Blog describing the work of Freedom to Choose (Scotland). Educating the general public, and particularly the general public in Scotland,
on matters where freedom of choice is under threat....
"When health is equated with freedom, liberty as a political concept vanishes." (Dr. Thomas Szasz, The Therapeutic State)....
INTOLERANCE IS THE MOST PREVENTABLE CAUSE OF INEQUALITIES!
The FDT [food, drink and tobacco] National Committee has serious concerns that these measures are ill-thought through and not evidence based, and in some parts of our sector, particularly tobacco and alcohol, could simply make it much easier for criminals to sell (unregulated and untaxed) counterfeit and smuggled goods and thus have flow-on affects such as a significant impact on jobs in our sector.
All good points, to which we can add that counterfeit tobacco has additional safety implications for consumers.
Please support the petition and don't forget to answer the consultation: now open until 10 August.
Over to Simon Clark for this. The petition (currently featured in the side bar of this blog) urges an amendment that would allow licensees to supply separate rooms for smoking in. Not ideal by any means (the implicit admission of secondary smoke as a recognised health hazard doesn't help matters) but even this proposal would knock more holes in the official dogma claiming that bans are really very unpopular with large sections of the population.
The Greek government knows this. They have decided to allow smoking in large clubs and casinos, but only if licensees pay tax of 200 euros per square metre of premises set aside for smoking. The minimum allowable size is 300 square metres, and smoking can occupy up to half. So venues can be expected to pay at least 30,000 euros. That's clearly meant to discourage, but it remains to be seen how it will work in practice since the smoking ban in Greece seems so badly enforced anyway.
I've added the link to this petition to the side bar of the blog. It's a Westminster petition, but it's clear from the blog stats that the blog gets visits from south of the border (indeed from all over the world). Please sign, share and encourage others to do likewise.
I'm not sold on smoking rooms as a strategy, but if there is opposition to the smoking ban and Forest puts its weight behind a petition, I am happy to add my voice.
Forest presents a video on the EU tobacco control consultation, which closes on Friday.
Please sign petition here, consider replying to the consultation, or take both actions. A campaigner for e-cigarettes writes:
Plans to hand all nicotine sales rights to pharmaceutical companies are moving along. There are now proposals from the EU and WHO to bring nicotine under tobacco control regulations where it hasn't been medicalised. To complement that move, new end game strategies from tobacco control on removing it from tobacco products have been announced.
There may be more outright bans or just trading restrictions, border quotas, internet sales bans, advertising bans, postal bans, extortionate taxes, etc.
Please take action, it is important for nicotine traders and users to be vocal to have our wishes heard, all policy and regulatory considerations so far appear to be by and for corporate pharmaceutical and tobacco control interests. The EU consultation presents at least a pretence of democracy but the WHO have no intention of anything but totalitarian control. Are we subordinate drones in the collective or humans with self determination and free will?
Respond to the EU and WHO proposals and please spread the word to other nicotine users. Don't let them take away the rest of our choices without a fight.
The consultation document is 11 pages long, far shorter than many such documents. The format is fairly simple: it presents an aspect of the problem, such as legislation about smokeless tobacco, and gives three options. Option 1 is usually to retain control for policy within member states. Options 2 and 3 are generally Europe-wide solutions with Option 3 generally being more hard-line. (You may wish to support Option 2 in Question 2, which provides for the legalisation of snus and other smokeless tobacco throughout the EU.)
Clearly the Commission wants to be given a mandate to legislation for the whole of Europe. Please respond to the Consultation if you can, recommending that member states retain control over tobacco control policy.
The deadline is Friday 17 December. Instructions for responding are all contained here.
