The NYTimes back in Feb'11 ran a story where some businesses are turning away potential employees for being smokers. This is being justified due to higher insurance costs, and a perception of lowered productivity, and potential health issues. Employees have to undergo random nicotine testing.
While everyone agrees smoking generally isn’t a good habit, and as an ex-smoker I can testify that cessation has had zero affect on my productivity, or apparent health. I feel no better or worse than I did when I was smoking.
The real crux here, as the article also points out is that how can something that is legal be used to discriminate against your employment prospects, or even be grounds for termination? What is next? Will companies stop hiring based weight? Or food habits? Or race or colour? Or your hobbies?
We ourselves are to blame for the loss of our individual freedoms and choices we might decide to make in our own lives. Just another sign of world that has gone mad.
For those who argue that smoking is bad for health so this is justified, I ask you this: Since the leading cause of death on this planet across the world can be attributed to birth, should we ban living?
This is a deep one.
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