# 63: Could a total ban on smoking work? • Unhealthiest children ever? • Homeopathic Tip of the Week: Colds & Flu

Could a total ban on smoking work?

At medical school there were three medical journals that were held in the highest esteem. Two were British and one American: The British Medical Journal, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. Last week’s edition of The Lancet had an astounding article in which the authors called for a total ban on smoking; making tobacco illegal. I have to admit that I was stunned…

That smoking is bad for your health is irrefutable. The list of diseases including many cancers it can cause is too long to be included here. However making cigarettes illegal is one of the silliest suggestions I’ve heard for some time. Of course doctors are very intelligent people so perhaps the article is a bit tongue in cheek although it’s not written that way and The Lancet is no light-hearted comic. Banning cigarettes anywhere will only do one thing and that is produce a whole new generation of violent criminals, the tobacco smugglers. I cannot think of any form of contraband more attractive to criminals than tobacco, a highly addictive substance, much in demand by a significant segment of the population. In prisons cigarettes are often currency. Even now there is a market for blackmarket cigarettes simply because they are cheaper. Yes banning tobacco could make it harder to get hold of. But it will create violent crime and very rich cartels of criminals who will inherit the billions of pounds that the government earns from taxing tobacco to the hilt.

Unhealthiest children ever?

Our children came in for heavy censoring this week in all the papers. Apparently they are the fattest, most drug-craven and infertile youngsters in history. This does not auger well for English sport. Who is responsible for this sorry state of affairs? It’s difficult to say because there are so many potential factors involved: Easy availability of drugs; modern food containing many additives and preservatives; computer games becoming more popular than outdoor sport and a creeping nihilism in youth culture. What is to be done about this? Perhaps the decline of institutionalised religion has something to do with this. Kids need something to believe in. God, love, a political position, physical health, the environment even Arsenal football club…anything! A huge deficit in childhood ideals has now resulted in a severe decline in our children’s health. What to do about it? I don’t know; talk to your children and see if you can find out.

Homeopathic Tip of the Week

A lot of people seem to have colds and flu at the moment so here are some useful first aid remedies.

All the following remedies should be used in 6c potency which is the one most chemists keep in stock.

Aconite: Use this when you feel yourself actually catch a chill. Once the cold starts it’s too late for this remedy, but if you get in really early just as that tingle at the back of your throat is starting, you may well stave off a few colds. (Take a 6c every hour for a few hours)

Gelsemium: An excellent remedy for those awful flu symptoms of terrible fatigue, chills going up and down the spine, drowsiness and especially if you do not feel thirsty.

Pulsatilla: For any cold that produces green mucus, this is your remedy of choice (one pill three times a day).

Bryonia: For that dry cough that lingers after a cold, use this remedy three times a day for a week or so.

In addition you should drink a great deal of water. Water encourages the filtering of your blood by your kidneys. When your system is invaded by a virus it produces a lot of by-products and debris that need to be flushed out of your system through the urinary tract. However your body will not form urine if it lacks fluid. Hence the advice to drink plenty of water when you are ill.