Harridanic - User contributions [en-gb]

The Tobacco Template

2025-08-01T11:50:08Z

Paul:

[[File:lisa_slippery_slope.jpg|center]]

[[Smoking Myths (ASH)|It has been claimed]], by [[Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)|ASH]] ([[Deborah Arnott]]), on February 2012 that:

{{quote|Thirdly, the “domino theory” i.e. that once a measure has been applied to tobacco it will be applied to other products is patently false. The same argument was used against the ban on tobacco advertising, but 9 years after the tobacco ban in the UK, alcohol advertising is still permitted with no sign of it being prohibited. Tobacco is a uniquely dangerous consumer product which is why there is a WHO health treaty (the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) to regulate tobacco use.<ref>http://www.ash.org.uk/media-room/press-releases/:tobacco-industry-invisible-hand-behind-adam-smith-institute-plain-packs-report</ref>}}

Previously [[Simon Chapman]] on May 30 2011:
{{quote|The tobacco industry and its stooges played the same slippery slope arguments over advertising bans, sports sponsorship bans and pack warnings . Ad bans started 35 years ago. No alcohol advertising ban and no momentum I’m aware of other than breaking the sport/alcohol nexus. So the slope ain’t very slippery folks ...<ref>http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/05/30/bats-ad-campaign-against-plain-packs-pull-the-other-one/?wpmp_switcher=mobile#comment-138469</ref>}}

And subsequently, [[Simon Chapman]] again in August 2012:

{{quote|TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Is there a slippery slope argument to go along with this? That perhaps if we banned tobacco then alcohol or maybe even fatty foods would be next?

SIMON CHAPMAN: Look, if the slope is slippery, it's the most unslippery slippery dip I've ever seen in my life. We started banning tobacco advertising in 1976 and there has been no other commodity where there has been anything like a serious move to do what we've done with tobacco. And that's because there are great big differences between tobacco and all other commodities.

So, you know, the comparisons with hamburgers and chocolate bars and alcohol and such with like that, they're just really don't stack up.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3573640.htm Tas considers ban on cigarettes for next generation] - ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)</ref>}}

Sadly, it is their statement that is false, not the domino theory/[[slippery slope]]. This page lists attempts by organisations and governments to copy the 'tobacco template' in order to denormalise users of, or reduce consumption of, products.
==General Controls==
General stuff not covered below

=== The Guardian; CIF - Demonising junk food [[Grandad's Law|for the children]] - 14 April 2012 ===
[[Aseem Malhotra]], a 'cardiology specialist registrar'<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/aseem-malhotra Aseem Malhotra]] - The Guardian</ref> starts off his polemic with the title and subtitle:
{{quote|'''We must demonise junk food for the sake of our children'''

We must educate children properly about nutrition if we are to stand a chance of altering the statistics on obesity<ref name="cifdemon">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/14/demonise-junk-food-sake-children We must demonise junk food for the sake of our children] - CiF, The Guardian</ref>}}

Followed by an image of some extremely obese British kids gorging themselves on fast food:

[[image:Adolescents-eating-junk-f-008.jpg]]

Quite.

{{quote|If we are going to really alter the statistics on obesity we need to concentrate on the next generation. The banning of junk food in schools needs to be enforced and headteachers have a major role to play. In some schools, the head will write a letter to parents forbidding children from bringing in such unhealthy snacks, but others are either too fearful, don't believe it will have an effect, or don't believe it's their responsibility. What is the point of a good education if the child who receives it becomes limited by premature bad health?<ref name="cifdemon" />}}

Why should schools dictate to parents how to feed their children in such a manner?

{{quote|The demonisation of junk food must be supported by compulsory cooking lessons and food education promoting nutritious real food. I call on the Department for Education to introduce this into every primary school. <ref name="cifdemon" />}}

When did secondary schools stop providing 'home-economics'? And I can see the elf and safety groups jumping on the idea that a 5 year old should be operating an oven. Then again, I may have just answered my first question.

===The Guardian; CiF - Alcohol and Obesity===
{{quote|Public health campaigners once thought the National Health Service, along with drains and clean air, was going to make the UK well. It soon became clear it wasn't going to, but even so, it had captured almost all the resources available for health. Single-issue campaigns then sprang up promoting seatbelts, the breathalyser and lead-free petrol. They followed a similar trajectory: professional awareness of a problem and its solution; campaigns for public awareness, which in turn provoked mounting reasons from industry against action; followed, eventually, by a government willing to face down the charge of trampling on individual freedoms and daring to legislate. It is almost impossible to imagine how fiercely drivers once fought for their right to drink, drive and fly unrestrained through the windscreen. Now the memory of the determination to protect the right to make the person next to you breathe your cigarette smoke is slowly dimming too.

But the next campaign for better public health is in a different league. Alcohol and obesity – what we eat and how much we drink – these are the stuff of our very souls. From warning of the public implications of personal actions to changing the actions themselves, The campaigners have to cross a boundary more contentious than any they have overcome before. They have to tackle problems linked with poverty without swelling the populist clamour against the poor. They have to frame a debate about the health implications of overeating and problem drinking that doesn't dwell only on a cost-benefit analysis on behalf of the NHS. And they have to do it when most people think Whitehall, far from knowing best, knows little of real life at all.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/29/smoking-ban-health-policy Smoking anniversary: big ban theory] - The Guardian</ref>}}

===[http://whothailand.healthrepository.org/handle/123456789/1359 GAPC] - Alcohol===
*“What worked for Tobacco Control?” - Ms. Shoba John<ref name="gapc2012">[http://img4.custompublish.com/getfile.php/1863660.994.cvftrstyec/Program+for+GAPC2012.pdf?return=www.add-resources.org Global Alcohol Policy Conference - Feb 2012] - GAPC</ref>
*“Control marketing: lessons learn from tobacco control movement” Ms. Bungon Ritthiphakdee<ref name="gapc2012" />

===MD, PhD and a DrPH, California - Sweeteners===
Added sweeteners pose dangers to health that justify controlling them like alcohol, argue Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis<ref>[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v482/n7383/full/482027a.html Public health: The toxic truth about sugar] - Nature</ref>

And they claim it contributes to 35million deaths a year worldwide and is so dangerous it should be controlled through taxation and legislation.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2094812/Sugar-controlled-like-tobacco-alcohol.html Sugar 'is toxic and must be regulated just like cigarettes', claim scientists] - Daily Mail</ref>

==Higher Taxes==
Ever higher taxes are imposed with the belief that they will either (1) increase the tax the government receives or (2) reduce consumption by pricing consumers out of the market. (Obviously it can't do both at the same time.)

However, unintended consequences occur in the form of (a) increased sales on the black market and/or those (legitimately or not) obtaining their supplies from abroad and (b) increase in poverty because the hardest hit (and of which, demographically, tend to smoke more) are the poor who are either unwilling or unable to cut down or give up.

[[Minimum Pricing]], while not increasing the tax-take to the government, is a form of this.

