THE HUMAN CONDITION is full of contradictions and societies differ across the globe. What makes sense in one country can appear very odd in others.
In Ireland, we consume alcohol and yet in many other countries, this is forbidden by law.
In conversation with a Muslim man once, he observed that “alcohol is poisonous and it harms the body, but you Irish drink all the time. It changes your behaviour and even your women are permitted to become drunk. This is not allowed in my country.”
It was difficult to defend logically.
It got me considering what is normal, what is abnormal and what denormalisation really entails. Today, one million, three hundred thousand people in Ireland, choose to smoke a legal product, but plans are afoot in some quarters to denormalise this behaviour.
Restrictions, bans, fines, penalties of all kinds, and a campaign of relentless vilification, is in full flight, to stamp out smoking in the Irish Republic. It is technically legal and the State does well from both excise duties and VAT from sales of tobacco.
But pricing and marginalisation are powerful tools as is the new caricature of a sick, smelly addict, somehow less than human because of the habit they engage in.
But, it begs the question: Who is next in the firing line? Puritanical zeal once established, in this case it is on health grounds, does not simply evaporate once it has achieved it’s first objective.
There are many examples of denormalistation down through history for example when Henry VIII denormalised the Roman Catholic religion in Britain to ensure he could marry his chosen bride or parts of the United States denormalised those who were not white.
These are in the extreme of course and this process inevitably leads to persecution of a minority, to satisfy the whims of a chosen few. In these cases, propaganda which sought to marginalise the minority was used by those in power to divide society and turn the majority against the minority.
On the basis of this, laws were introduced which were designed to consign the chosen minority to second class citizenship. Those in the majority were invited to believe they were the righteous clean living good citizens and so were invited to vilify the targeted minority.
Though these are extremes and the proposals from Minister James Reilly are not immediately comparable, who would have thought in this new and enlightened century that this kind of thing could ever happen again, albeit in a small way.
Health research has proved that obesity is an epidemic even more dangerous and costly to society than smoking, and alcohol is a substance constantly proven to have little beneficial aspects.
And only last month, Minister Reilly informed us that he intends banning smoking outdoors at some venues, on the grounds that the very sight of a person smoking, gives bad example to the young.
This is a dangerous departure from tolerance and democracy, and you might wonder what other sight – such as a parent sipping a glass of wine in the home, or an overweight person waddling around in public – might be seen in the same light in the future.
You may have no sympathy for the plight of the smoker right now, and indeed, the propaganda of the last ten years may have led you to hate smokers. But, don’t be complacent.
Health and safety might just target you next for some very unpleasant treatment, and you will not need to break any law to become the recipient of it either.
John Mallon is a spokesman for Forest Éireann which aims to protect the interests of adults who choose to smoke tobacco.
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