I’m very surprised and somewhat disappointed that I’m the only smoker among a group of 14 journalists, who have been selected from all over the world to attend a specialized training course at the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) in Berlin. To my utter dismay, I’ve discovered that the regulations on smoking are pretty strict here. You can’t smoke inside cafes, restaurants, offices or even while waiting for a subway at a station.  Also, the cigarettes cost a lot of money.  One pack of Marlboro reds can cost around six Euros, while the same pack back home in Pakistan costs just 70 cents. I’m told that the situation is pretty much the same throughout the EU countries. Yes, I understand that regulations like these are a very healthy step especially with the threat of global warming looming round the corner (hahahaha!), but if you’re a heavy smoker like this writer here, its actually quite a pain in the ***.

And I don’t get one thing. Why is the system biased against smokers only? How come one can get drunk and really have as much booze as you like in public spaces here, but not smoke?  Although the intentions behind the ban might be noble, the truth is that it comes across as saying that its safer to be around a drunk guy  than a smoker.

If you, my readers, had to choose between the two, who would you think is more likely to cause harm to you:  the smoker or the drunk?