=== [[Mike Rayner]] - Department of Public Health at Oxford University - food - May 16 2012===
{{Quote|"Fat taxes" would have to increase the price of unhealthy food and drinks by as much as 20% in order to cut consumption by enough to reduce obesity and other diet-related diseases<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/16/fat-tax-unhealthy-food-effect?newsfeed=true</ref>}}

{{quote|He called for a 12p tax on soft drinks, even bigger than the 2 cents tax introduced in France, claiming it would prevent several thousand deaths a year as people switched to healthier drinks.
[...]
Mr Rayner said taxes were already used to discourage people from drinking or smoking and a fat tax plan would raise money for the Treasury and prevent people dying.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17741124</ref>}}

{{quote|In all of this I see a sacred dimension. <b>You may not believe that I have heard God aright but I think God is calling me to work towards the introduction of soft-drink taxes in this country</b> and I am looking forward to the day when General Synod debates the ethical issues surrounding this type of tax rather than some of the other issues that august body seems obsessed by.<ref>http://mikeraynersermons.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/why-i-am-no-longer-minister-in-secular.html</ref> [Emphasis added]}}

===Thomas Gaziano, Harvard School of Medicine - salt - April 21, 2012===
{{quote|While a taxation increase of 40 per cent on industry prices (similar to tobacco), determined by previous work to lead to a 6 per cent reduction in consumption, was also evaluated.
:The analysis found that both strategies would be save money by reducing the number of people needing treatment for hypertension and CVD events such as myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and stroke.<ref>http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120421/9632/salt-tax-cvd-death-developing-countries.htm</ref>}}

Sadly there was either insufficient funding, or insufficient time to determine the incidence of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia Hyponatremia] (and the associated costs) that this would cause as a result.

=== Denmark - October 2011 ===
{{quote|Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world's first fat tax - a surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat.

Butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food are now subject to the tax if they contain more than 2.3% saturated fat.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15137948</ref> }}

===Doctor - Wales - fatty foods===
An expert on obesity has called for a tax on fatty foods to help reduce the number of overweight people in Wales.

Dr Nadim Haboubi runs a weight management clinic and has advised on government strategy to tackle obesity<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15478804</ref>
===United Nations - food===
In De Schutter(2011), it looks towards "Using taxation to encourage healthy diets" (page 17)

{{Quote|The introduction of food taxes and subsidies to promote a healthy diet constitutes a cost-effective and low-cost population-wide intervention that can have a significant impact. (page 17)}}

{{Quote|50 (d) Impose taxes on soft drinks (sodas), and on HFSS foods, in order to subsidize access to fruits and vegetables and educational campaigns on healthy diets; (page 21)}}

==Bans ==

=== UK Doctors - Kids watching TV - 9 Oct 2012 ===

[[Grandad's Law|For the Children]], we have:

{{quote|Doctors and government health officials should set limits, '''[[Alcohol Units|as they do for alcohol]]''', on the amount of time children spend watching screens – and under-threes should be kept away from the television altogether, according to a paper in an influential medical journal published on Tuesday [9 Oct 2012]<ref name="guardiankids">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/09/ban-under-threes-watching-television Ban under-threes from watching television, says study] - The Guardian</ref>}}

So we've progressed from ''Tobacco'' -> ''Alcohol'' -> ''Kids watching TV''. The slope not very slippy then.

And as one wag on the internet pointed out:
{{quote2|'''First sentence is a doozy'''

I agree totally. Three-year-olds get really belligerent after a beer or two.<ref>[http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3174197&cid=41602003 Comment 41602003] on [http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/09/2112225/study-kids-under-3-should-be-banned-from-watching-tv Study: Kids Under 3 Should Be Banned From Watching TV] - Slashdot</ref>}}

Onwards...

{{quote|The review was written by psychologist Dr [[Aric Sigman]], author of a book on the subject, following a speech he gave to the RCPCH's annual conference.<ref name="guardiankids" />}}

Hmm - someone's got a book to push. Not that Dr [[Aric Sigman]] has any sort of agenda:
{{quote3|Social networking sites such as Facebook could raise your risk of serious health problems by reducing levels of face-to-face contact, a doctor claims.

Emailing people rather than meeting up with them may have wide-ranging biological effects, said psychologist Dr [[Aric Sigman]].<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1149207/How-using-Facebook-raise-risk-cancer.html#ixzz28tdEX9hV How using Facebook could raise your risk of cancer] - The Daily Mail</ref>}}

Back the the original article; what evidence do we have?

{{quote|Prof Mitch Blair, officer for health promotion at the college, said: "Whether it's mobile phones, games consoles, TVs or laptops, advances in technology mean children are exposed to screens for longer amounts of time than ever before. '''We are becoming increasingly concerned, as are paediatricians in several other countries, as to how this affects the rapidly developing brain in children and young people.'''"<ref name="guardiankids" />}}

Ah. None. They're guessing again.

{{quote|The American Academy of Pediatrics has also issued guidance, saying "media – both foreground and background – have '''potentially''' negative effects and no known positive effects for children younger than 2 years". The Canadian Paediatric Society says no child should be allowed to have a television, computer or video game equipment in his or her bedroom.<ref name="guardiankids" />}}

More guessing.

Fortunately (and unusually) within the same article we have a differing point of view:

{{quote|But the issue is controversial and his opinions and standing are questioned by [[Dorothy Bishop]], professor of developmental neuropsychology at [[Oxford University]] who says that although this is an important topic, [[Aric Sigman|Sigman]]'s paper is not "an impartial expert review of evidence for effects on health and child development". '''"[[Aric Sigman]] does not appear to have any academic or clinical position, or to have done any original research on this topic'''," she said. "His comments about impact of screen time on brain development and empathy seem speculative in my opinion, '''and the arguments that he makes could equally well be used to conclude that children should not read books'''."<ref name="guardiankids" />}}

=== Russian Government - Proposal to ban children from public WiFi - 5 Oct 2012 ===
{{quote|The Communications and Press Ministry has proposed banning children from using Wi-Fi networks in public, potentially making cafes, restaurants and other locations providing the service responsible for enforcing the law.

An official with the ministry’s Federal Mass Media Inspection Service, known as Roskomnadzor, said the ban should apply to people under 18 years old.

Locations providing Wi-Fi access would be held legally responsible for implementing the rule, and failing to meet the proposed measure would result in a fine ranging from 20,000 rubles to 50,000 rubles ($640 to $1,600), Vedomosti reported Thursday.<ref>[http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=36293 Ministry Seeks to Shield Children From Public Wi-Fi] - St Petersburg Times</ref>}}

=== Suffolk Police - UK - 'Super-strength beer and cider' - 26 Sep 2012 ===
But it would appear they aren't being asked to stop selling 'super strength' spirits...

{{quote|Shopkeepers in Ipswich are being asked to stop selling beer and cider with an alcohol volume above 6.5%.

Supermarkets Tesco and Co-Op have already agreed to Suffolk Police's request to change their licence to prevent sales of the drink.

[...]

[Ipswitch Police Area commander] Mason said the scheme was the first of its kind in the country.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-19700304 Ipswich shops asked to ban super-strength beer and cider] - BBC News</ref>}}

And I have no doubt it won't be the last of its kind in the UK.

{{quote|Carlsberg UK said the majority of its consumers drink responsibly but a "small minority" do not.

"We believe the effective solution to this is about education and information as opposed to restricting choice of one particular type of alcohol," a spokesperson said.}}

=== [[AAP| American Academy of Pediatrics]] - US - Trampolines - 25 Sep 2012 ===
{{quote|US doctors say children should be discouraged from using trampolines because they are a health hazard.

[...]

The renewed advice from the AAP says paediatricians need to "actively discourage" recreational trampoline use.

