As a general rule, if the government tells me to do something (or not do something) I will either ignore it or do the opposite (which is why I didn’t rush out and queue at the petrol station this past few days). The reasoning being that politicians are self serving cretins who think that they have a mandate to dictate to me how to live my life and have the effrontery to think that they know better than I how I should live it. They do not.
Government information films are, therefore, a massive waste of my money and I deeply resent every penny they piss up the wall making them. Particularly so when it comes to yet another anti-smoking drive.
Making houses and cars smokefree is the only way to protect children from second-hand smoke, according to a new government campaign in England.
The TV and radio adverts show how pervasive invisible second-hand smoke can be.
Breathing it in can damage lungs and cause cancers, research has shown.
This isn’t information it is propaganda. Lies even. There is no evidence whatsoever that second hand smoke does any of this – although they would have us believe it can creep from one floor of a building, permeate through the walls and kill people inside, so powerful is it. This stuff is worse than mustard gas, it seems.
Okay, so smoking isn’t exactly good for you. It can cause lung damage. We know this. There is nothing – other than junk science – to demonstrate that someone smoking causes harm to another.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is calling for smoking in cars where children are present to be made illegal.
Ah, yes, the control freaks are out in force, I see. It is up to us as individuals to make that decision. I would argue that it is impolite to force someone else to breathe one’s smoke, but it certainly should not be illegal – particularly in one’s own private space. The important word here being “private”.
The dreadful Arnott gets her oar in as is usual:
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke and children are at risk of a range of diseases such as asthma, ear infections, and potentially fatal meningitis as a result of breathing in second-hand smoke in the home or car.”
Bollocks. I mean, really does she seriously expect us to take such hysterical nonsense with even a hint of gravitas? Unfortunately people do, which is deeply disturbing.
And so the march goes on. Already we have the spectre of second hand drinking and next it will be second hand salt, fats and Big Macs. There is no end to the control freakery of the nu puritans. Meanwhile we are being ripped off to fund their propaganda.
“…and next it will be second hand salt, fats and Big Macs.”
From August of last year, I present: Second hand obesity
and potentially fatal meningitis as a result of breathing in second-hand smoke in the home or car.”
Where out of the bright blue sky does that one come from , how can ‘smoke ‘ of any sort cause a condition that is either bacterial or viral in origin?
What next SHS causes attacks by dragons.
It reminds me of those medieval maps “here be dragons”.
XX Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke and children are at risk of a range of diseases such as asthma, ear infections, and potentially fatal meningitis as a result of breathing in second-hand smoke in the home or car.”
And atheletes foot, DON’T forget the atheletes foot!!!
I KNOW it’s caused by smoking….my Granny told me.
And that is about the level of sceintific research this Arnott whore has paid someone for, to produce, so it MUST be true!
The solution is simple. Ban children from cars. Better still ban children.
In response to the Meninigitis comment, apparently smoking makes it easier for bacteria to lodge in the lungs. Ergo, it’s easier to catch this particular infection.
Of course, just how much of a problem the infamous second hand smoke creates is far less clear but I suppose if you were to breathe enough of it in, then it would have some effect, which may or may not be significant. Some recent studies in children suggest an increased risk from parents who smoke but it’s far from conclusive.
Of course, I abhor this scaremongering in any case. There must be a better way to present this information to the public so they can make their own informed judgement on the matter.
Government interventions in my life depress me.
Nicotine is an anti-depressive.
Government encourages me to self-medicate.
If I don’t smoke I will become more depressed and will be benefit from (free)prescription anti-depressants.
Can I get cigarettes prescribed instead? Big T’s cigarettes at cost will probably undercut Big Pharmas’ price for their drugs.