For My 60th Birthday, I’m Taking Up Smoking

THE SPECTATOR: It's a selfish, unhealthy decision – and a joyous, life-affirming one

Next month I will be 60. It’s an unwelcome landmark birthday as far as I’m concerned but they say that taking up a new hobby or pastime is a good way to combat the advances of old age. So I’ve decided to take up smoking.

It was either that or something physical such as cycling or jogging or walking football but, to quote Ronnie Barker in Porridge: ‘What, with these feet?’ Besides, older cyclists look ridiculous, serious runners tend to look ten years older than they really are and as for walking football… what’s the point? No, smoking is easier, more pleasurable, more relaxing and even allows me to multi-task. I can enjoy a Camel Blue while birdwatching, walking the dog or listening to Northern Soul – all of which I also plan to do more of in my sixties. » | Mark Solomons | Monday, November 14, 2022

Smoking - Anatomy of an Addiction Industry | DW Documentary | Reupload

Dec 13, 2024 | Smoking has an image problem, because everyone knows it can kill you. That’s why tobacco multinationals are increasingly focused on e-cigarettes, enticing consumers with bright colors and fruity flavors. The target group: young people.

The World Health Organization says smoking results in the death of eight million people every year. That’s one reason why you’ll now often hear tobacco companies promoting the switch to e-cigarettes, with claims that these are less harmful to our health.

It’s first and foremost young people who believe the industry’s promises, thereby taking the first step on the road to addiction. After all, nicotine is an addictive substance. And although it may taste better than tobacco, puffing on a vape is still going to get you hooked in precisely the same way as smoking a regular cigarette.

The film investigates the cynicism of an industry that not only accepts this, but also deliberately aims for it.

Big Nicotine - Anatomy of an Addiction Industry /TEMPS PRESENT / Laurent Burkhalter & Philippe Mach / 2024 / RTS Radio television Suisse


There is no doubt about it: smoking can kill. But so do many other things! When it comes to consumption, sugar is a case in point. How many people a year does sugar kill? Precise figures are unavailable, but Google has the following to say...

"While there is no single figure for the total number of deaths from all sugar consumption, studies show that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths annually from related conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Recent research estimates that SSBs are linked to over 330,000 deaths per year globally. Sugar consumption is a significant factor in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, which are leading causes of death worldwide.

This figure is an estimate of preventable deaths, suggesting how many fewer people would die if sugary drinks were not consumed at all, and it is based on links to specific diseases:

• 133,000 deaths from diabetes
• 45,000 deaths from cardiovascular (heart) disease
• 6,450 deaths from cancers

More recent research from January 2025 has suggested even higher figures, linking sugary drinks to over 330,000 deaths a year from type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease." — [Source: Google.]

Fact is this: If we gave up everything that could and does kill us, there'd be little left to consume and enjoy! We simply cannot get out of this life alive. — © Mark Alexander

Maldives Becomes the Only Country with Generational Smoking Ban

THE GUARDIAN: Indian Ocean archipelago bans anyone born after 1 January 2007 from buying or using tobacco in order to ‘promote a tobacco-free generation’

The Maldives began implementing a smoking ban on anyone born after January 2007, becoming the only country with a generational prohibition on tobacco, according to its health ministry.

The move, which was initiated by the president, Mohamed Muizzu, earlier this year and came into effect on 1 November, will “protect public health and promote a tobacco-free generation”, the ministry said.

“Under the new provision, individuals born on or after 1 January 2007 are prohibited from purchasing, using, or being sold tobacco products within the Maldives,” it added.

“The ban applies to all forms of tobacco, and retailers are required to verify age prior to sale.”

