Photo owned by preciouskhyatt (cc)

I’m amazed by this:

Smoking rates have increased since 2002 despite the introduction of the smoking ban in public places, according to a study published today.

The number of people who said they were smokers fell from 33 per cent in 1998 to 27 per cent in 2002 but increased to 29 per cent last year, according to the Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÁN) in Ireland, published by the Department of Health.

Younger people were more likely to smoke (35 per cent of those aged 18-29 years), as were those in lower social class groups and almost one in 10 smokers were actively trying to quit. Some 41 per cent were not planning to quit, according to the survey.

Full story on Ireland.com. I try to come up with valid reasons why smoking is terrible and people who smoke are cunts, but then you compare those arguements with our 1000 times worse alchohol addiction and it all becomes rather pointless.