Newsletter-February 2011

CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE

ASH is furious. The longed-for Scottish display ban, scheduled for October 1st this year, has been postponed because Imperial Tobacco is taking legal action - not for the first time! Typically, ASH has thrown the proverbial dummy out of the pram, with not a care for the loss of businesses, jobs and homes such a ban would inevitably cause.

Rubbing salt into the wound, JTI, the giant Japanese cigarette manufacturers, have signed a 5-year sponsorship deal with a leading British charity, enabling thousands of disabled people the privilege of computer usage. The Leonard Cheshire Charity is what we would all consider to be truly charitable: committed to doing everything they can to help people with disabilities; financed out of good will; independent of government funding and supported by over 2,500 volunteers unlike ASH.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Congratulations from F2c to Ignacio Cubilla Banos of Cuba who, on Jan 13th, reached the impressive age of 111. Bilbo Baggins needed the services of a wizard to light up his eleventy-first but, for Snr. Banos, the company of many of his 11 children, 40 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren - and a fine cigar – were celebration enough!

A TALE OF TWO CULTURES Spiked editor Brendan O’Neill bemoans the triumph of healthism over art.  This time it’s Mark Twain’s cigar that’s being airbrushed from history, making American actor Hal Holbroke’s one man show, Mark Twain Tonight! increasingly difficult to stage, not only at home but across segments of Europe, too. Holbroke might try his luck in France, where the dead hand of Evin Law has at last been lifted by a government prepared to acknowledge that:  "The falsification of history, the censorship of works of the mind, the denial of reality must remain the heinous marks of totalitarian regimes".  Originally intended to prevent the promotion of tobacco, Evin Law caused outrage by robbing such French cultural icons as Jacques Tati, Coco Channel and Jean-Paul Satre of their trademark smokes. "Before the law, nobody was complaining" And, staying with France, comes a report that the ban in nightclubs in the South of France is all but over. In a Google translation entitled Marseilles: the great return of smoking in bars and nightclubs, we learn that those ‘irreducible love cigarettes’ are back on the South of France club scene because, "we quickly realized the harm she [the ban] has done."

FIRE! Expect to see more Smokers as Arsonists reports as the date for mandatory fire-safe cigarettes draws near.  The EU expects us all to be puffing on carpet glue come autumn, when the normal, fire-unsafe cigarette will become a thing of the past. London Fire Brigade led the successful lobby, egged-on by ASH who, if reports from the USA are to be believed, quite possibly see RIP as a promising ‘quit smoking’ mechanism. Much research has gone into the technicalities of RIP,  virtually none into its health implications.  Harvard University found a significant increase in some chemicals already present in the processed tobacco, from which they concluded, ‘Who cares?  They're only smokers.' FROM SCOTLAND From Scotland we can report that, following Holland's  welcome repeal, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association recently called for an amendment to the law to provide for pubs to offer smoking rooms.  No further statements have been issued by the association, which advocates the use of air cleaning technology in smoking rooms. Progress in implementing the tobacco display ban in Scotland has been halted by legal action against the legislation taken by Imperial Tobacco, who argued that the Scottish Government is not competent to pass the legislation.  In spite of losing at the first hearing in September, the company has persevered, and the ban will not now be implemented in October this year as planned. Prisoners exposed to secondary smoke are reported  to be about to call the Scottish Government's bluff by claiming damages.  Whether the Government will deny all responsibility, or open itself to unknown numbers of potential claims, remains to be seen. Freedom-2-Choose (Scotland) Blog NEWS FROM THE FRONT Banning smoking in cars is proving popular with anti-smokers especially north of the border.  It appears to be a logical step to evade privacy issues and opens the door to stopping you smoking in your own home – as housing officials in Watford are discovering.  They propose sending tenants in rent-arrears to smoking cessation courses.   ***** The tobacco-display ban lobby was given a leg up by The Guardian who resurrected last November’s study from the UK Centre for Tobacco Control. This study concluded that young people’s awareness of cigarettes in shops falls in the wake of a display ban.  Gosh.  Not a bit like their smoking, then,  which carries on regardless. ***** Unbelievably, main stream journalism appears to be taking Third Hand Smoke seriously.  The Independent’s ‘simple tips’ for keeping the children safe: shower after smoking; wash clothes immediately, do not smoke indoors… While lazy, gullible journalists are nothing new, what does alarm is the willingness of some medical professionals  to adopt this latest ‘little white lie’ in their increasingly desperate war on tobacco. Chosen targets  - young parents Inevitable outcome - fearful, ignorant, guilt-ridden young parents.