The measure also applies to visitors to the nation of 1,191 tiny coral islets scattered some 800km (500 miles) across the equator and known for its luxury tourism. » | Agence France-Presse | Saturday, November 1 2025

Les Maldives deviennent le seul pays au monde à introduire une interdiction générationnelle de fumer : La vente de produits de tabac à un mineur est passible d’une amende de 50.000 rufiyaa (environ 2800 euros), tandis que l’utilisation d’appareils de vapotage est passible d’une amende de 5000 rufiyaa (280 euros). »

Wer nach 2006 geboren ist, darf auf den Malediven nicht mehr rauchen: Sommer, Sonne, Rauchverbot: Die Malediven verbieten allen, die nach 2006 geboren wurden, Tabakprodukte. Die Regelung bezieht sich auch auf E-Zigaretten. Und ja, sie gilt auch für Touristen. »

This generational smoking ban will cause more problems than it will ever solve! The first problem with it is this: Young people will find other ways to satisfy their desire to rebel, other ways to get their kicks. And those other ways might well be, nay probably will be, far more injurious to health than tobacco-smoking ever could be.

Keir Starmer has a similar bill working its way through Parliament. He, too, is going to have to learn the hard way that a generational smoking ban will solve NOTHING. He will surely find that such a ban will create far more problems than it will ever solve. We are being led by fools. And killjoys! If this bill successfully passes through Parliament in the UK, when Starmer is kicked out of office, the law will surely have to be repealed. — © Mark Alexander

How Cigarettes Took Over the World

Cigarettes were a prop for bored, scared and hungry soldiers in World War I and World War II.

Meloni: I’d Kill Somebody If I Had to Stop Smoking

THE TELEGRAPH: Giorgia Meloni has said that she would probably kill someone if she had to give up cigarettes.

The Italian prime minister was challenged over her smoking habit at the Gaza summit in Egypt by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, who has vowed to make Turkey smoke-free.

“You look great. But I have to make you stop smoking,” he told Ms Meloni, to the laughter of Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron.

“It’s impossible,” the French president said during the meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

“I know, I know,” Ms Meloni said. “I don’t want to kill somebody.”

The 48-year-old recently revealed in a book that she had begun smoking again after quitting 13 years ago.

She also said that her tobacco habit had helped her bond with some foreign leaders, including Kais Saied, the president of Tunisia. » | James Crisp, Europe Editor | Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Giorgia Meloni should have suggested to Erdogan that he give up sugary foods. He's a diabetic. People should learn to give smokers a break. The war on smoking has gone on long enough now. — © Mark Alexander

Experts Urge UK to Ban Cigarette Filters to Protect Health and Environment

THE GUARDIAN: Researchers say filters do not reduce toxicant exposure and are major contributor to plastic waste crisis

Cigarette filters do not work and are a major source of plastic pollution that should be banned by the UK government, experts have said.

In an editorial in Addiction, the journal for the Society for the Study of Addiction, researchers argue that ministers should use a forthcoming tobacco and vapes bill to “ban filters in the interests of public health and the environment”.

“Cigarette filters were designed to give the false impression of safety,” said Dr Katherine East, associate professor in public health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, who is lead author on the editorial.

“In reality, they do not reduce toxicant exposure and may even increase harm, because they lead people to inhale deeper and for longer and can embed harmful fibres and microplastics in the lungs. They are also a major contributor to the global plastic waste crisis.” » | Damien Gayle, Environment correspondent | Thursday, October 16, 2025

Why don’t these do-gooding killjoys just get bloody lost and let people get their kicks from life where they can? God only knows that these days there are all too few kicks for them to find. — © Mark Alexander

Spain's New Smoking Law Plans Could Mean Big Changes for Travellers

EURO NEWS: Spain's new regulations would also cover the use of electronic cigarettes and vapes as the country moves to impose stricter controls on tobacco marketing and product distribution in a bid to boost public health.

Spain's coalition government has approved a draft bill restricting smoking in public places that could have a significant impact on travellers.

The proposed legislation will ban smoking and vaping in outdoor spaces, including sports venues, beaches, restaurant and bar terraces.

"We'll always put public health ahead of private interests," Spain’s health minister Monica Garcia told reporters. "Everyone has a right to breathe clean air and live longer and better lives."

The proposed measures have drawn opposition from restaurant and bar owners, who say Spain's year-round outdoor dining culture is boosted significantly by customers who smoke.

