It's really not 'nanny police', but a psychology of zealotry amongst individuals who are in governments, local councils, etc. who most probably had some loved one who smoked/had smoked deal with a cancer or illness situation in their lives. It is easy enough to project the responsibility for our decisions on to tobacco companies, soft drink companies, fatty snack companies, etc. - this zealotry is rampant in Ireland, as well. The politicians here are 'proud' to have been one of the first countries in the EU to ban smoking inside public places. I will not tell you the number of pubs that went out of business because of this. However, it does appear that 'they' are eroding the social acceptance of smoking - there is little public defense of the right to smoke, etc. Pub owners here did not become pro-active to try to save their businesses. In January, a law is passing here where you will be fined if you drive in your car with a 'minor', while smoking, due to cherry-picked second hand smoke 'statistics' (despite recent trials that have been unable to show a connection). I don't know how that relates to a 17 year old smoker, driving alone in his car, though....