SPAIN AND GREECE Spain’s beefed up anti-smoker law came into effect on Jan 2nd – followed three days later by reports of widespread defiance. Restaurant owners are organising petitions, displaying signs that openly proclaim ‘business as usual’ and calling for solidarity within the trade.  In Spain’s current financial plight, they are justifiable fearful for their future. What a good job, then, that Spanish tobacco control group NCPT is on hand with the reassurances.  According to NCPT:  Ireland, for example, saw a 13.7 percent increase in employment in the sector… while in Britain the number of bars increased by about 14 percent. This extension to the ban makes smoking in some open spaces illegal, surpassing even the EU’s demands for all 27 member states to have banned smoking in enclosed areas by 2012. ***** Spain shares its problems with GREECE, another Mediterranean country on its uppers and facing a dissatisfied populace.  Greece’s extended ban has been universally ignored since September, giving rise to a brief flurry of hope that the government would launch a smoking license scheme.  The rumour was scotched within hours by Prime Minister George Papandreou, a dedicated anti-smoker, who  has enlisted an army of 800 inspectors to police this widely unpopular law.

PUBS Continuing bad news for British pubs, with both Enterprise and R&L Properties blaming tough trading conditions for the sale of, between them, a possible 707 venues.  The much smaller night-club/restaurant operators Cougar Leisure Properties is, like R&L Properties, in administration  and selling its remaining stock of 6 pubs and bars, all located in the north of England. ***** Signs of desperation in the West Country, where the Plymouth Herald publish three separate pleas in the space of two days on the ‘use them or lose them’ theme, only one of which gives a passing nod to smokers. ***** Continuing carnage both sides of the Irish border: 100 pubs in NI are currently in receivership whilst latest figures from the Republic cite the closure of 1,300 pubs in the last 5 years, bringing the post-ban total up to almost 2,000. ***** The British Beer and Pubs Association are estimating a £257m shortfall in tax to the British exchequer. “Pub beer sales have fallen by a dramatic 20.2 per cent in the past three years alone, as tax rises have hit trade.” (Our emphasis) LONELINESS British Universities’ research finds that smoking bans significantly reduce the life satisfaction of smokers who experience "diminished perceptions of freedom" and a sense of stigmatisation. Will this be considered when the Happiness Index team gets to work? It was certainly never mentioned by a new campaign launched last month and aiming to highlight the problem of loneliness, very much on the increase for older people of whom 1 in 10 say they are ‘intensely lonely’.  The Campaign to End Loneliness believes lonely old people are a Public Health issue: “Loneliness has been shown to be closely linked with depression and research has revealed that loneliness makes it harder to regulate behaviour, leaving people more likely to drink excessively, have unhealthier diets or take less exercise.”                                                                                                     Loneliness, once more, lies at the root of a really serious situation developing in Ireland. Kerry South coroner, Terence Casey, says "there is a trend that suggests social isolation and loneliness are at the root of a surge in the numbers of older people taking their lives… this sense of being abandoned was caused, in part at least, by the closure of traditional centres of social interaction — the local pub, the post office and a huge range of small, community-based businesses.” FIGHTING BACK! Ohio; USA:  Keith and Pam Parker are among a group of bar-owners who, since August last year, have been invoicing their Health Department for the cost of policing the ban. Pam admits she doesn't expect the Health Dept to cough up but explains: "If they want to put in writing that it's THEIR job, not ours, then our reply will be to have one of their inspectors report to work at our tavern every day at noon.  They can't have it both ways." So far there has been NO response from the authorities - so a 10% penalty has been added to the outstanding bill. Ohio has spent $4m dollars enforcing the ban, and penalised some 939  businesses, the vast majority of which are family-run establishments and private clubs.  The bar-owners are seeking an exemption for licensed bars, which traditionally cater to smokers and are, in any case, strictly off-limits to under-21s. ***** On this side of the pond, it’s heartening to know that in the absence of any organised trade resistance at all, we have politicians like Philip Davies (Con, Shipley) and working men’s club member David Ward (Lib Dem, Bradford East).  Both men are willing to put their heads above the parapet in support of the people they represent. Philip Davies is a veteran of many a run-in with the Nannies of Westminster. Here, he explains his position on the smoking ban: “I don’t think I was sent to Parliament to ban everybody else doing things that I don’t like myself, so whatever attempts there are to amend the smoking ban to allow a pub to have a dedicated smoking room, I would absolutely support.” ODDS & SODS Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, announces that the planned full ban will not now go ahead until 2014, giving the hospitality industry time to prepare. ***** Smoking is to be banned on all US submarines, despite the fact that twice as many submariners smoke (40%) than average. ***** China has yet to enforce a smoking ban as prescribed by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to which China signed up five years ago.  The Government is said to be reluctant to impose a ban, which was due to come into effect Jan. 9th. ***** A top pharmaceutical company could be facing as many as 1,200 lawsuits from dissatisfied customers who say that Pfizer’s stop-smoking drug Chantix (UK Champix) causes neurological problems, most frequently depression and suicidal thoughts.  Pfizer will contest any action. ***** One to make your heart bleed – Scottish MPs have been booted out of their smoking corner-of-choice after complaints from non-smoking colleagues.  “It seems like a heavy-handed approach,” bleats one vagrant smoker, horrified to find himself now exposed to the elements and to public gaze.  You don’t say! ***** And finally – evidence at last that within the clipboard-wielding ranks of NHS Grampian, there flickers a spark of human kindness.  Bucking the national trend, Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen says he would like to see imaginative ways of accommodating smokers in the region’s hospital grounds, adding, “we should look at alternative ways of providing designated areas without forcing people to stand in the rain.” A sentiment  shared, no doubt, by one or two MSPs! Freedom2choose: c/o John H Baker 22 Glastonbury House, Priestfields, Middlesbrough, Cleveland TS3 0LF Tel/Fax 0845 643 9469