Dr Michele LaBotz, who co-authored the AAP report said: "Families need to know that many injuries occur on the mat itself, and current data do not appear to demonstrate that netting or padding significantly decrease the risk of injury."<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19713691 US doctors say trampolines are a danger to kids] - BBC News</ref>}}

=== 50 shades of Grey - MSM passim - Aug 2012 ===
First up, we have the (possibly fake) charity [[Wearside Women in Need]] set up in 1981 who, by August 2012, had only managed to file accounts up to 2009<ref>[http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/DocumentList.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1000934&SubsidiaryNumber=0&DocType=AccountList
1000934 - WEARSIDE WOMEN IN NEED] - Charity Commission.</ref>, where business-type income such as "collecting rent" on properties is considered "incoming resources from charitable activites"<ref>[http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends34%5C0001000934_ac_20090331_e_c.pdf 1000934 - WEARSIDE WOMEN IN NEED Financial year ending 2009] - Charity Commission</ref>, and on their website describes what they do in the areas of "Women's services"<ref>[http://www.wearsidewomeninneed.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=33 Women's services] - [[Wearside Women in Need]]</ref>, "About us"<ref>[http://www.wearsidewomeninneed.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=37 About Us] - [[Wearside Women in Need]]</ref>, and "Training" <ref>[http://www.wearsidewomeninneed.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=41 Training] - [[Wearside Women in Need]]</ref> are all "under development.":

{{quote|A women's refuge has slammed the bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy as "an instruction manual for an abusive individual to sexually torture a vulnerable young woman".

Clare Phillipson, director of Wearside Women in Need, a charity for victims of domestic violence, said she had been waiting for "a feminist icon to savage this misogynistic crap, but nobody did", so she decided she needed to speak out herself.

[...]

She suggested that women bring copies of the trilogy to Wearside Women in Need's offices in Washington, Tyne and Wear, so that they can be burned on 5 November, alongside an effigy of Christian Grey. "People have said we are total lunatic fascists for wanting to burn a book," said Phillipson.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/24/fifty-shades-grey-domestic-violence-campaigners Fifty Shades of Grey condemned as 'manual for sexual torture'] - The Guardian</ref>}}

Yes - apparently the 7th century past-time of libricide<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_burning Book Burning] - Wikipedia</ref> is making a comeback to the unenlightened in the 21st century.

Next, [[Grandad's Law|thinking of the children]] we have children's author GL Taylor:

{{quote|"I absolutely loath censorship like [the book burning described above] but I think what they're trying to do [by drawing attention to the potential dangers] is quite positive.

"I visited a school last year and I saw a 14-year-old girl reading Fifty Shades. I was in a queue at a checkout and the guy serving me said his 13-year-old daughter was reading it. I've also been in a classroom where the teacher was sat there reading Fifty Shades [to herself].

[...]
"I'm concerned that if children read it they will see it as normal. It sends a message that this is what adults do but very few adults would indulge in this.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19367620 Fifty Shades: GP Taylor fears impact on children] - The BBC.</ref>}}

Shocking. Finally we have BBC reporter [[Tom de Castella]] in his article titled "Fifty Shades of Grey: Are children able to buy it?":

{{quote|It's not on the top shelf. Nor is there any sticker warning of "adult content". So does the bookshop have a policy on selling Fifty Shades to children?<ref name="castella">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19395813 Fifty Shades of Grey: Are children able to buy it?] - The BBC</ref>}}

Naturally following [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headlines Betteridge's Law of Headlines], the answer from the bookshops is "No."

{{quote|Ben Paynter, the bespectacled well-spoken bookseller on duty [at Daunt's bookshop in London], says [...] he would have qualms about children getting their hands on it.

"I haven't seen any children buying it. I've sold it to girls in their mid teens, probably about 15 or 16. With children up to the age of 13 you have more of a responsibility.<ref name="castella" />}}

{{quote|Waterstones has issued guidance to staff on its intranet. "In the event a child tried to buy it, our booksellers would refuse to sell it,"<ref name="castella" />}}

=== The EU - Coffee Grounds as pest control - MSM passim - 28 Aug 2012 ===
It appears that due to the unique way in which the EU is funded, they have nothing better to do than to make illegal the use of coffee grounds as a pest control substance by gardeners.

To pick one article at random (there are so many):

{{quote|Brussels has ruled that gardeners who sprinkle coffee grounds around their cabbages to kill slugs are breaking the law.

The home-made solution contravenes regulations on pesticides, say officials.

It means there is a chance – albeit a slim one – of vegetable growers receiving a visit and a heavy fine from the police. <ref name="slugs">[http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/home-garden/garden/coffee-grounds-for-slugs-illegal-1.1371166 Coffee grounds for slugs ‘illegal’] - Independent Online</ref>}}

Of course, they haven't been so silly (yet) to make coffee grounds totally illegal in the garden; just for deterring slugs:

{{quote|Many coffee shops let customers take the grounds home for free, which can then be used as a mulch or to improve compost.

But the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has warned that any gardener using coffee granules to deter slugs falls foul of EU regulations. The rules say that any active ingredient or chemical used in gardening must be explicitly approved and placed on an EU list of pesticides.

This aims to stop people using “home-made remedies in a dangerous manner”.

But caffeine has never been tested for its effectiveness as a pesticide, its impact on the environment, gardeners and other creatures.

This means its use as a slug deterrent is not allowed. <ref name="slugs" />}}

The workaround, as is usual for such silly EU laws that can be gotten round, is a loophole:

{{quote|[Dr Andrew Halstead, principal scientist of plant health at the RHS said]“If you were to use coffee grounds around plants with the intention of providing some organic matter in the form of a mulch, rather than as a slug control or deterrent, then the regulations relating to pesticides would not apply."<ref name="slugs" />}}

=== Drummoyne Public School - Australia - Exercise for Children - 27 Aug 2012 ===
Apparently ''too much'' exercise is bad for some children in Australia:

{{quote|The fun is over for Sydney schoolchildren who dare to do cartwheels and handstands in the playground.

Drummoyne Public School has banned handstands, cartwheels and somersaults during lunch and recess unless "under the supervision of a trained gymnastics teacher and with correct equipment."

[...]

Ms Chown first heard about the ban when her daughter Estelle, 10, came home on August 17 and said children had been told they couldn't do anything that had them "upside-down".<ref>[http://www.perthnow.com.au/fun-over-for-schoolchildren-at-drummoyne-public-school-as-handstands-cartwheels-and-somersaults-are-banned/story-e6frg4nl-1226459231096 Fun over for schoolchildren as handstands, cartwheels and somersaults are banned] - Perth Now</ref>}}

=== [[Lucy Holmes]] - UK - Tits on Page 3 of The Sun - 26 Aug 2012 ===
[[Lucy Holmes]], a women's rights activist, and "Television and Radio Personality and the worlds greatest Kylie Minogue Tribute Artist"<ref>[http://www.lucyholmes.com/ Site description] - lucyholmes.com</ref> petitions Dominic Mohan, the current editor of The Sun newspaper, to stop its 42-yr old<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_Three#History Page Three; History] - Wikipedia</ref> tradition of showing topless models on Page 3.
{{quote|George Alagiah doesn’t say, ‘And now let’s look at Courtney, 21, from Warrington’s bare breasts,’ in the middle of the 6 O’ Clock News, does he, Dominic?

Philip and Holly don’t flash up pictures of Danni, 19, from Plymouth, in just her pants and a necklace, on This Morning, do they, Dominic?

No, they don’t.

There would be an outcry.

And you shouldn’t show the naked breasts of young women in your widely read ‘family’ newspaper either.

Consider this a long overdue outcry.

