There’s nothing more depressing than people smoking outside hospital wards

When the smoking ban in enclosed public places was introduced in Scotland just over 12 years ago, it was certainly regarded by some as the most radical health measure for generations.

For others, it was just another unnecessary intrusion into our personal lives. Brian Monteith clearly sides with the latter view (perspective, 25 June) but I think he has overstated his criticism of the Scot- tish government’s Tobacco Control Strategy.

The most important point to remember here is that the current limited ban is a health measure. It is just one means of trying to reduce tobacco consumption (including passive smoking) and this does create a healthier environment for us all. Public information campaigns, individual health advice and the promotion of role models all have a part to play, too. It is all about getting the right balance between protecting individual liberty and the wider gain of improving overall health and the quality of life inside buildings open to the public. This is where Mr Monteith could have been more even-handed.

He is right to suggest that a ban on smoking in council houses and private cars without children is discriminatory and unworkable. But there is still a lot more to be done in extending the ban to more public spaces. There are few more distressing sights than seeing hospital patients and their visitors puffing away in the grounds of the very body that is there to help them.

Areas outside shopping malls could easily come within the scope of an extended law. There may be some practical difficulties in introducing it to public parks but an attempt would, I think, gain public support. The right approach is the one that protects privacy as well as the health of everyone in the country.

BOB TAYLOR Shiel Court, Glenrothes It’s nice to read Brian Monteith express a liberal viewpoint for a change, in his defence of smokers’ rights and criticism of the nanny state which denies them the freedom to puff away in their own homes. I wonder if his argument extends to the right of people to smoke cannabis in their own homes unhindered by the “Mcnanny State”, as he refers to it? Probably not, as this practice is prohibited by his own Tory government. Clearly some nannying is OK so long as it’s administered by the party you support.

D MITCHELL The Glebe, Cramond, Edinburgh