Clearing The Air

What have we learned about secondhand smoke, smoking bans, and the people who lobby for and fund them?

1) Secondhand smoke is NOT hazardous. Even I was surprised by this fact, given that the only rhetoric from the activists and the media you hear is that secondhand smoke kills.

-But air quality testing from a municipal environmental health department proved secondhand smoke is up to 500 times safer than the OSHA regulations for secondhand smoke.

-And air quality testing from the American Cancer Society proved secondhand smoke is up to 25,000 times safer than the OSHA regulations for secondhand smoke.

-Regarding the alleged 4,000 chemicals "added" to cigarettes, actually these chemicals are naturally ocurring on our planet and found in nearly all plants, vegetables and food sources......so that claim is a blatant scare tactic. And the reality is that everyone is exposed to all those chemicals with or without exposure to tobacco smoke.

2) Smoking bans are not good for business, they are eliminating jobs and businesses at an alarming rate.

-Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT) now ClearWay MN., proved smoking bans destroy patronage (income) in 7 out of 10 hospitality establishments.

-Local hospitality establishments in Hennepin & Ramsey Counties in Minnesota have been forced out of business since the implementation of smoking bans at an alarming rate. 83 establishments closed one year after a smoking ban, yet the year prior without a ban, only 15 establishments went out of business.

-Nationwide smoking bans have eliminated nearly 1,000 establishments, and countless jobs.

3) The groups who lobby our lawmakers for smoking bans are funded by pharmaceutical nicotine interests, whose true motives are to increase market share and product sales of alternative nicotine products.

-The American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, American Non-Smoker's Rights, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (NCTFK), the CDC, numerous health departments, University of California school system, University of MN., University of Madison, WI., University of IL. at Chicago, Boston University, etc., etc., have all been funded by either the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) or the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company directly.

- The RWJF was founded by Johnson & Johnson Company, and is also the single largest shareholder of J & J Company stock, and current board members are former J & J board members or executives. IE. RWJF is a division of the Johnson & Johnson Company.

- ALZA is the manufacturer of Nicoderm and Nicoderm CQ, ALZA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Johnson and Johnson Company. RWJF hopes that smoking bans lead to a significant percentage of smokers quitting.....which helps them and Johnson and Johnson sell over $500 million a year in over the counter smoking cessation products.

Thus, the fact is that the justification for smoking bans is based on false and deceptive tactics, funded and supported by pharmceutical nicotine interests in an effort to increase product sales, period. All smoking bans should be challenged and reversed in favor of a free market decision on whether establishment owners wish to serve smokers, non-smokers, or both in their private establishments.

(text in red = supporting data hyperlinks)

posted by marcus aurelius @ 9:02 PM