The stinking rat
I see the EU is set to launch a new salvo against the smoker.
There are a couple of interesting points about the leaked report however.
One of their targets is Snus [which I confess, I am not familiar with]. Apparently this is an alternative to smoked tobacco and is generally considered to be relatively harmless.
The image shows part of the report and you will notice a line which has been blanked using Tippex.
The line now reads ”An increased frequency of cancer in the oral cavity has been found among snuff users.”
The original line read ”An increased frequency of cancer in the oral cavity has been found among snuff users in North America, but not unequivocally in Sweden.”
Why the amendment? Are they really so paranoid that they will remove anything that isn’t completely negative?
All that aside, the other cause for concern is that they are poised to ban the electronic cigarette.
These yokes are a relatively new innovation and as such there aren’t that many studies, but those studies that have been carried out generally find them to be harmless. Logic alone would show that by eliminating combustion, and eliminating all these thousands of ingredients that are supposed to exist in conventional cigarettes would make them safer in anyone’s book. If you go into any e-cigarette forum you will also find thousands of testimonies from people who have given up cigarettes in favour of the electronic equivalent.
You would imagine that the Tobacco Control Industry would welcome the e-cigarette with open arms? It contains none of the carcinogens that worry them so much, there is no “passive smoke” and it is a highly effective cessation method.
So why is the EU set to ban them?
There can be only one reason. The EU is set to ban all nicotine delivery products except those approved by the EU.
Maybe I should rephrase that?
The EU is set to ban all nicotine delivery products except those manufactured by Big Pharma.
Anyone smell a rat?
Smell a rat? This rat has been stinking to high heaven for years. As has oft been said, the issues around smoking bans have never been about health. It’s all about maximising sales of NRT.
Big Pharma funds the WHO, the WHO drafts the FCTC which all nations are pressured to sign up to, ker-chinggg, the Pharma tills start ringing, to the tune of billions.
And Big Pharma don’t make snus, and they don’t make e-cigs.
The competition must be neutralised. Hence the tone of the report.
Nisakiman – The problem is that most people don’t seem to realise the obvious. Even when it is put under their noses in black and white [or in the case above, in ink and Tippex] they still believe the party line that it’s about health.
Interestingly I have noticed recently that these electronic cigarettes are now included on in flight announcements regarding the “no smoking on the flight.”
@ Mossy – That was probably their biggest selling point. For most smokers, flying long-haul without a ciggy was miserable (air-rage, anyone? Started happening at the same time they were banning smoking on all flights). Then along came e-cigs, and the problem was (kind of) solved. I seem to remember that Ryanair was actually giving them to passengers some time ago. Then some of the (predictably) American airlines started banning them, because “it looks like smoking” (WTF?). Now e-cig bans are becoming ever more common.
I have wondered, however, if they would set off the smoke alarm in the airplane loo. If they don’t smell, and they don’t make smoke, what’s to stop anyone nipping into the bog for a crafty puff?
I’ve not tried e-cigs yet, but I was thinking of getting one mainly for those long-haul flights. Up to now I’ve tended to choose flights with a stopover for that very reason, even though it doesn’t bother me too much to go without a fag for a fifteen hour flight. But I do prefer to get a ciggy break and stretch my legs a bit.
Oops! Forgot I didn’t need html on here!
One of the big arguments that the Tobacco Control Industry has against e-cigs is that they “look” like smoking. Apparently anything that is cylindrical, white and goes in the mouth is enough to kill everyone within a ten mile radius? Of course, there was that incident a couple of months ago where an entire motorway was shut down because of an electronic fag!
And html has been removed [whatever that is…]