Smoking indoors has been prohibited since 2011. » | Rebecca Ann-Hughes | Thursday, September 11, 2025

What is there about socialist governments that they always want to curtail people’s rights and freedoms? Is there something in socialists’ DNA, or something? Each European nation seems to be losing all sense of la dolce vita ! — © Mark Alexander

Pop Culture Takes Up Smoking Again

THE NEW YORK TIMES: From movies and TV shows to music, the habit is no longer taboo. It’s even being celebrated for the way it makes characters look cool or powerful.

In the new romantic dramedy “Materialists,” about 21st-century dating, Dakota Johnson loves cigarettes.

Playing Lucy, a New York matchmaker, she’s puffing when she gossips with a pal during a work party. Later, she holds a lighted cigarette near her face while flirting with an ex. There’s no hand-wringing over her smoking. She’s just a smoker. And she’s wildly on trend. That’s because, at least in the world of entertainment, cigarettes are once again cool.

“Materialists” is just the tip of the ash. The musicians Addison Rae and Lorde both mention smoking in recent singles. The stars of “The Bear” are smokers on- and offscreen. The “Housewives” count many among their ranks, and the Bravo enterprise recently had a viral moment thanks to smoking. Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd smoke in the big-screen comedy “Friendship,” while the chic Seema (Sarita Choudhury) on the series “And Just Like That” does as well. In the kitschy video for her track “Manchild” Sabrina Carpenter uses a fork as a cigarette holder. Even Beyoncé has lit up onstage during her Cowboy Carter Tour. In one instance, she throws the cigarette on a piano, which artfully ignites as she performs “Ya Ya.” If Beyoncé is doing it, you know it’s reached the upper echelon of culture. » | Esther Zuckerman | Wednesday, June 11, 2025

The Allure of Smoking Rises Again: The cool factor of cigarettes has proved hard to shake. »

Is smoking cool again?: Attempts to stamp out cigarettes could be having unintended consequences »

More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette

Nov 11, 2006 | 1949 TV commercial from Camel cigarettes.

The verdict is CLEAR: Camels are the cigarettes to smoke if you want to remain healthy. Doctors know best! 😂 — © Mark Alexander

The Marlboro Cigarette Man Was Shocked When This Happened In 1964

Sep 10, 2025

Just for the Sheer Hell of It! More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette

TV commercial from Camel cigarettes. You can order a More Doctors Smoke Camels

What life was like before paranoia set in, before people expected to live as long as Methuselah. (That includes people like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.) 😂 — © Mark Alexander

Smoking Bans Are No Match for New Yorkers | 2011

Sep 15, 2011 | Smoking in bars and restaurants has been banned in New York City since 2003 but [the then] Mayor Michael Bloomberg added beaches, parks, and pedestrian plazas to the long and growing list of places where smoking is verboten in the Big Apple.

"Sin taxes" on cigarettes have driven the average price of a pack to more than $11. Yet in a city renowned for its innovation and drive, smokers have found ways to work around government attempts at social engineering. These include the booming "loosie" trade, where street entrepreneurs risk arrest to sell loose cigarettes for a dollar each on the streets of Manhattan; tobacco crops blooming in Brooklyn; and a thriving Soho bar/restaurant that survived the smoking ban thanks to an obscure grandfather clause.

With so much tax revenue being lost to the black market, and even the green market, perhaps it's time for a mayor who made billions in the free market to consider allowing business owners to set their own policies, and let the marketplace sort out the demand for smoking and smoke-free establishments.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher.


Reformed smokers are usually the most intolerant of all. Michael Bloomberg is a reformed smoker. In fact, I once read that he was a very heavy smoker. Sixty cigarettes a day? Can’t find the article now. It has been taken down.

These days, Americans have a lot bigger things to worry about than smoking. These days, Americans have to worry about authoritarianism and their country turning into a dictatorship. I wonder what Mr Bloomberg can do about that? — © Mark Alexander

Smoking - Anatomy of an Addiction Industry | DW Documentary | Reupload

Dec 13, 2024 | Smoking has an image problem, because everyone knows: it can kill you. That’s why tobacco multinationals are increasingly focused on e-cigarettes, enticing consumers with bright colors and fruity flavors. The target group: young people.

