I'm not sure what to say about this news item regarding musician Paul Weller lighting up on stage at a recent London gig despite the smoking ban in that country. I think that Weller has every right to smoke cigarettes if he chooses to, but I also feel it's unfair of him to openly flout the ban in front of non-smokers in the crowd.

I even think it's kind of unfair to the smokers in the crowd who may have wanted to have a smoke as well but couldn't afford to pay the fine. According to the piece, the fine for defying the smoking ban is about $400US, which for a regular person in the audience would likely be a hefty chunk of change, but for Weller is likely a mere drop in the bucket.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if one person in the building isn't able to smoke then no one should be able to, but if the only deterrent is a fine, then what's to stop wealthy celebrities like Weller from defying the rules anyway?