Dominic, stop showing topless pictures of young women in Britain’s most widely read newspaper, stop conditioning your readers to view women as sex objects.

Enough is enough.<ref>[http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/dominic-mohan-take-the-bare-boobs-out-of-the-sun-nomorepage3 Dominic Mohan: Take The Bare Boobs Out Of The Sun #nomorepage3] - change.org]</ref>}}

Lucy's contribution to women's rights, it appears, is to remove their right to be photographed and be paid for it. Because Lucy doesn't like it, no one else must be able to like it.

Her arguments, however, seem to be a bit flawed; for example the reason the [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ 6 o'clock news] and [http://www.itv.com/thismorning/ This Morning] don't show topless women is because they're not allowed to because of the watershed on TV<ref>[http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/television/watershed What is the watershed?] = OFCOM</ref>.

And if MS. Holmes has an objection to children seeing naked breasts, I cannot wait for her campaign to stop women breastfeeding their own children. Especially in public.

=== Health Officials - New Zealand - 'Fast Food' - 6 Aug 2012 ===
{{quote|Health officials worried about an obesity epidemic want fast-food advertising dropped from public property, including bus shelters, and are questioning fast-food and soft-drink sponsorship of public events.

They have also raised concerns over the lack of political power to stop fast-food restaurants being built near schools and in poor areas.

[...]

[Aukland health board clinical director Dr [[Robyn Toomath]] said...]"We've reached that purist approach with tobacco, completely hardline. There's no way in the world we would have a Rothman's Centre for Kids in Hospital. You start off saying we won't promote the sale of goods, then the next step is [not allowing] sponsorship of these companies."<ref>http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10824891</ref>}}

=== [[Michael Bloomberg]] New York - Giving out milk formula to new mothers - 30 Jul 2012 ===
{{quote|[[Michael Bloomberg|Mayor Bloomberg]] has demanded that hospitals stop handing out baby formula to persuade more new mothers to breastfeed their babies.

The New York City health department will monitor the number of formula bottles being given out and demand a medical reason for each one.

From September 3, 27 out of 40 hospitals in the city have agreed to the terms of the Latch On initiative - which will also see them stop handing out free bags of formula and bottles. <ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180635/Mayor-Bloomberg-bans-baby-formula-NY-hospitals.html?ito=feeds-newsxml</ref>}}

=== UK - Sale of video games - 30 Jul 2012 ===
In another example of [[Grandad's Law]] the PEGI ratings system now has the force of law behind it instead of being merely 'guidance.'
{{Quote|Retailers that sell video games to children are now liable for imprisonment or a fine, under a tough new age-classification system designed to crack down on violent and unsuitable content.

Under the new rules that came into force on Monday, all games sold in the UK will now be regulated under a system called PEGI, the Pan European Game Information scheme, which makes it illegal to sell 12-rated video games to children under that age for the first time.

Until now the British Board of Film Classification has provided 15 and 18 certificates that are legally enforceable. But there had never been the equivalent for 12-rated games, making it technically legal for children to buy them.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/30/pegi-video-game-ratings-law</reF>}}

=== [[Simon Chapman]] - Secondhand Sunbeds - 1 July 2012 ===
{{quote|Struggling solarium operators are offloading unwanted sunbeds online, prompting calls for a government buyback of the machines to prevent dangerous in-home tanning.

[...]

A professor of public health at the University of Sydney, Simon Chapman, said it would be a ''public service'' for state governments to buy the machines at the low market price and destroy them, or to outlaw reselling them.<ref>http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/buying-into-danger-20120630-219e4.html</ref>}}

=== ScotRail - alcohol (and drunks) - July 2012 ===
{{quote|Alcohol is being banned from Scottish trains in the evenings and mornings, following concerns about drink-fuelled anti-social behaviour.

ScotRail has decided to prohibit the carrying and consumption of alcohol on its services between 21:00 and 10:00, starting on 20 July. Drunk people would be banned from travelling on trains under the crackdown.<ref>http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/view/article/169-alcohol-to-be-banned-on-scottish-trains</ref>}}

They appear to expect drunk people (not carrying alcohol) to pay extra for taxis instead of using their trains.

=== Middleborough, Massachusetts - Swearing - 11 Jun 2012 ===
{{quote|Residents in Middleborough voted Monday night to make the foul-mouthed pay fines for swearing in public.

At a town meeting, residents voted 183-50 to approve a proposal from the police chief to impose a $20 fine on public profanity.

Officials insist the proposal was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but instead to crack down on loud, profanity-laden language used by teens and other young people in the downtown area and public parks.

I'm really happy about it," Mimi Duphily, a store owner and former town selectwoman, said after the vote. "I'm sure there's going to be some fallout, but I think what we did was necessary."<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/public-swearing-middleborough-fine_n_1587270.html
Public Swearing In Middleborough, Mass. Now Subject To Fine ] - huffington Post</ref>}}

Calls for a repeal on 10 Oct 2012:

{{quote|[Massachusetts Attorney General Martha] Coakley said Tuesday the original bylaw appears to violate First Amendment free speech guarantees, and she called on Middleborough to take it off the books or amend it.

[...]

Supporters were aware that the measure could raise questions about First Amendment rights- which was confirmed today- but they thought it would still work since state law does allow towns to enforce local laws that give police the power to arrest anyone who 'addresses another person with profane or obscene language' in a public place.

Matthew Segal, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government cannot prohibit public speech just because it contains profanity.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2215392/Swearing-fine-Massachusetts-town-Middleborough-impose-20-fine-public-swearing-First-Amendment.html Freedom of foul language! Town's $20 fine for public swearing is outlawed under First Amendment] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

=== Scotland - multi-buy ban doesn't work - June 2012 ===
{{quote|A report by NHS Scotland has shown “no obvious change” in alcohol sales as a result of the ban on multibuy promotions on alcohol in Scotland.

The report showed a 4.2% drop in overall per adult sales volumes of alcohol in the 33 weeks after the ban was introduced last October, but it also said there had been a reduction in sales of 3.3% in England and Wales in the same period.

Wine, beer and spirits all saw declines of between 4% and 5% in Scotland, though cider got off lightly with sales more or less flat.<ref>http://offlicencenews.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/12901/Scottish_ban_fails_to_impact_alcohol.html</ref>}} However, they still want minimum pricing:
{{quote|The Scottish government said in response that “the quantity discount ban will be most effective when used alongside minimum pricing”, which is scheduled to come into force in Scotland some time after April next year(2013).}}

=== New York City Board of Health - supersized drinks and popcorn - June 2012 ===
{{quote|The board hand-picked by Mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] that must approve his ban of selling large sugar-filled drinks at restaurants might be looking at other targets.

[...]

At the meeting, some of the members of board said they should be considering other limits on high-calorie foods.

One member, Bruce Vladeck, thinks limiting the sizes for movie theater popcorn should be considered.

[...]

Another board member thinks milk drinks should fall under the size limits.<ref>http://www.myfoxny.com/story/18774940/health-panel-talks-about-wider-food-ban#ixzz1zZMuUCHt</ref>}}

=== New York Times Debate - air conditioning - June 2012 ===
{{quote|'''Should Air-Conditioning Go Global, or Be Rationed Away?'''<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/21/should-air-conditioning-go-global-or-be-rationed-away</ref>

Temperatures in New York City have pushed toward 100 degrees this week, and air-conditioners strained the power grid (thanks in part to stores with their doors open). Meanwhile the demand for coolant gases, especially in rapidly developing countries like India, threatens to accelerate global warming.

