City approves smoking ban7/22/2008

By BILL BENGTSON It's official: Marlboros, Camels, Newports and stogies are now out of bounds in most of North Augusta's public places, in the wake of Monday's North Augusta City Council vote.

[anti addiction]

Another good smoking ban. Street by street, city by city and state by state the country is becoming smoke free.

[bdjunker]

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Anti-smoker bigotry

"After dropping the soft drink can into the garbage I returned to my unit, wondering just how in the hell this anti-smoker nonsense had gotten this far.

A letter dated November 1, 2004 was sent to Ujjal Dosanjh, M.P. and Minister of Health for the Conservative government in Ottawa at the time. The letter was from an organization called the Campaign for Tobacco Industry Denormalization. The full contents can be viewed on the NSRA (Non-Smokers Rights Association) web site.

The group was soliciting the Minister’s support for an anti-smoking strategy called TID (Tobacco Industry Denormalization). The strategy had been developed some time around 1999. Here’s part of what the Minister was told:

“Epidemics normally trigger extraordinarily aggressive responses from governments. Unfortunately, and tragically, the tobacco industry has been protected from such responses by a belief by some within government and by the general public that the tobacco industry is a normal, legal industry selling a normal, legal product, an industry entitled to be accepted within the mainstream of normal business”.

“TID is a strategy that transfers the responsibility for the epidemic from individual behaviour (teen misjudgment) to corporate misbehaviour where such responsibility properly belongs. It involves nothing more than telling the truth about tobacco industry behaviour. And, it should be stressed, there are no legal blocks to governments speaking the truth”.

But, in fact, the tobacco industry was not the intended target of the TID campaign. And, speaking the truth was the last thing on the minds of the anti-smoker activists.

The anti-smoker fanatics had secured millions of dollars in funding, with hundreds of millions allocated to a massive anti-smoking media campaign and further government resources committed to supporting the anti-smoking agenda. Shortly after that letter, the real target became apparent: smokers!

The objective of the denormalization campaign was to radically alter the public perception of smoking as an unhealthy activity which harmed no one but the consumer of tobacco products, if indeed it harmed anyone at all. Smoking had to be transformed into a deviant behaviour, practiced only by nicotine addicted, abnormal people not fit to be part of civilized society.

Using corrupt science and dubious statistics, they managed to convince the public, the politicians and the press that smokers were a menace, not only to themselves, but to family, co-workers and their children; especially the children.

[bdjunker]

A well organized, well financed propaganda machine was turned loose on an unsuspecting population. Suspect scientific studies gave way to outright lies. Public health became an instrument of social control.

Secondhand smoke was touted as a serious health hazard, an object of irrational fear rather than a mere nuisance. And the smokers who spewed the allegedly deadly toxins as a by-product of their addiction were forced into social isolation as smoking bans limited where they could engage in what was, and still is, a perfectly legal activity.

Smoking became a social disease and smokers became objects of fear and loathing. The anti-smoker brigade even convinced some smokers, awash in a sea of guilt, that they were somehow an abomination to mankind.

The anti-smoker fanatics constantly churned out propaganda:‘Secondhand smoke kills’,‘There’s no safe level of exposure’,‘Smokers really want to quit, the poor addicted fools just need a little encouragement’,‘Smokers are child abusers’.

No claim was too outrageous in the fanatic’s efforts to stigmatize smokers; no lie too egregious.

Only by stripping smokers of their pride and self-esteem could the anti-smoker brigade hope to force them into giving up their despicable habit. Only by depriving smokers of their dignity could the fanatics eradicate their undesirable, antisocial behaviour.

Blatant discrimination which would not be tolerated against any other minority became the order of the day.

Now, employers openly advertise that “Smokers need not apply”. Employees are fired for smoking in the privacy of their own home. Others are forced to submit to gross violations of privacy such as providing blood or urine samples to prove that they aren’t smoking on or off the job. Some have gone so far as to insist that the wives of employees must be non-smokers.

Smokers have been denied rental accommodation in multi-unit housing and denied proper medical treatment. Smoking has been cited as a reason to prevent people from fostering or adopting children and used in child custody cases to deny parents custodial rights.

In the end, denormalization is really about the dehumanization of smokers; a morally bankrupt experiment in behavioural control. Submit to our will or be punished. And yet five million Canadians continue to smoke. Such experiments have met with resistance from the dawn of time.

I started this ramble with a simple incident that happened six months ago, wondering how we had gotten to this point.

After a little research, I think I know how. But, I must confess that I still don’t understand why.

How can any free society tolerate, let alone condone, the bigotry and intolerance exhibited by the hate mongers masquerading as protectors of public health?

And, how do we stop it?"

Posted by The Old Rambler

http://fightantismokertyranny.blogspot.com/

[anti addiction]

bdjunker wrote:

A well organized, well financed propaganda machine was turned loose on

It does not matter how much crap you post, the smoking bans are getting stronger and more numerous.

