Hoisted by their own petard! They reap what they sow.

 

The Big Yin's kitchen

It has been shown time and time again all over the world that if you restrict a legal product the 'wide boys' and gangsters will step in to fill the void in a supposedly free market economy. They (Tobacco Control) can use price, denormalisation and smoking bans to push their hatred of tobacco but the end result is always the same, smoking prevalence and illegal tobacco sales are on the increase, and they (Tobacco Control) know it.

In one tiny part of the world, the North West of England in fact, they (Tobacco Control) think they have a novel way of cracking the illegal tobacco sales war:

Licensees in the north-west are being asked to take part in a campaign to crack down on illegal tobacco sales.

As part of the Keep It Out campaign, 7,500 pubs in “problem areas” will be sent a pack containing information about illegal tobacco, a window sticker to encourage conversations with the community, and beer mats.

A study by Tobacco Free Futures, a collaborative programme funded by Directors of Public Health in the North West, found that illegal tobacco dealers are making it easy for children and young people to smoke. The research questioned 4,111 people.

Half of the tobacco bought by 14-year-olds is illegal, compared to 36% by adults, and one in four young smokers regularly gets offered illegal tobacco, the research found.

 I have only highlighted the words 'study' and 'research' here as 'children' and 'young people' seems to be ubiquitous wherever Tobacco Control freakery rears it's ugly head but you will notice from this newspaper article that details of such a study are non existent, giving credence to the possibility that it is bogus and a cynical attempt to garner more public funding.

*Tobacco Free Futures said that dealers target children and young people by selling them single cigarettes, which makes it more affordable for them and gets them hooked so that they come back for more.

Tobacco Control advocates always use the analogy between smoking and hard drugs like heroin and cocain, something I, as a smoker of tobacco, have never partaken because I, in the real world, can see all to well the social and private anguish they bring. People, young and old, are robbed and mugged for goods or money to fuel a drug addict and their addiction, often leading to death of injury. Not so with tobacco, it's users are not addicted but are prone to a habit. If it were an addiction then why do smokers not progress to loftier 'drugs'? It is a myth and a lie to further demonise the smoking of tobacco (which does not stop at 'smoking' tobacco.)

Below is a picture of a 21 year old girls dead body, which lays where she was found. I'd rather the young woman was a smoker than an heroin addict.

What a waste of a young life, RIP Rachel

I have an ambivalence towards illegal drugs, hard or soft but do know that prohibition leads to criminals filling the gap, the control freaks reap the benifits too, I'll bet.

Illegal tobacco is also linked to low-level and large-scale organised crime, so it helps fund drugs and weapon smuggling, child exploitation and money laundering.

Same old rhetoric when it comes to tobacco (control) and criminality. If you banned tobacco today would "low-level and large-scale organised crime" dissapear overnight? As with weapon smuggling, child exploitation and money laundering? These red herrings do not wash.

Tobacco Free Futures director Andrea Crossfield said: “Illegal tobacco makes it easier for children to get hold of cigarettes and helps to get them hooked into a deadly addiction to tobacco. The Keep It Out campaign is a way of letting concerned parents and community members know that they can take action and do something about this.”

It seems we have a tale of two halves here:

HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) assistant director criminal investigation Mike O’Grady added: “Tobacco fraud is estimated to cost the taxpayer over £2 billion per year in lost revenues, money that could otherwise be used to fund key public services. HMRC supports this campaign and will continue to work closely with other agencies to tackle tobacco smuggling at street level and to protect legitimate businesses from the impact of the illicit trade.”

 It all comes down to money, always has and always will. The anti tobacco freaks, with their fake charity status, down to governments who fund them, have surpassed their original goal of being against tobacco smoking per se to becoming a tenet of their core beliefs and funding at the heart of it. Money is always at the root. Governments go into Jekyll and Hyde mode by imposing restrictions on smokers to curb (nudge) their smoking habit to crying over lost revenue when their bans, restrictions and smoking bans deprive them of much needed revenue.

To push the above 'story' home to us the article finishes with:

A licensee in Stoke-on-Trent has been stripped of his license after being found in possession of illegal tobacco, alcohol and counterfeit clothing.
Geoffrey Davis of the Grays Corner had more than 7,600 cigarettes, 55 kilos of hand rolling tobacco, 110 litres of wine and 69 litres of spirits. All were non-duty paid, and breached food labelling and tobacco safety regulations.

It is the largest seizure made in Stoke-on-Trent during joint inspections by Trading Standards and Her Majesties Revenues and Customs.

Hmm, so it was not just tobacco then? Hey, if you can make a bob or two without getting caught?

...

* Tobacco Free Futures is a new one on me and I had to google them. They are...well, I'll let them say:

The mission of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) is to bring innovation, expertise, solutions and support to address health challenges in low- and middle-income populations. With nearly 10,000 members and subscribers from 145 countries, The Union has its headquarters in Paris and regional and country offices serving the Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America and South-East Asia regions. Its scientific departments focus on tuberculosis, HIV, lung health and non-communication diseases, tobacco control and research.

The Union is most widely known for the research that led to the global strategy for treating and controlling tuberculosis. Adopted by the World Health Organization in 1995, The Union model is part of the internationally recommended Stop TB Strategy that has been used to treat 32 million people in 202 countries.

Drawing on this first success in addressing TB from medical, political, social and organisational perspectives, The Union has since developed programmes addressing TB-HIV, asthma, pneumonia in children under five years of age, and tobacco control. The emphasis is on providing health solutions for the poor.

Mission
The Union brings innovation, expertise, solutions and support to address health challenges in low- and middle-income populations.

Vision
Health solutions for the poor

TB was deemed to have been eradicated around thirty or forty years ago but a new strain seems to have arrived. Thirty or forty years ago smoking prevelance had declined steeply but the prevelance of some diseases and aflictions rose sharply. This does not stop anti smoking teat suckers attributing anything that effects the lungs to smoking. The Tobacco Free Futures has nothing to do with TB but everything to do with Tobacco Control, as their main page demonstrates. Their a bogus org, a sham, a tobacco hateing organisation, simple as.