Is it a good goal for everyone in the world to have access to air-conditioning — like clean water or the Internet? Or is it an unsustainable luxury, which air-conditioned societies should be giving up or rationing?}}

=== National Obesity Forum (UK) - fizzy drinks - May 2012 ===
{{quote|Supersize fizzy drinks should be banned from cinemas, restaurants and sports grounds in London to curb obesity, health experts say.

Anti-obesity campaigner Tam Fry today called on Mayor Boris Johnson to copy New York, which has imposed a 16oz limit on the sale of sugary drinks.

The ban applies to restaurants, cinemas and sports stadiums, and includes Coca-Cola, Pepsi and some iced-coffee drinks sold in Starbucks. Starbucks’s largest iced coffee in the UK is the Venti, which is 20oz. The equivalent is 22oz in the US, where the largest offering is the 31oz Trenta.

Mr Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said the move by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg was the way forward to tackle the capital’s obesity epidemic. In an interview with the Standard, he said: “London should take a leaf out of New York’s book. Everything Michael Bloomberg does is backed up with perfectly good science. If England were to follow more what America was doing then we would be in a much better situation.”<ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/london/london-urged-to-follow-ny-fizzy-drink-ban-7807634.html</ref>}}

=== Assemblyman William Monning (California) - food vans 'outside schools' - Feb 2012 ===
In an effort to stop kids from running away from their 'healthy school meals' Assemblyman William 'Bill' Monning decided that was was needed was bill that bans food truck operators from vending within a quarter-mile of any school. Businesses were not happy at the unintended consequences:

{{quote|“The problem is that many of the businesses that we serve are near schools,” said Nancy Nguyen, an owner and operator of O Mi Ninja, a Vietnamese food truck operating out of Santa Clara County. “If you're K through 9 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%E2%80%9312_%28education%29 four-13 yr olds]], you're not even allowed to leave campus. I've never seen a food truck directly across from a school.”<ref>http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20020436</ref>}}

Unfortunately for Mr. Monning, but fortunately for all those businesses affected, the bill was dropped. Not because he realised it was a bad idea, but:

{{quote|Monning, chairman of the Assembly Health Committee, said his measure lacked enough votes to win approval this year.

"Our calculus was: It was still not ready for prime time," Monning said, adding that he would look for other ways to address his concerns about obesity among schoolchildren.<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/29/local/la-me-food-trucks-20120329</ref>}}

=== UK Heart Surgeon - Butter - Jan 2010 ===
{{quote|Butter should be banned to protect the nation's health, according to a leading heart surgeon.

Shyam Kolvekar says only radical action can save growing numbers of young adults from heart attacks and clogged arteries.

[...]

Mr Kolvekar, a consultant at University College London Hospitals, said: 'By banning butter and replacing it with a healthy spread the average daily sat-fat intake would be reduced by eight grams.

'This would save thousands of lives each year and help to protect them from cardiovascular disease - the UK's biggest killer.<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1244048/Ban-butter-save-thousands-lives-says-heart-surgeon.html</ref> }}

=== UK Parents - Childrens' books in Libraries ===
{{quote|Classic stories including Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and The Nutcracker were "too scary and sinister" for children, according to some parents who complained about their presence on library shelves, while Dahl's story books Revolting Rhymes and Even More Revolting Rhymes were attacked for their "coarse language". In Dahl's version of Little Red Riding Hood, the heroine takes a decidedly Dahl-ian approach to offing the wolf. "The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers. / She whips a pistol from her knickers. / She aims it at the creature's head, / And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead."<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/23/language-violence-parents-complain-books</ref>}}

{{quote|Librarians in East Sussex removed copies of Babar's Travels, in which one of the cartoon elephant's adventures finds him faced with 'savage cannibals'.[...]Those wishing to borrow it must now order it specially, after staff upheld a complaint that it contained offensive stereotypes of black Africans.[...]A similar complaint saw staff in Lewisham, London, remove Herge's Tintin in the Congo, while elsewhere the title has been transferred to the adult's section.<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2133798/Childrens-favourite-books-removed-library-shelves-parents-complain-offensive.html</ref>}}

==Bans - Advertising==
This covers not only direct advertising (identifiable adverts in media) but 'indirect' advertising; e.g. no smoking allowed in children's films (Think [http://news.sky.com/home/showbiz-news/article/16073171 Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmations])

=== Children’s Food Campaign - Sports Events - 26 July 2012 ===
More [[Grandad's Law]] in action:
{{quote|Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Cadbury’s are being given an “unrivalled platform” to promote unhealthy brands and products at the Olympics, says a new study.

[...]

According to its authors the Children’s Food Campaign, the junk food companies have been given a global platform by London 2012 despite contributing only around 2 per cent of the International Olympic Association’s income.<ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/london-2012-cocacola-mcdonalds-and-cadbury-given-unrivalled-platform-to-promote-unhealthy-brands-at-olympics-7976569.html</ref>}}

[[Children’s Food Campaign]] is a part of [[Sustain]] - an 'alliance' partially funded from grants from government and government related sources<ref>http://www.sustainweb.org/about/</reF>. For the financial year ending 2011, of £2.1M income, at least £0.64M was from either government directly, or government funded organisations. This number rises to at least £1.3M if funds from national lotteries are included.<ref>http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends43%5C0001018643_ac_20110331_e_c.pdf</ref>

=== UK Doctors - alcohol - June 2012 ===
{{quote|'''Doctors call for ban on TV adverts for alcohol'''

An alliance of more than 30 leading medical bodies and charities says Britain's "alcohol problem" has become so entrenched that drastic action – which would also include an end to sponsorship of sporting events – is required to protect [[Grandad's Law|children and teenagers.]]<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9321362/Doctors-call-for-ban-on-TV-adverts-for-alcohol.html</ref>}}

=== Chief Constable [[Jon Stoddart]] of Durham - alcohol - March 2012 ===
{{quote|One of Britain's most senior police officers has called for a daytime ban on alcohol advertising on TV and in cinemas.

A 9pm watershed is needed because of the harm that alcohol causes, Durham Chief Constable Jon Stoddart told Sky News.

"We have a responsibility as a society to [[Grandad's Law|protect our children]], and I don't think that's being achieved by pretty much unlimited alcohol advertising on TV," he said.<ref>http://news.sky.com/story/5155/police-chief-wants-curb-on-alcohol-adverts</ref>}}

===FakeCharity Sustain (UK) - sweets===
Sustain (a FakeCharity<ref>http://fakecharities.org/2009/05/charity-1018643/</ref>) wants to ban supermarket sweet displays<ref>http://www.sustainweb.org/publications/?id=212</ref>
===UK Government - alcohol===
Following the publication of the Government’s Alcohol Strategy, the Health Committee is to hold an inquiry examining the Government’s proposals so far as they relate to health issues, and in particular will look at:
[...]
* Plain packaging and marketing bans.<ref>http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/news/12-03-26-alcohol-torcfe/</ref>
===United Nations - food===
50 (c) Adopt statutory regulation on the marketing of food products, as the most effective way to reduce marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, sodium and sugar (HFSS foods) to children, as recommended by WHO, and restrict marketing of these foods to other groups; [[De Schutter (2011)]] page 21
===Scottish Government - fatty foods/salt/sugar===
Television adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt should not be shown before the 9pm watershed, according to Scotland's public health minister.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-17414707</ref>
===US Researchers - Alcohol in films===
The results suggest that family focused interventions would have a larger impact on alcohol onset while limiting media and marketing exposure could help prevent both onset and progression.<ref>http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000543</ref>
===Australian government - 'junk' food===
Greens leader Bob Brown introduced a private members bill last Monday to ban junk food advertising during children’s television viewing times of 6-9 am and 4-9 pm on weekdays, as recommended by the Obesity Policy Coalition.<ref>http://theconversation.edu.au/plain-packaging-wraps-up-a-big-year-for-health-legislation-in-2011-4418</ref>
===[[British Medical Association|BMA]] - alcohol advertising===
There should be a ban on all alcohol advertising, including sports and music sponsorship, doctors say.