Freedom2choose (Scotland):
c/o The Dalmeny Bar, 297 Leith Walk,
Edinburgh EH6 8SA
Tel 0845 643 9552

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A World 1st-The Loneliness Triblogology

Nobody hears us as we scream against the wind of oppression.

Freedom2choose are proud to present a three part series depicting exactly what we knew over three years ago, that the smoking ban would lead to the further isolation of the elderly smoker...but it does not stop at the elderly, younger people are just as prone to that killer, depression.

In this three part series I will endevour to show that governmental social control is, in fact, the biggest killer of all.

It is a blog in three parts, hence the term tri-blog-ology. A dedicated 4 strong team of forum members have created this blog trilogy and my thanks go to Aqualung, Brendajorsler, Carol Cattell & Soapy for this tremendous effort in highlighting the greatest error of one law passed through Parliament with little or no thought for the consequences. I must also thank our resident blogger "TBY" (John Baker, our office guru) for the added artistics. As chairman I am honoured to present to you:-

The Loneliness Triblogology (part 1)

Loneliness is depressing, you know it and I know it.

in the words of the late, great Roy Orbison......

"Only the lonely Know the way I feel tonight. Only the lonely Know this feeling ain't right."

The big O singing Only The Lonely. What a talented man he was.

The Irish Examiner is doing well; it seems they have a mission, and fair play to them, for their topic is loneliness. It is described as “the silent killer”, especially for pensioners who now seem to be involuntary prisoners in their own homes.

The paper says that:

“Loneliness has been shown to be closely linked with depression and research has revealed that loneliness makes it harder to regulate behaviour, leaving people more likely to drink excessively, have unhealthier diets or take less exercise.” 

