Spent an enjoyable hour at BBC Radio Cambridgeshire yesterday.
I was invited with two other people to discuss smoking in cars. That evolved into a general debate about smoking.
Fellow guests were Barbara, a tobacco control coordinator at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, and Ellie, a 14-year-old Kick Ash "ambassador".
I'd never heard of Kick Ash or their ambassadors. They describe themselves as "Young people proud to be smoke free across Cambridgeshire".
Ellie was very composed, on and off air. If she was nervous she hid it very well. I thought she answered questions honestly and in her own words, unlike a lot of 'professional' campaigners who simply repeat the same tired old phrases.
I vowed not to interrupt or say anything that might sound aggressive but I cracked when she complained that her stepfather "smells" after he has been smoking.
She admitted that he never smokes in front of her and always goes outside, well away from the rest of the family, but that's not enough, it seems.
According to Brazilian-born Barbara, Ellie's stepfather still represents a threat to children because of the particles on his clothes.
This is complete hokum, of course. Nevertheless I've a good word for Barbara too. Not only was she very friendly, she told me she had read this blog which put her in my good books immediately.
Thinking about it, she may read it again so I warn you now – any unpleasant personal comments will be strictly moderated!
What drives Barbara, an ex-smoker, in her pursuit of even more anti-smoking legislation is the fact that in the course of her work at Addenbrookes she sees what she says is the direct result of smoking.
I don't doubt her sincerity, or the fact that she experiences first hand people who are seriously ill, but I do think that people who work in hospitals get a distorted view of the world which can affect their sense of perspective.
To witness every day people with lung cancer or emphysema must be distressing. But it's not the whole picture. I'm 53 and outside of a television studio I can't recall having ever met (or known personally) anyone with either illness.
So I imagine it's a bit like working for the vice squad. You experience life, but not as most of us know it.
Of course there's an element of Russian roulette about smoking and a lot of people are willing to gamble. That's their choice. What we need, instead of the demonstrably ridiculous 'quit or die' message, is more research that tries to discover why some people are more prone than others to develop certain smoking-related illnesses.
Smoking may be a trigger but there must be other factors otherwise every long-term smoker would die of a smoking-related illness. What the consumer wants is more information so he/she can assess the risk (which seems to vary from person to person) and make a proper, informed choice.
Unfortunately the current propaganda about smoking is so black and white that many people turn their backs and ignore it. And don't get me started about harm reduction products such as snus and e-cigarettes which many within the tobacco control industry refuse even to discuss.
Anyway Barbara suggested I should go to Addenbrookes to see the damage caused by smoking. I received a similar invitation when I spoke at a conference on alcohol. An eminent surgeon said I should visit St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, where he worked, to see the damage caused by alcohol.
Certainly, I shot back, but nothing came of it. Ironically I later found another reason to visit St Mary's, albeit as a patient.
But I digress. Towards the end of a lively discussion, genial presenter Jeremy Sallis, who reminded me of Five Live's Richard Bacon, invited me to agree that the world would be a better place if no-one smoked. (I paraphrase but I think that was the gist of it.)
I can't remember my exact response but it began with a fairly sharp "No!".
Ellie was given the final word but I can't remember what that was either because I was still absorbing what she said, off air, a few minutes earlier.
During the traffic report she revealed that her nan smoked all her life, even when she was reduced to one lung.
"So," I enquired, "what age did she live to?"
"Ninety," said Ellie.
Update: To listen to the discussion Click here. It begins around 20 minutes in.