Today sees the publication of a report entitled Civil Liberties: Up In Smoke. The introduction is self-explanatory:
This paper has been prepared by a team led by Simon Davies of Privacy International at the request of Forest, the UK smokers’ rights organisation. Forest has also contributed to the external research cost of the work, for which we are grateful.
The research does not address the health aspects of tobacco smoking, nor does it take sides on what has become a controversial aspect of public policy management. Instead the paper focuses on the privacy and civil liberties implications arising from the regulation of tobacco use globally.
The publication of the report is timely. Although tobacco regulation in the modern era is relatively recent, enough time has elapsed to determine some key trends and implications. One of those trends is the surveillance and control of tobacco smokers, with all the consequent risks to privacy and rights. The almost unrestricted use of drug testing kits for nicotine, routine tracking smokers by way of public camera networks, infiltration of social network profiles, banning images of smoking in films and establishing whistleblower and reporting hotlines are signs that a foundation has been established to institutionalise smokers as low grade criminals.
Whatever specific position is taken on tobacco regulation (or indeed any other issue), an evidence-based approach is crucial when assessing the effect of public policy. Privacy and rights advocates frequently apply neutral analysis when dealing with laws relating to national security, counter-terrorism, police powers and reforms to the criminal justice system. This doesn’t mean that those analysing the measures are opposed to the aims of such reforms. On the contrary, it is often the case that an evidence-based audit of such powers can improve both the effectiveness and public trust in those objectives. The same applies in the realm of tobacco regulation.
The health risks associated with smoking are accepted by the authors of this report and by the sponsoring organisation. We also acknowledge that governments and other authorities have a role to play educating people, children especially, about those risks. However several centuries of substance regulation show that careless regulation can create severe consequences in terms of the impact on individuals. In establishing regulation, governments must strive to avoid an unintended own-goal that invites negative and damaging consequences. We have sought in this paper to identify such consequences and we invite government to reflect on them.
In some senses this paper is an early-warning report. While the fear and persecution that characterised previous substance prohibition is not yet generally evident in the realm of tobacco control there are danger signs that without care the next decade could witness injustices on a substantial scale. As we establish in this report, there is already adequate evidence that in some environments smokers are regarded as social pariahs who deserve no rights. If smokers start to perceive themselves this way then the path will be cleared for a repeat of the worst errors made in previous attempts to prohibit the use of substances. As with previous prohibitions, regulation moves quickly from a public health mechanism to an assault on the individual.
We have printed 2,000 copies of the report and will be distributing it to politicians, journalists and broadcasters. Copies will be available at our Voices of Freedom event in London tonight.
You can download it here – Civil Liberties: Up In Smoke