The World Health Organization says smoking results in the death of eight million people every year. That’s one reason why you’ll now often hear tobacco companies promoting the switch to e-cigarettes, with claims that these are less harmful to our health. It’s first and foremost young people who believe the industry’s promises, thereby taking the first step on the road to addiction. After all, nicotine is an addictive substance. And although it may taste better than tobacco, puffing on a vape is still going to get you hooked in precisely the same way as smoking a regular cigarette. The film investigates the cynicism of an industry that not only accepts this, but also deliberately aims for it.

Big Nicotine - Anatomy of an Addiction Industry /TEMPS PRESENT / Laurent Burkhalter & Philippe Mach / 2024 / RTS Radio television Suisse

Young Vape Users Three Times As Likely to Start Smoking, Study Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Review warns e-cigarettes could act as gateway to smoking and are also linked to higher asthma and other health risks

Young people who vape are three times as likely to start smoking, develop asthma and have poor mental health as those who do not, according to a study that lays bare the health impacts of e-cigarettes.

Vaping among young people is consistently linked to later smoking, according to the largest umbrella review of all the evidence on youth vaping, which warns that e-cigarettes could act as a gateway.

The researchers found associations with other harmful consequences including asthma, cough, injuries and mental ill health, as well as possible risks of respiratory disease, headaches, poor oral health and substance use. » | Rachel Hall | Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Starmer’s generational smoking ban is a pipe dream. He’s got no more chance of making a success of it than he has of stopping burglaries or supermarket theft. We do not have enough police to enforce such a smoking ban.

My regular visitors will be aware of the fact that I have always stated that encouraging vaping to replace smoking regular cigarettes will only lead to more smokers of regular cigarettes down the line. Now, it seems, researchers have caught up. It really was only common sense from the very start.

From the start, it would have been better if governments had not encouraged vaping to replace smoking. Had they left things alone, the smoking rate had been coming down quite drastically anyway. That trend has been put into reverse now. Meddlesome is as meddlesome does! — © Mark Alexander

Von "The Bear" bis Charli XCX: Warum Rauchen wieder cool ist

WATSON: Während Frankreich das Rauchen im öffentlichen Raum verbietet, zünden sich anderswo wieder alle genüsslich eine an. Auf Laufstegen, in Serien und auf Instagram ist die Kippe zurück. Ein Symbol für Coolness. Und ein Spiegel unserer Zeit.

Ausgerechnet Frankreich, das Land, das uns Existenzialismus, Savoir-vivre und das Bild des rauchenden Intellektuellen im Café geschenkt hat, hat das Rauchen an öffentlichen Orten seit Kurzem verboten. Parks, Strände, öffentliche Plätze – alles rauchfrei.

Ein Land, in dem man sich jahrzehntelang fragte, ob die Zigarette nicht vielleicht doch ein Grundrecht sei, zieht plötzlich die Reißleine und steht damit so herrlich windschief im Weltgeschehen, dass man das Ganze als eine Dialektik des Schicksals begreifen muss. Und vielleicht als Teil der Erklärung.

Kate Moss, Carrie Bradshaw und die Zigarette

Denn die Zigarette ist zurück. Auf Laufstegen, in Musikvideos, auf Instagram. Sie drängelt sich dieser Tage so unverschämt selbstbewusst in den Vordergrund wie der Kassenwart des Fördervereins bei der Abiverleihung meiner Schwester. Warum nur?

Vielleicht muss man voranstellen, dass die Zigarette nie wirklich weg war. Sie hat sich nur versteckt. Sie ist leiser geworden, schüchtern. In den 90ern und frühen 2000ern war sie noch allgegenwärtig: Kate Moss mit einer Kippe im Mundwinkel, Carrie Bradshaw, die rauchend vor ihrem Laptop sitzt. Ikonen einer Zeit, in der Rauchen zum guten Ton der Popkultur gehörte. » | Sven Fröhlich | Mittwoch, 12. August 2025

THE OUTCOME: IS SMOKING COOL AGAIN? THE DATA INDICATES MAYBE. : Cigarette sales are up across the board, even among Gen Z consumers, defying efforts to curb smoking among young people. »

