The Smoking Ban- A healthy answer or a dictatorship in the making?

The first entry of my weblog is about a subject that is currently highly controversial, the subject of smoking. Smoking has been a part of society for a great many years and has undergone a major transformation in the way that it is perceived. Smoking was once considered a highly attractive and even healthy passtime. In modern society the government has decided that public smoking is no longer an acceptable thing to do and therefore banned smoking in all enclosed public spaces from the 1st July 2007. A website that describes the ways in which companies must abide to the smoking ban is http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/ . This website justifies the banning of public smoking and argues that the ban will ‘ensure a healthier environment, so everyone can socialise, relax, travel, shop and work free from secondhand smoke.’ (10/03/2008). This is generally the standpoint taken by many ‘anti-smoking’ organisations such as ASH (action on smoking and health).
The BBC news website (http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?scope=all&edition=d&q=smoking ) has various video clips concerning the smoking ban. One of the most intresting clips that I found was about a man being refused an operation on his back because he was a smoker. The man did not get a bad back due to his smoking, so therefore in my opinion there are no grounds on which to refuse him treatment. I feel that when the NHS starts picking and choosing who it will and will not treat, despite the individuals in question paying taxes, then all sorts of moral issues will arise.
I am personally a non-smoker, I have never smoked and never intend to. However, this does not make me an ‘anti-smoker’. I feel that the government dictating when and where you can freely smoke is the start of a slippery road down. What will they ban from public places next? ‘Binge drinking’ as it is fondly known within the media has been under a lot of scrutiny recently and there is now talk of raising taxes to discourage teenage drinkers. This however wont just hit teenage drinkers, whose idea of a great night out is getting bladdered out of their minds in the park, it will affect me and others who go out and enjoy a few drinks with their friends. Isn’t this just the same as what happened with smoking? It was in the news recently that smokers will soon need a licence to continue smoking. What will we need a licence for next? Eating unhealthy food? Watching certain television programmes?
One of my favourite books is 1984 written by George Orwell. To anyone that’s read this book, I’m sure they will be able to see chilling similarities between the world depicted in 1984 and modern society.