The British Medical Association said the crackdown on marketing was needed, along with an end to cut-price deals, to stop rising rates of consumption.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8242385.stm</ref>
===Howard Stoate (Dartford, Labour, UK) - alcohol advertising===
The only sure way to tackle the problem is removing the alcohol industry's ability to target young people in that way. Banning alcohol advertising and sponsorship from events that are attended by children and young people, or watched by them on TV, is one way to enable young people to develop a healthier relationship with alcohol.<ref>http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2010-03-10a.324.0</ref>

==Gory Pictures/Warning Labels==
Gory pictures on packets are supposed to deter (potential) smokers. Typically the medical type photographs show nothing that smoking could have caused (perfectly white teeth affected by dental caries, totally blackened lungs when we know smokers lungs are used for transplants, etc.) Warnings usually go ignored.

===[[BMA]]/Doctors - Sweets - June 2017===
{{quote|Sweet packets and other sugary food should carry warnings on them to try and improve the health of children’s teeth, doctors are suggesting.

A motion will will be discussed at the British Medical Association’s annual conference in Bournemouth this week expressing dismay at the rate of tooth decay pointing to the more than 34,000 children aged 9 and under who have had tooth extractions in the last two years. Some 18,000 of those have been in children under 5.<ref>[https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/health/bma-conference-sweets-label-health-warning/ Doctors call for sweet packets to have cigarette-style health warnings] - i News</ref>}}

===[[WCRF]] - Salt - 23 July 2012===
{{quote|Cutting back on salty foods such as bacon, bread and breakfast cereals may reduce people's risk of developing stomach cancer, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

It wants people to eat less salt and for the content of food to be labelled more clearly.

In the UK, the [[WCRF]] said one-in-seven stomach cancers would be prevented if people kept to daily guidelines.

[[CRUK|Cancer Research UK]] said this figure could be even higher<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18923994</ref>}}

Sadly, the article is also full of weasel words: "'''may''' reduce," "'''can''' lead to," "'''recommended''' daily limit," "'''could''' be avoided," with little to no evidence that a moderate amount of salt is bad for you without risking [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia hyponatremia.]

===United States - Soft drinks - 20 july 2012===
{{quote|More than 100 health organizations and municipal public health departments, along with more than two dozen scientists, have asked the U.S. surgeon general to issue a report on sugar-sweetened soft drinks – akin to the landmark 1964 report on tobacco.<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/20/news/la-heb-surgeon-general-sodas-20120720</ref>}}

===[[British Medical Association|BMA]] - Wine===
[T]he British Medical Association is currently demanding that graphic warnings be placed on wine bottles and wants – in their own words – “a complete ban on [alcohol] advertising as has been done very successfully with tobacco.” <ref>http://www.betterretailing.com/2012/03/news-2/legislation/tobacco-control-plain-packagings-potential-problems/</ref>

==[[Plain packaging|Plain Packaging]] (or [[Graphic Warnings]])==
Plain packaging is claimed to reduce the appeal of cigarettes. None of the studies (since it has not been put into practice yet) have conclusively proved that this is the case. Graphic warnings likewise are intended to reduce the appeal. Most are ignored by smokers.

=== Feminist Groups - Lads Mags - Aug 2013 ===
Unlike the Co-op (below), who merely want the magazines covered up, some want to go further with outright censorship:

{{quote|Publishers of lads mags such as Nuts and Zoo have vowed to tone down the images of scantily-clad models on their front covers.

The move follows pressure from Tesco which came under attack from feminist groups and parenting websites for making money from the publications.

Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, said it will also change its magazine displays to make sure children cannot see the front cover images.

[...]

However, feminist groups behind the Lose the Lads Mags campaign said the safeguards did not go far enough.

They said the retailer should ban the magazines completely. They will also go ahead with a series of protests outside stores on August 24. <ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2383924/Lads-mags-promise-tone-covers-Tesco-pledges-restrict-sale-controversial-publications.html Lads' mags promise to tone down front covers] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

=== Co-op supermarket - Lads Mags - Aug 2013 ===
{{quote|The Co-operative has given the publishers of 'lads' magazines' an ultimatum to cover them up in "modesty bags" or face having them removed from shelves in 4,000 stores.

Titles such as Front, Loaded, Nuts and Zoo - known for their pictures of semi-naked models - have been given until September 9 to deliver the magazines in pre-sealed bags.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/story/1121505/lads-mags-told-to-cover-up-for-co-op-shops Lads' Mags Told To Cover Up For Co-op Shops] - Sky News</ref>}}

Two of the magazines immediately refused:

{{quote|Nuts called it an "astonishing ultimatum".

Editor Dominic Smith told Newsbeat he had been "shocked" when he heard about it in the media.

[...]

He said if Co-op now removed Nuts from its shelves, it would encourage its readers to shop elsewhere.

"If we do sell a few less issues, then so be it," he said.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/23609005 Nuts magazine rejects Co-op demand for 'modesty bags'] - The BBC</ref>}}

{{quote|Zoo publisher Bauer said it had toned down its covers and would continue with that policy.

But the other magazines – which have likened the ultimatum to censorship of a free press – could now follow the lead of Nuts and Zoo. IPC has accused the Co-op of attempting to prevent shoppers from freely browsing a legal magazine that is displayed in line with Home Office guidelines.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/08/zoo-nuts-magazines-cooperative-group Lads' mags shun Co-op over cover-up demand] - The Guardian</ref>}}

=== The Lancet - food/alcohol - 25 Aug 2012 ===
{{quote|Like many other milestone tobacco-control legislations such as pictorial warnings on tobacco packets, first adopted by Canada in 2001, and workplace smoking bans, first introduced in Ireland in 2004, Australia's lead in plain packaging will inevitably be followed by many other countries. Indeed, the UK, Norway, New Zealand, Canada, India, and South Africa are already considering taking such measures. Furthermore, the valuable lessons learnt in the fight against tobacco can be taken on board '''in countering the rampant marketing of alcohol and fast food.'''<ref>[http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2961388-9/fulltext Australia's plain tobacco packaging] - The Lancet</ref>}}

=== [[Attwood, Scott-Samuel, Stothart, Munafò (2012)]] - 3 Sep 2012 ===
In a study that finds it takes longer to drink a poncy French lager if you put it in a straight glass than it would if it was either lager or a soft drink in a fluted glass, they discuss the current state of affairs in the UK with regard to the variety of glasses available in pubs in which drinks may be served:
{{quote|There may be other potentially modifiable factors which may influence alcohol consumption and drinking rate. These might include marketing signals (i.e., branding), and vehicles for these signals such as the glasses from which beverages are consumed. '''Legislation to control or limit these signals may therefore influence drinking behaviour. A parallel can be drawn with the tobacco control literature, where plain packaging has been shown to increase visual attention towards health warnings compared with branded packaging in non-smokers and light smokers'''<ref name="plos">[http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043007 Glass Shape Influences Consumption Rate for Alcoholic Beverages] - PLoS ONE</ref> }}

=== UK Government - food/alcohol - June 2012 ===
{{quote|'''There are no plans to extend proposals for plain packaging from tobacco to so-called unhealthy foods, the UK Government has told FoodProductionDaily.com'''

The Department of Health has rejected fears raised by a coalition of packaging companies that plans under consideration to oblige cigarette manufacturers to remove all branding from cartons except the name of the product and a health warning, could lead to the imposition of similar measures on high-fat or sugar-ladened foods.<ref>http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Packaging/No-plain-food-packaging-plans-says-UK-but-what-about-alcohol</ref>}} But as the article points out, it specifically doesn't include alcohol in their statement.

