well okay, maybe it is...), but frankly those little sticks of tobacco are disgusting. They're full of 'special ingredients' that could never possibly be good for you, including tar. Come on, they use that stuff to make roads!
I can remember trying it for the first time at school, and really being aware of my lungs for the first time. It was painful. A second attempt, under pressure from friends, caused a massive coughing fit. An ill-advised third and final attempt brought me to the point of physical sickness. Never again!
You could argue, of course, that this is an affront to our civil liberties. We can't be told what to do like this! It could get ridiculous. Everyone agrees that alcohol can be every bit as harmful, so that'll be banned next. Eventually we'll all be sat in pubs, drinking lemonade, in silence, so that nobody runs the risk of being offended by our idle chatter. That's the future - no alcohol, no smoking, no talking.
So there you have it. If you're a non-smoker in Wales, it's good news. If you're a smoker, there's never been a better time to give up.
