The best way for corporate criminals AND Globalization forces to Limit Protest and to Control the Debate is...to Pretend to Be Their Own Enemy. Working well, so far.
(Compare this information with what the commercial media reports...and fails to report...about the big Billion "smoking" award. This will go far to explain why the Bizness-Advocating Corporate Media is, oddly, a "Consumer Advocate" in this area..."concerned about our health".)
Advance Warning:
Two "anti-tobacco" groups, San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition and
Essential Action, plan a day of free workshops on topic of "Big Tobacco
and Globalization". It will be November 22 at The Women's
Building/Edificio de Mujeres, San Francisco. Search either groups' name
for info. Or try..
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/gloecNCTOH2002.doc
With "enemies" like this, the broad cigarette industry and the
corporate globalization entities don't have a thing to worry about.
These organizations say this is about Smoking and Health and "tobacco
control". With a little info, one notice that, instead, it is about
Industry Damage Control and Liability Control...to make sure that
cigarette makers are protected from maximum liabilty and criminal
charges, to make sure the many cigarette additives and adulterants
suppliers escape all scrutiny and liability, to help corrupt gov't
regulators escape scrutiny (and charges) for permitting deadly
non-tobacco substances to exist in cigarettes, and to assure that all
blame and focus for this crime is placed on one natural plant
(conveniently, a "sinful" one) and, of course, on the uninformed,
unprotected and insufficiently-warned victims.
These groups ignore a LOT, but environmentalists, health care
activists, those who dread another "drug war" prohibition, corporate
crime activists, pesticides activists, anti-globalization activists and
others might simply ASK these folks about any or all of the following:
* They ignore dioxin in cigarette smoke (from all the chlorine
contaminants in typical cigs...NOT from tobacco), though this is
particularly harmful to "kids" and pregnant mothers;
* They ignore radiation in cigs, from still-legal use of certain
uranium- contaminated fertilizers;
* They ignore "Burn Accelerants" in cigs...despite fires, injuries and
deaths...and property losses;
* They ignore Addiction-Enhancing additives...though they say they
dislike addiction;
* They ignore many sweet & and flavorful and soothing ingredients that
serve to attract more kids to the products...thought they say they don't
want kids to smoke;
* They ignore the Big Lie about cigarettes being "Tobacco", though cigs
may be made partly or even entirely of non-tobacco industrial waste
cellulose; (Reason #1009 why they won't label ingredients.)
* They ignore the fact that some top "anti smoking" Health insurers are
owners of cigarette manufacturers via large investment holdings;
* They ignore influences on regulators and "anti smoking" legislators by
many non-manufacturing parts of the cigarette industry;
* They ignore the fact that no states, apparently, forbid parts of the
cigarette industry to receive "settlement" distributions; (Easy to
check...just ASK any State Att'y General's office if there is ANY
prohibition of cig interests receiving cig "settlement" funds);
* They ignore the fact that it is NOT cigarette interests who pay these
"settlement" penalties...but that the costs are passed onto victims
through higher prices;
* They ignore, and seem to actually PROMOTE, the threat of yet another
prohibition of yet another plant product...and that this would serve
almost exactly the same industries that benefit from cannabis
prohibition;
* They ignore the failure to present in courts or legislatures any
studies about the real or expected harms of tobacco...without the toxic
and untested and carcinogenic non-tobacco contaminants. But they keep
saying "tobacco", not Adulterated Tobacco, anyway...just as cigarette
makers do.
They present themselves as being "anti Globalization", even to the point
of holding an "IMF protest" recently re/ "tobacco" privatization etc.
However, a glance at the industries they IGNORE...the industries that
will save billions that they would otherwise pay to the public and to
victims in penalties and liabilities...the industries that may continue
to evade liabilities for other unregulated harms...shows us a list of the
top promoters and beneficiaries OF Globalization...namely Big Oil
(tobacco pestides), Pharmaceuticals (more tobacco pesticides AND
ingredients), Big Timber (paper and fake tobacco cellulose), AG biz (cig
additives and more fake tobacco stuff)...and, of course, all their
insurers and investors.
Here's Ten Questions I sent to organizers of the Nov 22 "workshops".
Perhaps others can add different questions. Send to Mele Lau Smith
mjsmith@igc.org> or Susana Hennessey Lavery susanht@igc.org> or
awhite@essential.org> .
1) Will the vital, integral topic of Non-Tobacco Cigarette Constituents
be on the agenda? If not, how may this be introduced?
2) The "Comprehensive Smoking Education Act", that forbids even U.S.
representatives to reveal Top Secret cigarette ingredients, is STILL in
effect! Will there be any work on demanding that Congress Repeal this
Act?