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Pop Culture Takes Up Smoking Again: From movies and TV shows to music, the habit is no longer taboo. It’s even being celebrated for the way it makes characters look cool or powerful. »

Obschon ich seit mehr als drei Jahren rauchfrei bin, ich habe schöne Erinnerungen von Zeiten, in denen man eine Zigarette genießen konnte in einem Café mit einer Tasse Kaffee und in einem feinen Restaurant vor der Mahlzeit mit einem Aperitif und nach der Mahlzeit mit einer Tasse Kaffee und wenn möglich mit einem Glas Cognac. Zigarren-Raucher konnten das Rauchen einer Zigarre genießen.

Dann kamen die Spielverderber, die Weltverbesserer, die Intoleranten! Plötzlich war es Schluß mit Spaß, Vergnügen und Freude.

Einmal, glaubte ich, daß die Franzosen uns retten würden. Leider habe ich mich geirrt! Die Franzosen sind gleichermaßen woke geworden. So woke, daß sie neuerdings das Rauchen auch noch sogar auf dem Strand verbieten!

Falls die Franzosen glauben, daß Franzosen gesünder werden durch diese Gesetze und Maßnahmen, dann irren sie sich wirklich, denn heutzutage bekommen Leute ihren Spaß nicht von der bescheidenen Zigarette, sondern von Drogen, welche viel ungesünder und tödlicher sind. — © Mark Alexander

Quitting Smoking

MARK ALEXANDER: I have just realised something: It’s August 10th. As I quit smoking on April 10th 2022, and as I haven’t smoked anything since, that means that three years and four months have past by since enjoying the pleasure of smoking my last cigarette. I haven’t cheated even once.

These days, I come into contact with no smokers at all. None whatsoever! I can’t remember the day when I last smelt a smoker’s burning cigarette. Why? Because I can’t think of anyone I know who smokes anymore. The people I know are either people who have never smoked or people who have given up the pleasurable habit. So it grieves me to have to report that I have almost forgotten what the smell of a burning cigarette is like.

Many people would probably be joyful about this. I am not. I used to love the smell of fresh cigarette and cigar smoke. To me, it was redolent of conviviality. To this day, the sight of a handsome man exhaling smoke is a joy to behold.

Joyless wonders may well be proud of their achievements in creating a joyless world. I am not. To me, the pleasures of life have been destroyed. And fact is: people are no healthier today as a result of the onslaught of killjoys. In fact, if anything, they are unhealthier. These days people get their kicks from different unhealthy habits. But healthier they are not.

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Third of UK Teenagers Who Vape Will Go On to Start Smoking, Research Shows

THE GUARDIAN: Findings suggest e-cigarettes increasingly act as ‘gateway’ to nicotine for children, undermining earlier falling rates

A third of UK teenagers who vape will go on to start smoking tobacco, research shows, meaning they are as likely to smoke as their peers were in the 1970s.

A long-term intergenerational study found that the likelihood of starting to smoke among people aged 17 in 2018 was about 1.5% if they did not vape compared with 33% if they did.

The findings suggest that e-cigarettes are increasingly acting as a “gateway” to nicotine cigarettes for children, undermining falling rates of teen smoking over the past 50 years. » | Rachel Hall | Tuesday, July 29, 2025

This is what I have been saying all along. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out. Real cigarettes are often super unappealing to young children—when I was a child, I couldn’t bear the smell of smoke and avoided people smoking!—but those vapes are a different story altogether. They come in all manner of appealing flavours—strawberry, apricot, blackcurrant, chocolate, etc.—so how would they not be appealing to children. Once children get into the habit of enjoying puffing away on an e-cigarette, when they mature, they will naturally be tempted to graduate to the real thing: cigarettes. Smoking is here to stay! And that killjoy Starmer will never be able to enforce a generational smoking ban. For starters, who on earth is going to be able to police it? Our police forces can’t control theft from supermarkets, still less will they ever be able to enforce a smoking ban. – © Mark Alexander

Smoke Signals: From Charli XCX’s Nuptials to The Bear, Cigarettes Are Everywhere

THE GUARDIAN: Fags are back in fashion, as a ‘soft rebellion’ at weddings, on stage and on screen, despite awareness of the cancer risk

Coffee and chocolates traditionally signal the end of a meal at a wedding. But now many couples are ditching the sweet stuff and doling out cigarettes instead. Bowls and trays piled high with fags have become the new party favour.

