In short, the smokescreen, pardon the pun… I mean, the article… is about a study/report by a group of UBC researchers. The very first sentence of the article sets the [bullshit] tone: “Years of anti-smoking laws and campaigns have amounted to a public shaming of smokers… ” (emphasis mine, throughout). And the crap continues…

One study subject whined, “You really are labeled as a bad person if you smoke.”

And Kirsten Bell, lead author of a paper just published on the issue, joined the chorus of whiners, claiming, “People are made to feel really, really bad about their smoking and are treated quite badly…”! In her very next breath, however, Bell provides a very small glimmer of truth when she says, “They [smokers] feel really negatively about themselves…”

Bell goes on to suggest that there is some sort of a contrast between “how smokers are treated and the NON-JUDGMENTAL, ‘harm-reduction’ approach now widely applied by public health to people with other addictions.”…the clear — and FALSE — implication being that we (anti-tobacco activists) and/or “public health” people are ‘judgmental’ toward smokers.

My point, as alluded to by Gar Mahood (Non-Smokers’ Rights Association, Toronto): Whether it be the ‘OPINIONS’ of smokers themselves, their drug [nicotine] dealers (the pushers in pinstripes at the tobacco industry) or any of the industry’s well-paid (albeit with blood-stained money) puppets, ‘the tobacco-control movement has NOT tried to stigmatize smokers, individually or collectively.’

As smoking bans continue to expand, many smokers (and even some non-smoking ‘sympathizers’) – especially those who belong to so-called “smokers’ rights” groups – have developed a major “Woe is me!” (or, “Woe are we!”) mentality. They are whiners who want all of the “freedoms”, “choices” and “rights” that were once thought to be part of the smoking ritual, but none of the responsibilities that normally go along with all such freedoms/choices/rights. NONE WHATSOEVER!

Support Errol Povah in his Journey for a Tobacco Free World: http://tobaccofreeworld.ca/

I would also suggest that many smokers have a serious love/hate relationship with smoking, cigarettes (often thought of as their ‘best friends’… always there for them, through good times and bad, blah, blah, blah) and, ultimately, themselves! Deep down inside, many of them desperately want to quit, but won’t/can’t…for one valid — or, most likely, INVALID — reason or another.

Bottom line: No legitimate anti-tobacco activist that I know – and I know many of them, from all over the world – is the least bit interested in the “public shaming” of smokers…or has ever ‘labeled’ any smoker as a “bad person.” Nor has anyone I know ever “treated [any smoker] quite badly” or in a ‘judgmental’ way…unless, for some warped reason, you somehow consider reasonable and ever-expanding smoking bans to be part of treating smokers badly.

False accusations of “stigmatization” – along with all of the “public shaming”, “labeled as a bad person”, “made to feel really, really bad” and “treated quite badly” blah, blah, blah CRAP – is nothing more than… wait for it…

SELF-LOATHING…

AND SELF-FLAGELLATION!!!

In addition to accepting responsibility for their filthy, stinking addiction and habit, smokers also need to accept full responsibility for the way they feel… about themselves!

If you feel bad, if you feel guilty, if you feel that smoking around your kids makes you a bad parent, etc., etc., etc., STOP LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE (i.e., your nearest anti-tobacco activist) TO BLAME! Instead, LOOK INTO THAT SAME MIRROR THAT YOU LOOKED INTO A FEW DECADES AGO (when you got sucked into believing that smoking was cool, sexy, glamourous, etc.), AS YOU TRIED YOUR FIRST CIGARETTE! Which hand should I hold it in? Which fingers should I hold it between? Should I stick it in the middle of my mouth…or to one side or the other? While in my mouth, should the cigarette be horizontal… or drooping a bit… or tilting upward? Do I take little puffs…or long, deep drags? Blah, blah, bloody blah!

TAKE OWNERSHIP OF – AND ACCEPT FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR — YOUR FEELINGS!

Having said all of that, let me tell you about the REAL stigmatization that occurs around tobacco..

Those of us who are trying to do something to reduce/eliminate the tragic tobacco toll (the current death toll, globally, is 5.4 million annually…and, believe it or not, that number is actually expected to double over the next 10 years!) are mocked, made fun of, threatened and called a wide range of both inaccurate and derogatory names.

I’m not going to waste any time or energy listing the derogatory names, but I do want to say a few words about the most inaccurate name that we are often called: “Anti-smokers.” I absolutely despise that term, because again, it FALSELY implies that we dislike or hate smokers…and that is not the case at all! Among other things, it’s the deadly second-hand smoke that we have a huge problem with and, even more than that, it’s the common enemy of both non-smokers and smokers – the tobacco industry — that we absolutely despise!

