Normally I think Depp is all right...

[deckardcanine]

...but today I looked at the IMDb news:

Johnny Depp has vowed to defy any smoking ban imposed in Britain and attacks similar enforcements in his native America. The actor, who is thought to have a home in the south of England, has cut down on his nicotine habit, but believes smokers should be allowed to quit on their own, without being alienated. He threatens, "I'll come over and have a smoke-a-thon. They've taken that whole pretzel and stretched it into as absurd pretzel as I've ever seen. Obviously it ain't good for you, and I don't condone it or recommend it, but everyone has to find their own way out of it. The idea of bludgeoning people and telling them that if they smoke they are awful is ludicrous."

I have my doubts on whether certain extensive smoking bans, such as the new one in Washington State, cause more trouble than they solve or vice versa. Regardless, Johnny cannot have the high ground if he misses the point of the ban. It's not supposed to be tough love, to attempt forcibly to help -- let alone "bludgeon" or call "awful" -- those who smoke. It's probably not even a deterrent for those who consider starting. The purpose is to let nonsmokers go places with minimal risk of secondhand smoke.

If Captain Jack wants to point out the places where smoking increases as a result, fine. But no skewing the intent of the law.

Comments

[billis.livejournal.com]

There's a brand new ban in Washington State on smoking in public buildings, or near the windows or doors. Even though I've never been a smoker, it seems a bit like persecuetion to me, as this is a "correction" of a situation that really wasn't so bad that is only taking place because the smoking minority has finally shrunk to the point of being small enough to opress. Let them hang in their smokey bars, and don't make a smoke-filled bar your workplace unless you smoke.