What the article doesn't point out, however, is the obvious:
{{quote|As anyone who is familiar with the jargon of politics knows, 'we have no plans' is very different from 'we will not'.<ref>http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/how-very-reassuring.html</ref>}}

=== South African Dental Association - Alcohol - May 21 2012 ===
{{quote|The planned use of graphic images on cigarette packs to show the effects of tobacco should be extended to alcohol products as it is more cancerous than tobacco, says the SA Dental Association (Sada).

It said that while smoking increased the risk of people developing cancer up to five times the norm, alcohol usage elevated the risk of contracting mouth cancer ninefold, making alcohol more dangerous. <ref>http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/put-graphic-images-on-alcohol-1.1301088</ref>}}

===Australian health activists - alcohol===
Health activists who believe even one alcoholic drink can cause cancer are lobbying MPs in Canberra (Jul '11) for limits on how much we consume and how much we pay for it. If they're successful in branding alcohol a carcinogen it could lead to tough restrictions similar to those applied to tobacco, including warnings on labels and laws requiring plain packaging.<ref>http://www.news.com.au/national/cigs-war-won-now-cancer-campaigners-set-their-sights-on-beer/story-e6frfkw9-1226088686962#ixzz1phH30898</ref>

===UK Government - alcohol===
{{quote|Following the publication of the Government’s Alcohol Strategy, the Health Committee is to hold an inquiry examining the Government’s proposals so far as they relate to health issues, and in particular will look at:
[...]
* Plain packaging and marketing bans.<ref>http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/news/12-03-26-alcohol-torcfe/</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]
[[Category:Alcohol]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Myths]]

File:Lisa slippery slope.jpg

2025-08-01T11:48:50Z

Paul: The slippery slope is not a fallacy, it's a strategy.

== Summary ==
The slippery slope is not a fallacy, it's a strategy.

Category:Charity

2024-12-03T13:55:22Z

Paul:

This page lists all organisations that are either listed on a charity commissions website, or otherwise consider themselves a charity whether or not they legally are a charity in the country they operate.

This also includes [[FakeCharity|fake charities]].

Law of Huge Numbers

2023-09-21T09:50:39Z

Paul:

The £42.8 million<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/622113/Sovereign_Grant_accounts_16-17.pdf The Sovereign Grant and Sovereign Grant Reserve, Annual Report and Accounts 2016-17] - Gov.uk</ref> sovereign grant for 2016-17 spread among the 65,640,100<ref>[https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop United Kingdom population mid-year estimate (2016)] - Gov.uk</ref> works out as £0.65 per person, per year; the "price of a first class stamp<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40412343 Queen to receive £6m pay increase from public funds] - bbc.co.uk</ref>" cf. [[Law of Tiny Numbers]]

== Large numbers divided by other large numbers produce small numbers ==

Big numbers are used in research and headlines to create hyperbole about something, but when one looks at what they represent, then the numbers aren't actually as scary as first thought.

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Research]]

(Almost) As Bad As Smoking

2023-05-06T11:22:06Z

Paul:

Smoking is often seen as being (the most) unhealthy (thing you can do.)

However it often isn't as the following show.

== Lonliness (again) 2023 ==
{{quote|1=WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic.<ref><[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/loneliness-poses-health-risks-as-deadly-as-smoking-u-s-surgeon-general-says Loneliness poses health risks as deadly as smoking, U.S. surgeon general says] - [PBS]</ref>}}

== Living in a City (air, again) 2019 ==
{{quote|1=THE air pollution that city dwellers are exposed to is as bad for the health as smoking a packet of cigarettes a day, a shock report warns.

Breathing in fumes from traffic, planes, power plants and industry on a long-term, regular basis is causing growing numbers of urban non-smokers to develop chronic lung disease, experts say.

Just a decade of city living was found to do the same damage as 29 years of puffing on 20 cigarettes daily.<ref>[https://www.metro.news/city-living-bad-as-20-fags-a-day-scale-of-damage-caused-by-air-pollution-exposed-in-shock-report/1674505/ City living bad as 20 fags a day: Scale of damage caused by air pollution exposed in shock report] - The Metro</ref>}}

10 years of smoking == 30 years of 20-a-day - that's more like 60-a-day, not 20...

== Porn - October 2018 ==

{{quote|Pornography causes so much harm it should be treated like cigarettes and reckless driving, MPs demanded last night.

Members of the Commons women and equalities committee said porn should receive as much public funding as other major health issues.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6304743/Porn-harmful-cigarettes-treated-major-health-crisis.html Porn is as 'harmful as cigarettes' and must be treated as a major health crisis with new restrictions on social media, MPS warn] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

{{quote|The report recommended the Government should “take an evidence based approach to addressing the harms of pornography, similar to the huge investment there has been over many years in tackling road safety, or preventing public health problems caused by lawful behaviour such as smoking”.<ref>[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7557572/porn-harmful-smoking-public-health-issue/ Porn is ‘as harmful as smoking’ and must be treated as major public health issue, MPs warn] - [[The Sun]]</ref>}}

== Air - October 2018 ==

{{quote|“The world has turned the corner on tobacco. Now it must do the same for the ‘new tobacco’ – the toxic air that billions breathe every day,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general. “No one, rich or poor, can escape air pollution. It is a silent public health emergency.”

[...]

Globally, with smoking on the decline, air pollution now causes more deaths annually than tobacco. However, researchers think the harm known to be caused by air pollution, such as heart attacks and lung disease, is only “the tip of the iceberg”.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/27/air-pollution-is-the-new-tobacco-warns-who-head Air pollution is the ‘new tobacco’, warns WHO head] - [[The Guardian]]</ref>}}

== Plastic bottles - May 2018 ==

{{quote|Wayward pupils sneaking a cigarette behind the bike shed could soon be joined by another group of reprobates at a leading private school.

Brighton College has banned disposable plastic bottles and said that it would punish those caught using them in the same way as it dealt with smokers.

The ban extends to plastic straws and non-biodegradable cups and will apply to staff as well.<ref>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/brighton-colleges-plastic-ban-will-treat-disposable-bottles-like-cigarettes-mhvm86znj Pupils using plastic straws and bottles will be punished like smokers at Brighton College] - The Times</ref>}}

== Plus-size Models - August 2017 ==
{{quote|Health officials in Australia have expressed concerned over "drastically overweight" models being "glorified" on the runway.

The Australian Medical Association NSW President, Brad Frankham, told the Daily Telegraph he believes it sends a dangerous message that's as damaging as promoting models who are severely underweight.

