The Daily Novel

Last night’s play was Rock’n'roll by Tom Stoppard. I don’t have time to write a review because the sight of the several of the cast smoking on stage sent my energies off in quite a different direction where campaigning journalism is urgently needed. It reminded me that actors can no longer smoke on stage in Scotland. And that next year it will be illegal to smoke pretty well in every public place in England, even, perhaps, on the cold and draughty pavements outside office buildings.

And that thought lit a blazing fire of anger in my belly. It causes similar anger in the bellies of all smokers and particularly those smokers who are also manic depressives. This ill-thought out legislation is being rushed through by the majority therm party (for those who have not read my ‘In manic flow post’, a therm is anyone who is not a manic depressive). They are ignoring some very important evidence on smoking. They are ignoring civil liberties issues. And they just don’t take into account that they are making manics even madder than they already are, forcing them into ghettos, and depriving them of the company of non-smokers.

Let it be clear I do not ignore the evidence on the number of deaths caused by smoking. On the contrary I had a conversation with Richard Doll a few years ago and we hit it off very well. I deeply admire the way he devoted most of his time into research on smoking in the face of lots of scepticism and some pretty forceful opposition from the tobacco companies. Now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction.

The evidence on passive smoking causing deaths is far from conclusive. What it does show, however, is that for the smoke to cause any harmful effect on non-smokers you need to be crowded together in a very small space with all the windows closed.

The psychological evidence about the difference between people who smoke for social reasons and people who smoke because they are addicted is ignored by efforts made to encourage smokers to give up. It is no good telling addicts to stop. They all know by now that there is a serious risk that smoking will kill them one day. But they also know that meanwhile it helps them to live. And unlike many addictions smoking does not play havoc with the mind, like binge drinking, heroin, cocaine and even the pot which Stoppard’s characters were pretending to smoke last night.

Above all the evidence of the beneficial effects of smoking on those with mental health problems is ignored. Several research studies have shown that smoking is good for depressives.

This is partly the effects of the drug. Nicotine is a most unusual drug which both stimulates and depresses. It is a particular help as a pick-me-up in the depressive phase. In the manic phase it helps to reduce the agitation. The long exhalation of the smoke relaxes. In the manic phase I tend to smoke more cigarettes but it does not affect my thinking. By contrast, if I drink too much in the manic phase I cannot even type properly, my mind gets fuddled, and my behaviour towards others can be quite unpleasant. Yes, I know alcohol affects everyone in this way. But I also know that when I am in between the extremes of mood (i. e. experiencing life like the therms) I can drink far more before the harmful effects happen.

Smoking is also beneficial because of the rituals attached to it. The last thing my father did before he went to bed at night was to go to the mantelpiece and place his packet of Players Navy Cut side by side with his silver cigarette case. He would count out one by one eight cigarettes, which was the quantity he limited himself to for economic reasons. Then, he would raise his hand and close the case with a flourish and a satisfying snap.

My own smoking is also surrounded by lots of rituals. I use a cigarette lighter and if in extremity I have to borrow a match it is very annoying. I have a huge collection of cigarette lighters, including one which my nephew has just given me. This is an old Ronson petrol lighter. And it is a replica of the one which was given to my father by his three childen, the first expensive present they had bought him with their own saved up pocket money.

I also have a large collecttion of ash trays. Some bought for their beauty. Others acquired for sentimental reasons like the Wills Woodbine beige ashtray used by my paternal grandfather. The most beautiful one is made of Bohemian glass and I bought it in Prague just after the Velvet Revolution. Which is what Stoppard’s play last night was all about. All of our party of four enjoyed it. If you want to know about what it’s about I am sure you can find a review through Google which will be far better than anything I could write.