A weekly programme which focuses on people and the situations which shape their lives
Reporters Jim Douglas Henry, Jeremy James, Jeanne La Chard, Gillian Strickland, Desmond Wilcox, Harold Williamson

Nobody disputes our democratic right to poison ourselves, if we choose to, with nicotine. But have we any choice in the matter? For every £1 spent on telling the public about its harmful effect, £180 are spent suggesting the contrary - cigarettes are glamorous; with coupons, even profitable. The weed kills 27,000 smokers, between 35 and 64, every year. They and the survivors contribute £100 million, every year, to the Treasury. The national sickness caused by nicotine pays for the National Health. This programme is not a debate about whether or not smoking causes cancer or kills people. That's no longer a real argument. This is about persuasion and its problems. Can we give it up - can we afford to give it up? Can we be sold into stopping the habit that kills - but is hard to break - cigarette smoking?

(Colour)