AFTER learning that the Executive Council had approved plans forbidding the sale of cigarettes to persons under the age of 18 and banning tobacco advertising in publications and for display on billboards, I want to ask, ''How can the Government justify doing these things?'' The fact is that smoking is not a crime and if it is not, then why should laws be created barring smoking in some public areas and not others? Even if a minority of people do not smoke, majority opinion should not be the basis of a law. Minority rights must be protected.
As long as smoking does not cause damage to others, the Government has no right to forbid a person to smoke.
It is up to each individual and for someone who is under 18, the decision on whether or not he can smoke (if he wishes to), should be made by the parent or guardian. Preventing any individual from buying cigarettes, is an infringement of individual freedom.
The Government should put more effort into educating the public that smoking carries health hazards, rather than setting up regulations which, in principle, are wrong.
NICK KWOK Kowloon