This is the face of our enemy...
Rampant Antismoking Signifies Grave Danger
Rampant Antismoking Signifies Grave Danger
Every smoker is a promoter of other smokers. The practice ought to be an enclosed one, not to be endured by the non-smoker in ordinary social intercourse; and no one should be allowed to use advertisement or any indirect means to suggest otherwise.
If we start with the view that we can begin to get rid of cigarette smoking from many communal occasions and that we can and should make it more and more difficult for the individual to smoke cigarettes in public...
A longer-term target would make cigarette smoking an undesirable and private activity within ten years after that.
Programs aimed at creating a social environment in which smoking is unacceptable .
Therefore, it is recommended that as a part of national health policy the use of tobacco should be viewed as behavior that is destructive to self and to others and to implement this aspect of policy by appropriate legislation, regulation, and voluntary action,
We ourselves cannot take the political action but we can make life so uncomfortable for the politicians that they feel compelled to act.
The key to reversing this trend is to change the social norm . Nonsmoking should be regarded as normal social behavior . Only when people see smoking as socially abnormal will political pressure be felt .
The simple answer is that our goal will not be obtained unless politicians and the general public all over the world are mobilized on our side.
Nevertheless, "passive" smoking will continue to be stressed, not only in connection with lung cancer, heart disease, effects on children, etc., but also as a major source of annoyance and irritation for nonsmokers. The "passive" smoking theme will be used even more strongly, particularly in the political-legislative arena. It is something that people generally find easy to believe.
WHO's position is ... that measures like legislation to control advertising, taxation, health education and public information systems have already proved effective to some extent in developed countries. These activities should be more vigorously pursued.
Many of the suggestions to be made could be described as radical, confrontational and ‘uncivilised’. No apology is made for this or for the lack of any deliberately reformist/gradualist orientation to dealing with the tobacco industry.
Remember that people are presented daily with a mass of news items, all potentially pressing for attention . It is largely up to you to develop a 'sense' for angles or emphases that are headline-grabbing, and to exploit these angles in your news releases and appearances on the media.
Polysyllabic chemical names should be checked through a reference book that lists common usages and toxicological data for chemicals . Look for usages that will connote revulsion or concern . For example, well known chemicals found in tobacco include cadmium (as in car batteries), ammonia (as in toilet cleaners), cyanides, formaldehyde and so on ……”
We've also seen the achievements of some superb campaigners in this issue, and I think it's a very real tribute to their success that only yesterday, Stanton Glantz, who has done so much to promote the rights of the non smoker in the United States, only yesterday Stan was complaining to me that he is no longer seen as a radical, terrible fate! Indeed . I've always seen Stan as a very conservative figure but I'm glad he confirmed that. (Laughter)