Yet, no matter how many times I spell that out to our opponents (so-called “smokers’ rights” people), they stubbornly/ignorantly continue to call us “anti-smokers”. I can only guess that, in their nicotine-riddled minds, thinking of us as “anti-smokers” helps them to justify their hatred of us. It also gives them an opportunity to, much to the delight of their puppet-masters at the tobacco industry, move the focus away from the real issue – tobacco – and instead, turn it into personal attacks…a skill, I might add, that they have truly perfected.

To a lesser degree, we’re also stigmatized by the general public…and by politicians. In the minds of most people, the tobacco problem has been solved…most of the public places they visit are smoke-free, their workplaces are smoke-free and their homes and cars are smoke-free, therefore tobacco is no longer a problem (WRONG!)…and anyone who continues to push the anti-tobacco agenda is a “radical”, “fanatical” whatever who needs to get a life, etc.

Well, I can’t speak for any of my colleagues, but personally, I have a great life, thank you very much! And a big part of what makes it so great is my deep involvement in an extremely worthwhile cause as I try, in my own unique way, to do my small part to make the world a better place.

There’s only one thing funnier than all of this ‘stigmatization of smokers’ BULLSHIT… and that’s the underlying implication that we anti-tobacco activists are somehow trying to ‘force’ smokers to quit!

Attention all smokers and smokers’ rights activists, which includes way too many apparently-ashamed-to-be-a-non-smoker non-smokers! I’ve said it at million times, I’ll say it again.

With the exception of those under 19, the REAL ISSUE here has NOTHING – I REPEAT, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER — to do with WHAT you do (in this case, smoke); the REAL ISSUE is solely and exclusively about WHERE you do it!

If you’re 19 or older, I don’t give a damn if you chain-smoke…24/7, 365! As long as you are isolated somewhere where your smoke won’t affect anyone else, child or adult…and with or without their consent, then I say, “Smoke your brains out!”

The minute you think you have the ‘right’ to expose ANYONE (again, of any age…and with or without their consent) – no matter how briefly or how diluted you might think your second-hand smoke is – I have a huge issue with that…and will fight for legislation to end that exposure, no matter where it might be…even on the street, in parks, on beaches, etc.

The bottom line really is this: SMOKING IS NO LONGER SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE!

Accept that fact, and we’ll get along just fine. Reject it and…well, we have a problem! Get used to the idea of smoking alone, at home…unless, of course, you have the ‘misfortune’ of living in one of the many — and rapidly increasing number of – 100% smoke-free multi-unit dwellings (condos, apartments, townhomes, duplexes, basement suites, etc.)

Meanwhile, my advice to Kirsten Bell and her cohorts: Take your ‘stigmatization of smokers’ crap… and stick it! And don’t spend all of that blood-stained money – from Imperial Tobacco – in one place!

Part 1(Quicktime video, 14 minutes)

Part 2 (Quicktime video, 8 1/2 minutes)

Dear Arminda,

As you know, Imperial Tobacco Canada has advised MyChoice / MonChoix that regretfully it will be unable to continue its support of the organization in 2009. The growth of illicit trade in Canada, which now tops 40% in Quebec and Ontario, has forced the company to refocus its strategic objectives. Imperial Tobacco Canada has been very pleased with the success of MyChoice over the last four years. In 2004, Imperial Tobacco Canada and the other members of the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers’ Council (CTMC) provided financial support for MyChoice to become a reality in Ontario. In 2005, the CTMC assisted MonChoix in Québec to become active. In 2008, Imperial Tobacco Canada decided to continue its financial support of these organizations when the other members of the CTMC dropped out.

Imperial Tobacco Canada has watched with pride as MyChoice and MonChoix grew from a concept to a virtual organization with over 50,000 members. With you as its president, MyChoice / MonChoix has become a rational and clear voice for the rights of smokers with governments and the Canadian media. It is our hope that you will be able to continue your valuable work representing the views of smokers.

Imperial Tobacco Canada hopes that MyChoice / MonChoix will continue to articulate the opinions and views of smokers to the greater society and we wish you and the organization good luck in all your future endeavours.

Thank you.

Imperial Tobacco Canada

Mina Erian Mina, a retired actor living in Vancouver’s West End, has suffered various health problems, including respiratory injuries, bronchospasm, reduced chest expansion, chest tightness, aggravation of coronary artery disease, loss of sleep, fatigue and anxiety due to a smoking neighbour.

