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those crises which are found when the opium addict or the alcoholic is deprived
of his drug. We would quote as an example the fact that people who are sent to
prison are unable to smoke except to a very limited degree They nevertheless
are able to accept the situation without a serious emotional crisis Furthermore
there are persons who throughout the whole of their lives, for religious
reasons have succeeded in refraining from smoking either on a Saturday or a
Sunday, and there are others who cease smoking during the whole of Lent.
We doubt if the chronic alcoholic or morphia addict could achieve this.
What, then, is the compulsion to smoke? It is the compulsion of a long
established habit, and one that is encouraged by poster, advertisement,
by fashion and the herd instinct We therefore consider that if a person could
be placed in an environment where he was not subjected to the compulsion of
smoking he might smoke less Smoking might well be prohibited in buses trams
and trains in theatres and in cinemas to the benefit not only of the smoker
but of the non-smoker as well We believe that the smoker could adjust him or
herself without too much hardship to refraining from smoking in these surroundings
for the desire to smoke is very often brought about by environmental factors:
the meeting of friends the offer of a cigarette annoyance excitement and the
like
We ourselves are in a neutral position One of us gave up smoking 20 years
ago for reasons other than the fear of cancer and the other is a moderate
smoker. We therefore trust that we have been able to give a combined unbiased
opinion.
S P A C A.
The St Pancras Association for the Care of the Aged has now become an
integral part of the public health and social amenities of the Borough of St
Pancras and once again I make no apology for bringing it within the scope of my
annual report
S, P AC. A., the name by which it is now so well known has continued its work
regularly throughout ^he year increasing it in those directions where it has
been found to be weak
At the time of writing this report there are four whole time nurses engaged
in the routine care of the aged It had been the hope of the Association
that the nurses wouia be abxfc to spend most of their time In visiting old
people in health advising them and guiding them in order that they might avoid
those pitfalls of the latter end of life which tend to make life difficult and
uncomfortable.
To some extent we are succeeding in this On the other hand the St Pancras
Association for the Care of the Aged is now so well known to general practitioners
almoners and clergy working in the borough not to mention Councillors County
Councillors and Members of Parliament that we receive a regular stream of
requests that we visit old people in difficulty in order to advise them As a
result much of the time of the nurses is devoted to these special cases,
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