In today's society, those who smoke tobacco face a great deal of stigmatization and antipathy (I use those words as h2g2 is a clean, sheltered family show).

In addition to inflicting a slow, painful debilitation on themselves, these people, it is averred, are doing likewise to all others, unwitting, unwilling innocents.

Well, I, as a reputable smoker of long standing (and I mean that most sincerely folks), would take exception to this. "Wherefore base?" ask I. How "innocent"?

Am I and my compatriots solely responsible for ozone depletion? Who placed the need to establish the Kyoto Protocol on our shoulders. Are we to blame for the punitive effects of petrochemical prices, the ever-changing dynamics of world agriculture and topography?

Nay, I say, we are not! Look to the beam in your own eye!