The case was actually pretty cut and dried. The words “no smokers” were clearly visible on a form filled out by the tenant as part of the lease application, but the tenant proceeded to smoke pretty much non-stop after moving in on August 1, 2006.

You can read a story about this by Jan Ravensbergen in the Montreal Gazette here: Final bell sounds in smoking battle. This article, however, leaves an important issue unresolved: Who paid for the legal costs of the tenant, Sandra Fowler?

The article mentioned mychoice.ca and its tobacco-industry-appointed President, Arminda Mota. It also mentioned that mychoice.ca was funded with $2.5 million from the tobacco industry (a lot of money for a web site), but didn’t mention that the tobacco industry is the sole source of funding for mychoice.ca.

Most important, neither Mota, Fowler, or anyone in the tobacco industry was willing to confirm or deny whether the tobacco industry paid Ms. Fowler’s legal expenses.

The public, especially members of the public who are landlords, need to know this. If landlords run the risk of going up against the tobacco industry every time they rent an apartment to someone, it becomes “the cost of doing business”. And asthmatic and pregnant women such as Ms. Koretski have the right to know that the tobacco industry regards them as targets.

So, if you’re an investigative reporter, make some phone calls. You might have better luck with getting answers than Jan Ravensbergen did.

Are you sure, John?

One one hand, the job market for professional liars like Daigneault has been pretty good for the past few years. On the other hand, if a prospective employer were to ask her for a list of what she actually accomplished during her tenure as president of mychoice.ca, it would be a very short list.

The new president is Arminda Mota. Huh? How did that happen? The “members” of mychoice.ca (they have now raised this to 45,000) certainly didn’t get a chance to vote on it. So, who made this decision? British American Tobacco? The Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council? It’s a good question to ask if Ms. Mota should ever appear on a radio phone-in show.

One of her first actions as president was to discontinue the forum on the mychoice.ca site. The excuse given for this was that mychoice.ca had its budget cut, and they couldn’t afford it any more.

Here’s the real story. You can buy a hosting account from Dreamhost for $100/year that provides pretty much unlimited bandwidth and disk space. Dreamhost also supplies a one-click install for phpbb. There is, of course, an administrative cost; somebody has to check the site each day and remove spam postings, as well as postings that might attract the attention of lawyers looking for a defamation case. Or law enforcement officers looking for threats of violence.

Mychoice.ca had a guy on the payroll to perform this function. It’s hard to believe that they couldn’t afford to pay him. Even it you’re dumb enough to believe this, if mychoice.ca really had 45,000 members, instead of 45, they should have had very little difficulty locating an volunteer to take on this responsibility.

It’s just another example of the contempt that the tobacco industry has for their loyal customers.

Click here to view the full-size image.

Editor, National Post;

With the publication of If you won’t shoot, don’t Taser by George Jonas (Nov. 24), the public discussion of the relationship of tobacco with death and disease has gone full circle.

People in Denial about this relationship have put considerable energy in identifying alternative causes for the many illnesses caused by tobacco; chlorine in swimming pools, x-rays, increased radiation in the environment, even “bad karma”. To relate just one of many cases I am familiar with, Californian Mary Herrin chose to identify her doctor as the cause of her two heart attacks, instead of her cigarette habit; Ms. Herrin died at the age of 58.

What Mr. Jonas has now given us, based on what he calls his own “mini-inquiry”, is that the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport was caused by Dziekanski’s cigarette habit, not by over-eager use of tasers by the police. Jonas, however, was not willing to blame Dziekanski for his own addiction to cigarettes. Nor was he willing to blame the manufacturers of the cigarettes Dziekanski consumed, even though those manufacturers lied to the public for many years about the adverse effects of their products, including the addictive nature of them.

Instead, Jonas chose to blame “Big Nanny”.

This is silly nonsense. No “nanny”, big or small, deprived Dziekanski of the ability to communicate in either of Canada’s official languages. No nanny separated him from the relatives he was supposed to meet at the airport. No nanny caused him to “create a disturbance”, attracting the attention of the police. No nanny caused the police to over-react.

George Jonas may well be looking for a big nanny to change his diapers for him. Good luck with finding a volunteer.

Robert Broughton

Excerpt: “Without even factoring in the paper wrapping, packaging and print advertisements—which require as much paper by weight as the tobacco being grown—nearly 600 million trees are felled each year to provide the fuel necessary for drying out the tobacco. That means one in eight trees cut down each year worldwide is being destroyed for tobacco production.”