Second-hand smoke a ‘weapon’ against rights
By Rory Walkinshaw
Ka Leo Staff Columnist
April 13, 2005
The war on smokers’ rights by the anti-tobacco lobby does not, contrary to popular opinion, go unopposed. There are many ways that public activists and freedom-minded individuals can punch holes through anti-smoking arguments.
After all, if the government wants to ban smoking inside state or federal government buildings, they are free to do so. Once inside a private establishment, however, such as a bar or restaurant, the anti-tobacco crusaders tend to forget that they do not have the right to smoke-free air. In fact, in private establishments, nobody has the right to anything regarding tobacco usage except the owner, as it is their rightful decision.
But why are the anti-tobacco people so hell-bent on making sure you can’t smoke in a bar or restaurant? Well, obviously the base reason is because they are determined to shove their values down your throat.
It’s not enough that they choose to not smoke or allow smoking in their homes or office buildings.
Second-hand smoke is the absolute favorite weapon of the antis. This, my friends, is their heavy artillery in pushing through controls on how private citizens run their businesses. “Second-hand smoke kills 65,000 people every year!” they claim.
Last time it was 30,000. It’s funny how drastically higher their statistics seem to get.
With all the propaganda and “junk science” out there, it’s no wonder most people go along with the anti-tobacco lobby’s claims. But let’s look at some facts here.
The World Health Organization, a major player and ally in the anti-smoking agenda, estimates that in 1998 alone, more than 16 million people died from communicable diseases and malnutrition. Many of these deaths can be directly attributed to infectious and parasitic diseases. Three billion people in the world are suffering from malnutrition and six to 14 million die from it each year.
What a sucky world, right? So what is the WHO’s top priority? Second-hand smoke. Imagine all the money spent on generating manipulated and doctored studies on the dangers of second-hand smoke. It must run into the millions, if not billions.
The WHO has most certainly done some unbiased research on the effects of second-hand smoke. You, the average layman, however, will never see them. Why? Because it doesn’t fit with the anti-smoking fanatics agenda of gaining control over your personal habits.
Consider this: The WHO conducted a completely unbiased study on the possible effects of seond-hand smoke in the late 90s. What did this massive study find? Well, it found, as a British press release put it, “no link between passive smoke and lung cancer.” Why haven’t you ever heard of this study? Well, probably because the WHO deliberately witheld its findings since it did not produce the desired results.
You can, in fact, read the study itself at FORCES.org if you wish to decide for yourself. After a long round of legal battles in which the UK Press complaints Commission ruled against the WHO, the study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1998.
Hopefully by reading this, you will begin to realize that the anti-smoking lobby is not quite the benevolent protector of health that it claims to be. Far from it. It is actually, at the risk of sounding paranoid, quite a sinister agenda. The people heading it, and this even includes some members of Congress, are willing to go to any lengths to gain victory.
If an honest study doesn’t match their agenda, it’s OK, it can be doctored.
My suggestion is this: do some research and get the real facts. Next time you see one of those obnoxious “protect the zone” posters on the hallway whining about how dangerous SHS is, you might not look at it the same way.?
?
http://www.kaleo.org/