3) Would like to see list of any businesses or agents or the like who may
be sponsoring this event. Great care must be taken, of course, to assure
that none of them are in the non-manufacturing parts of the Cigarette
Industry. For liability reasons, these interests try to remain out of
sight. These might include pharmaceutical firms that make tobacco
pesticides, insurance firms that hold large investments in cigarette
manufacturing and/or ingredients or advertising, food or agricultural
interests that supply non-tobacco cigarette ingredients, cigarette
advertisers of course, and generally any firm that has significant
interests in Chlorine...source of high levels of Dioxin in typical
cigarette smoke. (This latter category, expectedly, hopes to lay all
blame for "smoking related" illnesses on ANYTHING but their
chlorine...even if they do not directly participate in cigarette
manufacturing processes.)
4) There are MANY US patents for processes to make FAKE TOBACCO out of
all sorts of (usually chlorine-contaminated) Industrial Waste Cellulose.
Will copies of these patents be made available to attendees? ...or will
there be some workshop or forum so that they can be discussed?
5) Is anything on the agenda about the very worrisome concept of a
Prohibition of tobacco...especially in light of the fact that scientific
analysis of unadulterated tobacco or it's real or potential negative
effects doesn't seem to have been done yet? We are all too familiar
with the incredible horrors of the current, scientifically-baseless
cannabis prohibition, and the earlier alcohol Prohibition. At all
costs, this must not happen again.
6) We would all hope to see the FDA finally regulate cigarettes so
that, at last, the non-tobacco ingredients might be removed from the
products until they are tested for safety in this use, and then, if any
prove to not add to inherent risks of plain tobacco, clearly labeled.
Will this be on the agenda?
7) We have witnessed scandalous behavior of states in their
"settlements" programs....as millions of these dollars are actually
permitted to be RETURNED to various parts of the cigarette
industry...such as health insurers that are part owners of cigarette
manufacturers, cigarette advertisers (to do Anti Smoking campaigns!),
pharmaceutical firms that are tobacco pesticide makers and/or cigarette
ingredient providers, and food interests who may also be contributors to
non-tobacco cigarette ingredients. I do hope THIS will part of the
events.
8) In respect for firefighters, in light of national honors given to
them for 9/11 heroics etc, it is unimaginable that our officials STILL
permit "burn accelerants" in typical cigarettes (unlabeled, of course,
and without specific warning) so that the plague of so-called "smoking
related" fires can continue to be maximized. If this is to be on the
agenda, I will personally contact firefighter unions and so forth to help
promote the events.
9) Re; "kids" and "smoking". You know that chlorine by-product, dioxin,
is officially a Known Human Carcinogen. Also, the U.S. signed a treaty to
globally phase out dioxin and 11 other of the worst industrial
pollutants. The overall worst exposure route into the body for dioxin is
via inhalation. and it is particularly harmful to young people.
Incredibly, it is still absolutely legal in cigarette smoke due to still
legal cigarette contamination with chlorine elements! Neither smokers NOR
"second-hand smokers" are informed, protected or specifically warned
about this!
The conscience-free officials who permit this atrocity are the very ones
who propose, not banning the substances in these products...but burdening
the VICTIMS with laws and fines and so forth! The injustice is large
and clear. If there is one way to effectively address the topic of
Smoking and Health...it is here.
A court case on this might take only two minutes. It is these
regulators' OWN testimony on harms of dioxin that may be used against
them!
10) If not on the agenda yet...may I propose a "Know Your Congress
Person" program? This would be to inform citizens about which members
accept funding from, or have holdings in, cigarette cartel interests.
This is especially important regarding the less obvious
NON-Tobacco/non-manufacturing co-conspirators...as mentioned above. It is
not a subtle distinction between Cigarette Manufacturers, and the OWNERS
of the manufacturing firms...namely big insurers and investors.
Remember, the CEOs of the self-named "tobacco companies" are mere
employees of these owners. Ultimate responsibility rests at the TOP.
I might add that above even THAT are the public officials who, to
this day, permit any of many hundreds of untested non-tobacco ingredients
and some of the world's most deadly industrial substances to be in
smoking products!...without a word of information or warning to any
consumer. The inhumanity of this is appalling. The implications
regarding regulation of ALL consumer products and industrial processes
are enormous.
Thank you for any information you may provide.
PS: Please note that California, though not a "Tobacco State", has no
shortage of actual or probable suppliers of non-tobacco cigarette
components...such as timber (for cig paper AND fake tobacco cellulose
materials), Agricultural and food processing firms (untested additives
and, again, fake tobacco cellulose), oil firms (tobacco pesticides) and
pharmaceutical/chemical firms (tobacco pesticides and so forth).
It WOULD be valid AND newsworthy if some sort of public
demonstrations were scheduled at headquarters of some or all of these
businesses if their links can be documented.
Original: How Anti-Smoking HELPS the Cig Industry