It further reports that the Kerry South coroner, Terence Casey, said there is:

“a trend that suggests social isolation and loneliness are at the root of a surge in the numbers of older people taking their lives… this sense of being abandoned was caused, in part at least, by the closure of traditional centres of social interaction — the local pub, the post office and a huge range of small, community-based businesses.”

Link.

The newspaper and the coroner are not alone in pinpointing loneliness and lack of life satisfaction, especially among older people. The conclusion of a new paper by Timothy Hinks and Andreas Katsaros: “Smoking Behaviour and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from the UK Smoking Ban” says that:

“This paper finds a correlation between smokers reducing the amount of cigarettes they consume in the face of a smoking ban in public places and that this change in behaviour adversely affects their life satisfaction. That this behaviour is actually good for their health is either not considered or is overtaken by the feeling that their right to smoke (particularly in public houses) has been seriously affected and that life satisfaction declines as a result.”

Link here.

Their conclusion is closely tied up with the above reports in the Irish Examiner regarding the catastrophic effect that loneliness has for individuals within the community, and indeed points to a major cause of that loneliness.

Charities also have long been aware of this issue. On 1st February a group of four charities launched a welcome new crusade against isolation: the “Campaign to End Loneliness”. The campaign’s founder members are Age UK Oxfordshire, Counsel and Care, Independent Age and WRVS and the scheme is funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Depression strikes the young as well as the elderly.

The launch attracted publicity across many news outlets, from the BBC
to the Daily Mail.

No doubt, the overwhelming majority of the country would believe this to be a good thing, but there is a major fly in the ointment: it is said that the true measure of a civilised country is how their old people are cared for. In this regard, the United Kingdom falls woefully short. We have legislation on the books that is in part the cause of this issue. We even have other charities that have successfully pushed through the legislation that has actually closed down economically many of the places where pensioners traditionally gathered; the pubs, the cafes, the bingo halls, and working men’s clubs. It is that legislation that now forces them to drink their cup of tea out in the cold outside their favourite café, or to stand outside pubs, or to forgo meeting other residents in their communal lounge.

It bars them from smoking inside with their non-smoking friends of many years standing, even when those friends have no objection. Even the post offices where they could be found socialising with those they may not have seen for a while are closing.

I ask you, what incentive is there for them to lead a full and fruitful social life outside of their homes?

I wonder how David Cameron’s “Happiness Index” relates to these issues of loneliness and lack of life satisfaction? The BBC wrote about the happiness index in the article here.

Our Prime Minister is concerned about how happy we are and quite right too, his job depends on us being happy! Unfortunately, a lot of us are very unhappy, David, to the extent that we are becoming involuntary prisoners in our own homes because of legislation you refuse to amend.

The tobacco control legislation imposed on this country and its residents was largely initiated externally from the EU and from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). It has been draconian, devastating, and disproportionate.

This legislation is a significant part of the cause of loneliness among our senior citizens. It has contributed to the closure of over 7,000 pubs, clubs and bingo halls, and it has involuntarily imprisoned thousands of our most vulnerable citizens whose social lives revolved around a cuppa and a cig in the cafe, a drink and a fag in the pub, bingo hall, or club.

I say again to you that the measure of a civilised country is how we treat our senior citizens; is this how you want your parents treated? The same parents who devoted their lives to raising you, who loved you and protected you while you grew up.

I say it is not. What do you say?

Freedom of choice maybe?

Today in a newspaper report Grampian NHS showed some remarkable common sense for once and it produced this headline:-

Smoking ban 'could cause huge problems'

NHS Grampian, like all other NHS Trusts are duty bound, now the age of austerity is upon us, to save money wherever possible. Of course none of us want to see front line services go for we cannot do with a shortage of nurses & doctors.

We are, as a nation, living longer than ever before thus will need more looking after within that longevity.

Equally so, being newly disposed to austerity, hospitals should not be wasting
thousands of Scottish taxpayers £'s on smoking shelters and (in odd cases) smoke wardens, therefore NHS Grampians medical director is paving the way for common sense to prevail. Link

Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen, who is reviewing the effectiveness of the board’s tobacco policy said patients addicted to smoking could not be expected to “take their drip and go and stand at the bus station” to have a cigarette.

