We are constantly hearing about the evils of Big Tobacco.

Big Tobacco, we are told, is in the business of selling a product that they know kills, and are desperately advertising to children to rebuild their customer base.

Let's take a look at this.

First of all, Big Tobacco are a business like any other business.  They are there to provide a product and to make a profit as a result.  Millions of people around the world enjoy that product and derive great benefit from it.  There has never been any conclusive proof that the product kills anyone, and there has never been a death where smoking has been proved to be the cause.  Every single death where smoking was claimed to be the cause could have been caused by other factors.

Big Tobacco must be one of the most heavily regulated businesses in the world.  Which ever way they turn, the Anti-Smoker movement snipes at them, introducing harsher regulations to the point of farce.  They are even being accused of making a deliberate attempt to undermine public health and are excluded from any discussions or debates in case they somehow might put up a defense.

Big Tobacco is not unlike Big Auto.  They too provide a product that is used by the millions and occasionally that product kills.  Unlike smoking however there is no doubt or confusion over the cause of death of those victims – they were driving a car at the time and they died as a result.  Cars also produce tons of carcinogenic pollution which in turn causes many deaths [passive driving?].  We never hear of Big Bad Auto however?  I wont even touch on Big Armaments.

But let's look at big Pharma.

Now here is an industry that produces a product that kills on a massive scale.  They claim their produce is for the benefit of health and wellbeing but in practice their primary concern is profiteering to the detriment of those with medical problems.  Their produce is foisted on a public who know little about what is being prescribed, yet that same public runs the risk of side effects which are rarely mentioned and in some cases produce lifetime debilitations.  One only has to look at Thalidomide or Chantix to see the dangers inherent in prescription drugs.  And even the lesser side effects frequently require further medication to alleviate the problem which is a win-win for Big Pharma.

Prescription drugs are now causing more deaths than illegal drugs or car accidents, yet we never hear a murmur as they are portrayed as "the good guys".  What's more, those deaths are documented unambiguous deaths, unlike "deaths from smoking" which are mere statistics produced by mathematical models and dubious questionnairs.

Big Tobacco is now excluded from any discussion or debate which directly affects their business.  They are shunned and even those who might have the remotest connection with them are treated like pariahs.  Yet Big Pharma are welcomed with open arms.  They spend millions lobbying on their own behalf forcing sales of questionable vaccinations and useless smoking cessation products and no one turns a hair.

The Anti-Smokers seems to think their killer argument is to ask "are you being funded by Big Tobacco?".

The response should be "are you being funded by Big Pharma?"!