As government officials in the U.K. vote on the possibility of banning cigarettes, anywhere, writer Lynn Barber offers a defense of her habit. She uses cinema to help make her case:

Can you think of any good movies without smoking in them? March of the Penguins, anyone? If you discount historical films such as Barry Lyndon or Ben-Hur, a diet of non-smoking films would be almost unwatchable. But what would be most tragically lost are the great black-and-white smoking films of the 1940s - Casablanca, Now, Voyager, The Big Sleep - where wreaths of smoke are an essential and beautiful part of the cinematography, and where smoking quite clearly stands for sex.

Read her entire column, online here.