Now here we have a man of compassion, a man who respects his fellow man's choices and situations.

He told a board members in Aberdeen yesterday the focus should be on providing more designated smoking areas. but said it was not as simple as putting up additional shelters, which could cost up to £150,000.

Now here we also have a man capable of thinking beyond this present day health freak government!

He said it was "important to think imaginatively about alternative, and cheaper, options and hoped to be able to involve patients and staff in the process."

Here we come to the crux of the matter - cost!

Now let me think here a minute...building materials cost money, planning permission costs money, (sorry peeps, bear with me) builders & labourers cost money so what the hell can we do? Hmmm.....hmmm (and even more thought!).....Hmmm!

Eureka!

However, I am not sat in a bath , not naked and neither do I need to charge through the streets of Syracuse or London, Aberdeen, Cardiff or anywhere else for that matter with my answer to this knotty problem, for as Archimedes found: the answer to be blindingly simple!

To save all financial wastage and 'ugly bus stops' all over the place why not simply designate one room per ward or floor of each hospital. For the purists I suppose that such 'designated smoking rooms' can be legally enforced to have two doors by which to enter (which creates a sort of mini lobby between smoking room and main passageway) and they must also have at least two windows that open which would allow the 'freshly' polluted air from the traffic below to 'cleanse' the new, innovative smoking rooms. It could even be determined that smoking rooms had to be positioned on the corners of a hospital building so that windows adjacent to each other could be opened to allow a better 'flow' of polluted air throughout!


Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen also stated, “I’m not a fan of shelters. They are ugly bus stops and extremely expensive. Maybe we will designate an area where we will have to do no building work. Rather than spending £150,000, we should look at alternative ways of providing designated areas without forcing people to stand in the rain.”

Apply all the above and you satisfy all criteria set out by the good Dr!
 
I hope you all note that he doesn't want people standing out in the rain, because he obviously understands that rain equals dampness, which leads to colds and other sniffily complications, severely enhances bronchial problems, certainly leads to pneumonia amongst the weak & elderly and could therefore be a prime cause of death-a cause that is sanctioned by our own very own government. I wonder what "call me death, sorry, Dave" thinks of that scenario?

We do, at long last, have a leading medical light who acknowledges that education is the correct approach to something that is only a real problem to a very small number of people-those that don't like the smell of tobacco. Totally banning the art of smoking under the pretext of saving lives is, basically, bollocks-and the health lobby know it but have managed to brainwash most of the political scene and most of the populace. They will never prove that the absence of SHS will save 4,000 lives per year anymore than they will find a death certificate with SHS as causation on it! You see folks, now that we need to be exceedingly austere (perhaps Mr Kipling should be in charge!) nonsensical expenditure on that which is not really a problem is coming under question-and increasingly will do so!

From their position 6 months ago logic has set in and Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen is to be mightily applauded for he is not only looking after hospital funds but ALL patients as well!

Witnessing a Greek [smoking ban] tragedy

 

Have the Greeks lost their marbles?

By Carol Cattell.

Carol is an Englishwoman abroad, she lives in Greece. Here she reflects on the Greeks and their smoking ban. She is also a paid up member of Freedom2Choose.

SOME REFLECTIONS ON GREECE'S 18 JANUARY BAN NEWS

Well, I was as surprised and depressed as anyone else at the rapid reversal from Monday 17th January’s announcement that the ban was to be relaxed, to the statement on Tuesday 18th January that it was going to be implemented in full.

There is no point simply reproducing here the good, followed by bad, news; others have done that already. And yes, we all think that the Greek Minister of Health Andreas Loverdos was “leaned on” by the Prime Minister George Papandreou; and whether George in turn was leaned on by the EU, WHO, or George’s old mates at Harvard, I shall leave to other cleverer political analysts to conjecture.

But I thought it may be interesting to add some other random observations and notes from within Greece. These are of course personal, and I apologise for what is likely to be a longish post. I also know that Greek names can be difficult to follow!

