It's not the cigarettes that will kill you...

It's the incense used in Catholic Church ceremonies. So says Irish junior minister Jim McDaid M.D. in today's Irish Independent. To be honest, we haven't ruled out that this story is a hoax because it seems so preposterous and suspiciously timed. The Irish government is planning a total ban on smoking in the workplace from January 1 2004, and the definition of the workplace is to include bars and restaurants. If implemented, this would be a radical change from the traditional Irish experience of returning home from the pub with one's clothes reeking of tobacco.

A well funded lobby has sprung up to oppose the change, and has trotted out histrionic "analyses" of the impact of the ban: losses in jobs and tax revenue, not to mention the traditional Irish way of life. The public seem to be tuning out the opposition, not least because they heard exactly the same analysis of what would happen when duty free purchases on travel between EU countries was eliminated, and nothing bad happened. So it would indeed be convenient to portray the ban as coming from a government gone mad...today, cigarettes, tomorrow..the Mass! And for proof, this newspaper article:

The junior minister, who is a medical doctor, said high levels of carcinogenic carbon molecules in the smoke of the burning incense were being inhaled by the children.

"It makes me cringe when I see that huge cloud of smoke rising right up into the child's face, particularly given the delicate nature of a child's lungs and the level of irritation it must cause," he said.