[bdjunker]

"When you're throwin' your weight around,
be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else."
- Will Rogers

[Drew]

anti addiction wrote:

Another good smoking ban. Street by street, city by city and state by state the country is becoming smoke free.

Another abuse of authority and power by antis. Street by street, city by city and state by state the country is taking away the rights of property owners.

[get it]

bdjunker wrote:

"When you're throwin' your weight around,
be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else."
- Will Rogers

Your point is?

[bdjunker]

get it wrote:

<quoted text>
Your point is?

Whatsamatta? Didn't they have books at your school entitled "Common Sense"?

[get it]

bdjunker wrote:

<quoted text>
Whatsamatta? Didn't they have books at your school entitled "Common Sense"?

Since you do not have any common sense, your quotes, which are taken OUT OF CONTEXT, are meaningless.

BTW, IF you HAD common sense, you would be able to figure out how to say what you want to say without using someone else's words. And, if you WERE to use someone else's word, you would use them to illustrate a point that you had already made in YOUR OWN WORDS.

[bdjunker]

get it wrote:

<quoted text>
And, if you WERE to use someone else's word, you would use them to illustrate a point that you had already made in YOUR OWN WORDS.

Only rANTIS would reinvent the wheel.

ROFLMAO@U

[bdjunker]

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss

[get it]

bdjunker wrote:

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss

Exactly how does this relate to the discussion at hand?

[Freedom]

anti addiction wrote:

<quoted text>
It does not matter how much crap you post, the smoking bans are getting stronger and more numerous.

And so are "checkpoints" where one must show their "papers".

Last time I checked we were losing rights one by one....and then we have those like yourself who come here to cheer.

So sad....

[Rayhawk]

I'm one of those who will stay home, but hey it's not really a problem, I'll be buying less gas, spending much less money eating out, won't be renewing any memberships so I'll save money there.

The taxes I pay for cigarettes go to help fund health care programs for many in SC who don't qualify for medicaid.

Bars will still serve alcohol in a smoke free environment and there will still be DUI's killing people daily and alcoholics suffering from the damages alcohol brings upon the body, but hey at least they will be doing it in a smoke free environment. I love the way freedom of choice gets stripped away from everyone. sheesh...non-smokers can't seem to choose to stay away from bars that permit smoking?

Fast food places will still be selling unhealthy food in smoke free environments of course.

Young children in smoke free environments will be eating unhealthy, heart damaging, obesity causing tooth decaying, cholesterol raising, low nutrient, over processed foods which is somehow better for them then their parents deciding...oh we don't want to visit a smoking restaurant, lets go next door to the smoke free one and eat a salad.

Really, What happened to the freedom of choice? Wow, if I don't want to visit a non-smoking place I don't, simple as that. Non-smokers can't make a choice to NOT visit a smoking one without a law?

Anyhow, yep, I'll just will stay home, eat healthy from local farmer produce, save money and help fund health care programs with my bad habit. Non-Smokers will continue to drive cars, buy from factories and use other services that pollute our breathing air, earth and streams, while they make laws that strip away the freedom of choice for every American.

[Rayhawk]

anti addiction wrote:

<quoted text>
It does not matter how much crap you post, the smoking bans are getting stronger and more numerous.

Yes, it's really sad to see that people can't make their own choices and rely upon the government to force everyone else change because they can't seem to figure out how to visit another location. Poor souls...can't make up their own minds.

It's ok, I can choose to stay home and not spend a dime on our economy or support our local businesses.

[deer three pink]

My mother died of natural causes at age 89. She smoked cigarettes for 52 years.

My sister is 66 years old. She has been smoking cigarettes since she was 16 years old.

I smoked cigarettes for 23 years. I quit smoking cigarettes when I was 37 years old. I am now 59 years old.

I am watching 'Good Will Hunting'. Ben Afflect is smoking a cigarette.

[Rayhawk]

Freedom wrote:

Last time I checked we were losing rights one by one....and then we have those like yourself who come here to cheer.
So sad....

So true and so sad. We are losing our freedom to choose and personal liberty

[Free_America]

anti addiction wrote:

Another good smoking ban. Street by street, city by city and state by state the country is becoming smoke free.

Street by street,city by city they are a dismal failure pretty much like those pushing for them.

[fluteman greg]

anti addiction wrote:

<quoted text>
It does not matter how much crap you post, the smoking bans are getting stronger and more numerous.

WRONG!! I would say the opposite. More and more bans are either being overturned or closely examined. Additionally, in many locales like Chicago, the smoking bans are complete ignored in many bars. LOL!

[ONTHEBRIGHTSIDES]

I am not a smoker and never have been - but I think we should spend more time on taking care of these crazy people that hurt children, rape women, still from the working person, etc. I think worring about the smoke is least of my worries.