1. Implementing the ban will involve “appointing” an extra smoke 800 inspectors, we are told.

People outside Greece need to know that this will not actually mean appointing 800 extra public sector staff at this time of economic crisis. The public sector is already hugely over-staffed through years of nepotism, bribery, and the buying of votes by all political parties and the Government is trying to reduce numbers drastically.

However, employment contracts mean that no public employee can be sacked nor made redundant, for whatever reason, although they can be moved to other jobs while maintaining their existing salary and benefits. Quite simply, these 800 inspectors will be transferred from their existing jobs as part of reducing the public sector to a realistic level. (Just as, in fact, UK local authorities have done for years with various EU and central funding grants.)

At worst, the cost to the Government will be nil; they would have had to pay them anyway. At best, there may well have been substantial EU (or other) grant monies available/offered for anti-smoking measures which would of course be of substantial financial benefit to the Government. I estimate the cost of these 800 inspectors to be between 15 and 19 million euros a year. Can anyone find out whether Greece is in fact to receive a grant for such measures?
(Incidentally, at least 60% of these inspectors are likely to be smokers themselves!)

2. George Papandreou, Prime Minister

He was born and raised in America. He studied sociology, and studied and worked at Harvard, as did his father, a previous Prime Minister. He is known to be a fervent anti-smoker. (Oh, just google him.) Apart from this anti-smoking stuff, he's not a bad chap.

Harvard/ nepotism/EU links: A man called Panagiotis Behrakis is the Chairman of Greece’s National Co-ordinating Committee Against Smoking, the Chairman of the EU-funded European Network for Prevention of Smoking and Tobacco Control, and Adjunct Associate Professor at Harvard University. Panagiotis's cousin is George Behrakis, an American pharmaceutical entrepreneur who has donated millions to Harvard, and to arts, and the Greek Orthodox Church (still hugely influential within Greece).

3. Internal Greek politics

These will have played a very strong part in all this. Not just between the parties, but also inside the current government - Pasok.

I have no idea what standing the Health Minister has, but it may well be that the Prime Minister deliberately set him up for this fall so he could subsequently get rid of him. (My personal opinion is that this is quite likely.)

Equally the Justice Minister (what a job! Sheesh!) Haris Kastanidis is reckoned to be a reasonably incorrupt man, by Greek standards, and strengthening his department by 800 inspectors may have nothing to do with smoking, but a lot to do with transferring his corrupt staff over to the less contentious smoking arena.

4. Raising revenue through fines

A straw poll of our local bar owners says that they think the Government wants to raise a lot of money through smoking fines. Estimates are pretty wild, but around 50 million euros was mentioned earlier this evening.

5. Casinos and Music Clubs

The newly-strengthened ban is going to extend to casinos and “bouzoukia”, who were previously somewhat exempt. (a “bouzouki” is a very traditional Greek outfit: basically, large nightclubs holding from 300 - 2,000 people with live music and floor shows - some quite “exotic” - a lot of Greek dancing, very expensive drinks, with glamorous girls selling fresh flower petals to throw over favoured singers and dancers, and open from around midnight till 7 am. The atmosphere is extraordinary, and they are very popular. Even our small town has its own bouzouki.)

However, culture lesson aside, what is significant is that everyone, but everyone, smokes at these places. And that the owners of casinos and bouzoukia throughout Greece tend to be very rich, and very influential on local affairs and on politicians.

Many are involved in politics themselves. They pay enormous taxes, but on enormous profits. And they are now VERY VERY CROSS that they as well as the little cafe-bars are going to suffer from this ban.

6. Will it work?

We honestly don’t know. The Greeks have ignored all bans to date. People even smoke at garages sitting in their car while it’s being filled up with petrol (which does scare the s*i* out of me!). Even this Monday I was having lunch with some friends and, because some were still eating, decided to stroll outside for a cigarette, even though there were ashtrays on the tables. The waiter rushed outside after me, apologising profusely, and explaining with huge politeness and consternation that of course I could smoke inside. To save his face, and mine, I explained I wanted a little fresh air.

But we wait to see how many fines there will be, and how active these inspectors are going to be.

What is clear is that smokers in Greece have not been denormalised, and that there has been as yet no attempt to denormalise us.

Carol Cattell