"Smokers are a kind of bellwether for what's happening in society"

Thanks to everyone who attended our webinar 'Smokefree: A Better Britain?' last week.

Special thanks to all our speakers – Andrew Allison, head of campaigns, The Freedom Association; Liz Barber, friend of Forest and a confirmed smoker; Mark Oates, director, We Vape and the Snus & Nicotine Pouch Users' Association; tobacco investment analyst Rae Maile; and Simon Hills, former associate editor of The Times Magazine and a one-a-day smoker!

Thanks also to Rob Lyons for moderating the event with his usual good humour.

As I explained in my introduction, one or two people misinterpreted the title of the event and thought Forest had moved over to the dark side and is now supporting a ‘smoke free Britain’!

Far from it. As I explained:

To be absolutely clear, we do NOT think a smoke free England, Wales or Scotland would create a better Britain.

First, it is unachievable by 2030 – the Government’s target for England – without the introduction of some seriously draconian policies designed to force people to quit.

Second, we believe it is wholly undesirable to aim to be ‘smoke free’ by a certain date. Forcing people to stop smoking – to meet an artificial target – would represent the end of choice, and that’s what Forest stands for, freedom of choice and personal responsibility.

Anyway here are some quotes from our speakers:

Andrew Allison
"First they came for smokers and I did nothing, then they came for vapers and I wish I had done something."

Liz Barber
"I've heard everything they've had to say about the dangers of smoking. After that it's up to me whether I decide to continue to smoke or not."

Mark Oates
"If we manage to get to 'smoke free' by 2030 just by chance I don't think it would be a bad thing as such, but what really matters is how we go about trying to achieve that."

Rae Maile
"The message since the Seventies has always been 'quit or die' not 'quit by doing something else you might enjoy'."

Simon Hills
"Smokers are a kind of bellwether for what's happening in society because they are an easy visible target for a powerful, well-remunerated health lobby which has its tail up at the moment."

If you were unable to join us a video of the meeting is available on the Forest YouTube channel. Click here or on the video below.

Comments

[Pat Nurse]

Indeed we are the bellweather of society and how it changes.

Without harassment, discrimination, and attacks on smokers they would not get away with attacking fat people, drinkers, or vapers in similar ways.

Without the smoking bans and doing the unthinkable, because it was unthinkable when it happened - ie - telling private property owners that they had to kick smokers, often their best customers, outside even if they wanted to welcome them and the vast majority of non smoking customers didn't mind being around smokers - because kicking them out meant their businesses went bust as many hundreds of pubs, restuarants and cafes can testify. Would there have been such an authoritarian lockdown over a virus without the precedent of the smoking ban? How about the new fascism called Wokeness? The handwringers and wokies first reared their judgemental heads when condemning smokers who were the first to be cancelled in jobs advertised to "non smokers only."

I have been amazed at how people have complained about lockdown and it being the start of the new wave of authoritarian dictats in this country. Where were those people then and why were they silent after the smoking ban which allowed Government to demand private property owners closed down their business for reasons of health for the first time, and we can be sure that ruining people's livelihoods on the basis on statistics and manipulated junk science in the name of health will keep on happening until Government stops funding political activists posing as charities, and start treating people as informed adults able to make their own choices and take their own calculated risks in what is supposed to be a free society.

As long as blanket smoking bans with no avenue of personal choice remain, the whole authoritarian nature of this country will become more intense and more tyrannical. What next? The question remains.

Freedom is not a dirty word. It is the essence of life and happiness.