I was 13 when I smoked my first cigarette. I was on my first date too but looking sophisticated in my little black dress wasn’t enough to impress him, so when he offered me a cigarette, I took it as if he was giving me a thousand euros.

It nearly killed me. It seemed as if my throat was on fire and I wondered why people bought packets of this stuff. When he offered me a second one, I was hesitant but as I looked into those fascinating green eyes, I couldn’t say no.

That was the start of my addiction to cigarettes, an addiction that I still carry 41 years later. The thing is: I love smoking and I know many people who feel the same but we are being treated as if we are second-class citizens.

Has it occurred to people that some of us love smoking and do not want to give up cigarettes? Why, for example, has the outside canteen of Mater Dei hospital become a non-smoking area?

It is outside after all. Why do people keep giving dirty looks to smokers as if they are murderers on the prowl? Why do we have to put up with conversations which start with, “Oh, you smoke dearie, do give them up”.

We love smoking; we do not want to give them up. Most people have various addictions like gambling, alcoholism etc but of course smoking is given top priority. I will probably die with a cigarette in my hand but what the hell, at least I would have died happy!

Valerie Borg

Valletta