From Mr M. Desira

Imagine the scene – Paceville, Saturday night. Almost half a dozen people are taking drugs openly in an entertainment venue. You go out and see some policemen walking past. When you inform them on what is taking place, they ignore you and walk on!

A few years back, when no smoking in entertainment places became law, I, together with some friends of mine were dismayed to note that smoking still went on. Right beside those GRTU notices that smoking was prohibited, bouncers at entertainment entrances would themselves be smoking nonchalantly. Reporting people who were smoking to bouncers was useless. Informing the police patrolling the roads was useless. We decided this was a smokescreen (later confirmed by certain “wealth before health” comments) and voted with our money: we simply stopped going to certain places. In fact I only go to Paceville bars once every few months now.

Only recently, I popped over to Paceville to miss a bit of that war bombardment simulation, also known as the village festa fireworks, and was dismayed to find that nothing much had changed. I remember Assistant Police Commissioner Abela saying in a television interview that the no smoking policy was now under police control. At the time I thought this comment was out of touch with reality – and it still is. In one particular venue, everything was normal until one patron lit up – and set off a chain reaction, with almost a dozen people smoking inside. When these things happen, I vote with my feet and go out. Just outside, a small group of policemen were passing by, and I informed them that in a certain bar just 10 feet away there were almost half a dozen people smoking… they simply walked on and ignored the report. Again I enquired if they would be taking any action and one policeman quipped the usual banal reply “dak jarah spettur” (that should be dealt with by an inspector).

The situation described in my opening paragraph is not exactly an exaggeration. A cigarette is a drug that is deemed legal. Two people die everyday because they smoked cigarettes. How many are dying daily from any other drugs? The police by not enforcing the law are missing the wood for the trees, and undermining the good work done to date by the Health Promotion Unit. For all the recent pomposity about the new hospital, we should be proud of how few, not how many, hospital beds are occupied!

Mario Desira

ZURRIEQ