Last weekend, guests at Charli xcx’s nuptials were served Vogue Essence Bleue slim cigarettes from silver trays, and social media is peppered with wedding receptions featuring tiered dessert stands laden with smoking paraphernalia and dedicated “smoking stations”.

It can be an expensive addition to any wedding bill, considering the average cost for a packet of 20 cigarettes is now £14.

Many modern brides take their inspiration from Mary-Kate Olsen, the child star turned fashion designer for The Row. In 2015, Olsen doled out mini bowls of cigarettes during her wedding to her now ex-husband Olivier Sarkozy. » | Chloe Mac Donnell | Friday, July 25, 2025

Sanity returns, pleasure is back! Killjoys eat you hearts out! Starmer! Time to ditch your nanny-state, anti-smoking policies and bans! People want to ditch their straightjackets and have some enjoyment again. Pleasure is in fashion again. It had to happen. It just did. – © Mark Alexander

Smokers Turn to Black Market because Quitting Products Too Expensive | The Business | ABC NEWS

Jul 21, 2025 | The consumption of illicit tobacco is growing, as more tobacconists pop up across the country, and revenue is lost from the legal excise. It's causing debate between politicians as experts warn Australia needs to crack down on the trade. In 2023, it was estimated that illegal tobacco consumption may account for close to 30 per cent of the total tobacco market in Australia, although these estimates by the legal tobacco industry are disputed. And despite sectors of government agreeing Australia has a problem with the illegal trade, there's mixed messaging about how to tackle the problem. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has ruled out lowering the tax excise on cigarettes, which will rise again in September, while NSW Premier Chris Minns has a different view and thinks the tax should be reduced. University of Sydney public health professor Becky Freeman says if the government was to lower the tobacco excise, it would send the wrong message. Instead, she thinks the number of outlets that sell tobacco products should be reduced.

As of July 1, NSW and Victoria introduced tobacco licensing laws, giving businesses until October and February respectively to apply for a licence to sell cigarettes. Experts say more needs to done to tackle the growing trade.


Australian politicians are as short-sighted and clueless as European politicians! Can’t they see the damage they are doing to people’s health by encouraging them to smoke black market cigarettes and tobacco because of cost? The quality of the tobacco on the black market is unregulated and the long-term health consequences of smoking it is likely to be be far worse than if they were able to afford to smoke government-regulated, quality-controlled tobacco and cigarettes manufactured at home. Moreover, the more expensive governments make tobacco products, the more likely people are to find alternative sources of enjoyment and pleasure. And that is precisely what is happening nowadays here in the West.

The best way to bring down smoking rates without causing resentment and distortions in the market is through information of the health dangers associated with smoking tobacco, not through extortionate taxation and government coercion. In any case, people do far worse things than enjoy the smoking of a cigarette.

We don’t live in utopia; rather, we live in the real world. And in the real world, people do all sorts of things, and consume all sorts of products, which are not conducive to perfect health. As Margaret Thatcher said: “The desire to achieve grand utopian plans often poses a grave threat to freedom.” – © Mark Alexander

France Says au revoir to Public Smoking

THE OBSERVER: This week’s restrictions are the latest step towards the country’s target of creating a tobacco-free generation by 2032

A loosely dangled cigarette would once have been de rigueur for anyone spending a summer’s day at a beach or park in France.

So what? Now it is evidence. A ban on smoking in outdoor spaces is not just a health intervention. It’s a milestone in a 50-year cultural shift that has seen

• tobacco consumption fall across France;
• smoking restrictions extend deeply into public life; and
• the French people fall out of love with Gauloises and Gitanes.

Continue reading » | Xavier Greenwood | Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Quel dommage ! France will never be the same again! – © Mark Alexander