Happy Christmas, comrades
Friday, December 6, 2013 at 9:25 
Here's the 2013 Forest Christmas card designed by Dan Donovan.
The concept and salutation were inspired by Pat Harrold, a general practitioner in Co Tipperary, Ireland, and a lecturer at the University of Limerick medical school.
Two weeks ago Dr Harrold wrote:
We Irish are good at many things. We are world leaders in literature, music and, occasionally, rugby. Lately we have become famous for tobacco control. Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in public places after some groundbreaking research into the health of Galway bar staff. We are now set to become one of the first countries to ban tobacco branding. This means that the box of twenty will have a plain cover and you can only tell the different types by the lettering. The boxes will look generic, rather like the government products in the old Soviet Union.
Well, that got me thinking because I've never forgotten visiting the food hall at GUM, the largest department store in Russia, in 1982 and seeing row upon row of tins with plain, unbranded labels.
It was the same in smaller shops, although a great many shelves were half empty and the queues outside were testament to severe food shortages.
The contrast with our own shops and supermarkets could not have been greater yet Dr Harrold seems to be endorsing Soviet-style packaging for tobacco.
Is he serious?
Anyway, we're sending the Forest card to several hundred MPs and journalists and I hope they get the message.
Plain packaging is a backward step with disturbing political connotations.
Doesn't that bother them?
Reader Comments (2)
Will we be able to get copies like last year?
I am sadly coming to the conclusion that our elected representatives are too intellectually challenged to understand the probable consequences of their actions.