The tobacco control movement worldwide is funded to the tune of tens of billions of US dollars, this ensures continued activity aimed at removing the freedom of the public which goes well beyond smoking bans. Their primary goal still remains the total prohibition of all tobacco related products by the year 2028 in favour of their own "medicinal" methods for the delivery of nicotine.
Due to the extent of this problem many groups around the world have been formed to fight smoking bans, the removal of freedoms, the abuses of science and political lobbying by special interest groups who promote bogus health scares for the purposes of product promotion.
History
Smoking bans are nothing new; the earliest recorded date back to the 14th Century and there have been many since. By the early 20th Century puritanism had succeeded in establishing more than a dozen smoking bans in states across America by promoting health scares such as stories of smokers veins bursting open and tobacco manufacturers deliberately adding opium to their products. These bans were all eventually lifted after the death of prohibition in the early 30's.
The next bans appeared in the Third Reich where the Nazi's coined the phrase 'passive smoke' to engender fear into the German public so that bans in public places would be more readily accepted. Like the modern day tobacco control movement the Nazi's were unable to find any scientific or medical link between passive smoke and disease and relied solely on statistics to make their case. The German bans ended with the defeat of the Nazi's.
The latest surge of smoking bans is a carbon copy of those that preceded it; the unbelievable health scares, the vilification
of the tobacco industry, the mis-use of statistics and the moral high ground of a Puritan stance have all been updated and copied.
Multi billion dollar budgets and a global media network have ensured that this latest round of prohibition is not limited to
single U.S. states or single countries and the access to massive funding ensured that tobacco control advocates could repeat
their messages far and wide.
As far back as the early 70's the budget for tobacco control was more than $7 billion, that is over 7 times the budget of the
Apollo manned space missions in the same period and well over 30 times more than the budget for cancer research.
The UK smoking ban is one of the most restrictive and undemocratic of all bans currently being imposed around the world.
Resources & links for information on smoking bans
The facts about second hand smoke
America was built on a live and let live attitude. Before the current crop of busybodies, do-gooders and nannies gained political power, we let people do what they like - even if they were hurting themselves - as long as didn't hurt anyone else. We'd only step in if an unwilling bystander was being harmed. That left the door open for the Second Hand Smoke (SHS) attack on smokers. The Facts Behind Smoking Bans: View site...
Dissecting Antismokers Brains
Dissecting Antismokers' Brains dumps traditional "conspiracy theory" thinking about social movements and examines the rise of public feeling against smokers and smoking as being the product of a number of diverse groups and individuals with differing motivations. Dissecting Antismokers Brains: View site...
Inside The Anti Smoking Movement
Professor Michael Siegal is a physician who specialized in preventive medicine and public health. He is currently a professor in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Boston University School of Public Health and has 20 years of experience in tobacco control. In his blog 'The Rest Of The Story' Professor Siegal exposes the extent of the lies and corruption within today's anti smoking movement. Inside The Anti Smoking Movement: View site...
The Money Behind Smoking Bans
The pharmaceutical industry has mounted a sophisticated grassroots campaign to build support for its position on key issues that affect its bottom line. The industry has funded various groups to champion its positions, sponsored studies tilted to the industry and hired public relations firms to spearhead campaigns to soften up public opinion and government policies. The Money Behind Smoking Bans: View site...
Freedom2Choose
The argument that secondary smoke is dangerous was certainly not debated or held up for scrutiny and media debate has greatly over-represented the views of the NHS and ASH, whose scare-mongering tactics are all that most of the public saw and heard. Freedom2Choose was formed to campaign and educate the public surrounding the issues of smoking bans. Freedom2Choose: View site...
Forces International
An organisation in support of human rights and in particular, but not limited to, the defence of those who expect from life the freedom to smoke, eat, drink and in general to enjoy personal lifestyle choices without restrictions and state interference. Smoking prohibition and the campaigns for behaviour modification are a front to hide the self-righteousness of those who feel entitled to impose advice on health, choice, behaviour and social values. Forces International: View site...