Why my government makes me smoking hot

Yes, my government has made me smoking hot, i.e. angry.

My beloved Lebanese government has recently started implementing a law to ban smoking in public and closed places. Smokers will find a new meaning to Judy Garland’s ending statement in the Wizard of Oz: “there’s no place like home”. Though a smoker, I will in no way attempt to justify smoking or make trifle the effects of second-hand smoking. On a side note, watch ONLY the first part of ‘thank you for smoking’ - Kudos Mr. Eckhart. One would think that there are more pressing issues at hand than smoking, or at least better ways to deal with it.

The fact is Lebanon, a country all the Lebanese love yet can’t wait to ship out of, is crises-ridden. I will not venture to go into details about each problem (will leave that for another post), but I will name some:

The lack of free and proper education

No health benefits,
No half-decent labor law,
No labor opportunities,
No industries,
No electricity,
No security...
And (the inconsistent no of the bunch)
No smoking!  

True, a government need not prioritize its to-do list. These government officials however, seem to be working inspired by the ‘let us do what takes as little effort to do’ principle. For instance, a government official thinks: there is traffic in a street (Verdun, for example) and its upper parallel street. Easy. Let us not try to re-plan roads, bridges or tunnels. Instead, we'll make Verdun's two street and its parallel, each, one way, in opposing directions! Brilliant. (Officials proceed to compliment each other on that ingenious idea). Moving on.  The number of car accidents/casualties is off the roof. Of course, the government official reasons that this is not due to bad roads, poor street lights, and the absence of traffic officers. The high road mortality rates is due to (and truly so) to the different use of mobile phones while driving. The official looks for a solution. Sigh. Elementary, let’s ban smoking!!

True, if a government can right any wrong, it is better than nothing. Seriously though, couldn’t you guys have gone about it differently? How about you double, triple or even quadruple the price of a cigarette pack? It would bring more money to your pockets, I mean more taxes for the government. Also, it will force a vast number of people to cut down on, if not quit, smoking. Furthermore, it would in no way harm the wrongly-structured tourism of our beloved country. How about you decree (and apply) a law that bans smoking for those under the age of eighteen? This will also lead to more money in your p… oh, never mind.

P.S.: smoking causes serious and/or fatal diseases to first-hand and second-hand smokers. Alas, our government can cause more serious and/or fatal ones and at a faster rate.