In Joe's defence (not that he needs me to defend him), if you/me were in the same room as a person with Aids we wouldn't be effected (or even infected), in any way.
Same goes for Saturated Fat.
Alcohol can indeed have an effect on those around a drinker. It leads a lot a Chav's/idiots to commit all manner of crimes. Should we ban it because some cannot control themselves when they 'use' it? Perhaps we should ban Cars then? There's plenty of Chav's etc who cannot control themselves when they get behind the wheel. Indeed, Alcohol and Cars can be a very deadly mix!
Back to smoking. If we're both in the room with someone smoking we are definitely effected by his/her 'second hand' smoke. I was at a house the other evening were both husband and wife smoked. My coat is hanging in the garage because it STILL (4 days later), stinks of smoke. My jeans, T-Shirt etc all had to be washed to get the smell of smoke out.
Due to being in that smoky environment (for no more than 5 minutes), I had to double my Inhaler Dose for TWO DAYS to bring my breathing back to normal. Well, to what is 'normal' for me these days! Admittedly I do have very bad Asthma. Which I find very strange as I didn't even know I had Asthma until last year! I had an Asthma Attack towards the end of last year, nearly killed me. I have to avoid 'dust' apparently. But does that mean we should ban DUST?
So should we ban Smoking? Well, it wouldn't make any difference to me as I don't smoke or as smokers say, 'enjoy a smoke'. So I'd be happy to see it go. Would a ban on Alcohol bother me? I do 'enjoy a drink', so a ban would probably pee me off for a short while but I'd get over it.
You're right Soggy in as much as, we could extend this argument to almost anything. Smoking however, does effect those in proximity to the smoker. As we know, laws have been passed in recent years that make it illegal to smoke in certain areas. Personally I have no problem with people smoking in very small confined boxes. Anywhere else, NO!