{"article":{"id":19615,"heading":"How Anti-Smoking HELPS the Cig Industry","author":"Watchdog","created":"2002-10-06 16:56:59","modified":"2002-10-06 16:56:59","last_modified":"Sun, 06 Oct 2002 23:56:59","article":"

(Compare this information with what the commercial media reports...and fails to report...about the big $28 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<\/a>

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<\/a>> or Susana Hennessey Lavery <susanht@igc.org<\/a>> or

<awhite@essential.org<\/a>> .

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.

<\/p>\n","contact":"jejonik@juno.com","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"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.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2002\/10\/19615.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}