I have been studying addiction all my working life. It is a tricky subject, partly because there are different types of addiction which have very different harmful effects. Tobacco smoking, in the news because of the new Government policy, has been a very different addiction compared to, say, heroin addiction. It has been legal, very common, and very, very bad for our health. I welcome a new policy to phase out the legal sale of tobacco. I believe it will help change attitudes, reduce smoking, and improve health. But, like all policy changes, there will be some unexpected side effects; we will need to keep an eye on the illicit trade, on any compensatory rises in other harmful consumptions, and on any untoward societal effects of having a diminishing older population of legal smokers. But don’t listen to those who talk of a ‘nanny state.’ Treating the selling of tobacco smoking with the disdain it deserves is long overdue.