Dr Frankhum also stated that he believes there is a "fine line" between being "confident" and promoting something he considers unhealthy.<ref>[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11898474 Health officials: Plus size models as bad as promoting smoking] - nzherald.co.nz</ref>}}

== Eggs (again) - April 2017 ==
An organisation that claims to be on the "frontlines fighting to protect farmed animals" highlights, and possibly deliberately misinterprets, some dodgy research that melds quite closely to their stated ideals:

{{quote|Because egg yolks are loaded with cholesterol, a known risk factor for coronary artery disease and heart attacks, they are as dangerous as cigarettes according to scientists.<ref>[http://www.mercyforanimals.org/heres-why-eating-1-egg-per-day-is-just-as Here’s Why Eating 1 Egg per Day Is Just as Bad as Smoking 5 Cigarettes] - Mercy for Animals</ref>}}

== Lonliness/No Friends - August 2016 ==
{{quote|Having no friends could be as deadly as smoking, researchers at Harvard University have suggested,<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/24/having-no-friends-could-be-as-deadly-as-smoking-harvard-universi/ Having no friends could be as deadly as smoking, Harvard University finds] - The Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Harvard researchers have discovered a new link between loneliness and poor health.

They found that people with fewer social connections had higher levels of fibrinogen — a protein that helps blood clots to form. Larger amounts raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

[...]

They also suggested that having 12 fewer friends had the same effect on fibrinogen levels as taking up smoking.<ref>[http://health.spectator.co.uk/loneliness-is-bad-for-your-health-now-we-are-closer-to-knowing-why/ Loneliness is bad for your health. Now we are closer to knowing why] - Spectator</ref>}}

== Sitting down (again) - 27 July 2016 ==
The Lancet put out a meta-analysis about sedentary lifestyles<ref>[http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30370-1/fulltext - Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women] - The Lancet</ref>, and the following ensued:

{{quote|Steven Ward, executive editor of UK Active, urged employers to do more to encourage workers to be more active during the working day.

He also urged workers to do all they could to find time to get moving.

“This report is showing that inactivity kills,” he said. “When we realised this about smoking we tackled it – we need to do the same about our office culture.”<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/27/office-workers-must-exercise-for-an-hour-a-day-to-counter-death/ - Office workers must exercise for an hour a day to counter death risk] - The Telegraph</ref>}}

== Incense - 26 August 2015 ==

{{quote|In the future, incense might need to carry a health warning, just like tobacco. That’s the conclusion of researchers who for the first time have compared the effects of burning incense indoors to inhaling tobacco smoke.<ref>[http://www.sciencealert.com/incense-could-be-more-harmful-than-cigarette-smoke-researchers-find Incense could be more harmful than cigarette smoke, researchers find] - Science Alert</ref>}}

== Sugar - 2014 ==
{{quote|1='Sugar is the new tobacco': Cuts to amounts hidden in food could halt obesity epidemic, claim doctors<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/sugar-new-tobacco-cuts-amounts-hidden-food-could-halt-obesity-epidemic-doctors-claim-9047785.html 'Sugar is the new tobacco': Cuts to amounts hidden in food could halt obesity epidemic, claim doctors] - The Independant</ref> }}

Maybe, but difficult to blame it since sugar consumption has declined since 1980<ref>[https://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.com/2014/11/calorie-consumption-revisited-no-3-sugar.html Calorie consumption revisited (no. 3): Sugar ] - Velvet Glove, Iron Fist</ref>...

== Sitting down - 17 Jun 2014 ==
{{quote|As several recent studies have discovered, sitting for too long can be as dangerous to health as smoking. It more than doubles your risk of diabetes and is linked with an increase in heart disease. In fact, inactivity is the fourth biggest killer of adults, according to the World Health Organisation.
<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2622916/Work-desk-Then-experts-worrying-news-Why-sitting-bad-smoking.html#ixzz34tgTK4kn Work at a desk? Then experts have worrying news... Why sitting down can be as bad for you as smoking] - Mail Online</ref>}}

Such a shame about all those people in wheelchairs who are going to die of lung cancer then...

== Indoor Suntanning - April 2014 ==
{{quote|...we show that the number of skin cancer cases due to indoor tanning is higher than the number of lung cancer cases due to smoking in the same regions..<ref>[https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/1818976 International Prevalence of Indoor Tanning] - JAMA Network</ref>}}

== Taking your kids to McDonalds - [[Chris Brewis]]; Independant member of Lincolnshire county council - 25 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|Fresh calls have been made to reintroduce compulsory cookery lessons into schools in Lincolnshire.

[...]

Following a presentation to Lincolnshire county councillors on the issue, Independent member Chris Brewis said: "I think incidents of parents taking their children into fast food outlets should be treated as a form of child abuse.

'''"We, as a council, need to tell these parents they are killing their children.'''<ref>[http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Taking-children-fast-food-outlets-form-child/story-16943421-detail/story.html Taking children to fast food outlets is form of child abuse, says Lincolnshire councillor] - This is Lincolnshire</ref>}}

== Being an omnivore - Guardian Editorial - 27 Aug 2012 ==
{{quote|Being a vegetarian can carry with it an oppressive aura of smugness, as each day being a carnivore gets a bit more like smoking – an act that is not only self-destructive but damaging the rest of the world too.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/27/in-praise-of-going-veggie In praise of … going veggie] - The Guardian</ref>}}

== Gay Marriage - 5 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|The head of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) [[Jim Wallace]] says smoking is healthier than the lifestyle that would be promoted by same-sex marriage.

[...]

"I think we're going to owe smokers a big apology when the homosexual community's own statistics for its health - which it presents when it wants more money for health - are that is has higher rates of drug-taking, of suicide, it has the life of a male reduced by up to 20 years," he told the audience.
Advertisement

"The life of smokers is reduced by something like seven to 10 years and yet we tell all our kids at school they shouldn't smoke."
<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/national/smoking-healthier-than-gay-marriage-20120905-25eca.html#ixzz25cnm20wE 'Smoking healthier than gay marriage'] - The Age</ref>}}

Naturally, Mr Wallace hasn't provided his sources for these amazing figures.

== [[E-cigs]] - 3 Sep 2012 ==
Bit of a cheat this one, since it's not directly comparing [[e-cigs]] to smoking (or anything else for that matter) - just merely scaremongering
{{quote|They are touted as a safe alternative to smoking, but electronic cigarettes could damage the lungs, latest research has found.

The devices were found to cause an immediate rise in airway resistance in the lungs - meaning less oxygen is absorbed by the blood.

On average the effect lasted for ten minutes, a report presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Vienna found.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197430/Electronic-cigarettes-damage-lungs-cause-oxygen-absorbed-blood.html Electronic cigarettes 'could damage your lungs' as they cause less oxygen to be absorbed by the blood] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

This seems to be predicated on the fact that some smokers use their lungs to draw on the [[e-cigs]] (as opposed to those who close the back of their throat and produce a partial vacuum by their mouth alone.) Something that the same people smoking cigarettes would never do with real cigarettes...

{{quote|Electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine through a vapour rather than smoke and there has been much debate over their safety.}}

No. There's been a lot of opinion spouted over their safety with no research to back up the scaremongering. Nicotine is the only active ingredient in [[e-cigs]] - a chemical that is 'safely' used in things that the pharmacological industry produce such as gum and patches. The only other constituants are water and (propylene) glycol who's safety is not in doubt<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol#Humans Propylene glycol] - Wikipedia</ref>

{{quote|To investigate, researchers from the University of Athens examined the effects on eight people who had never smoked [...]}}

Words fail.

== Email - 3 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|Scientists who attached heart rate monitors to office workers found they remained in a state of 'high alert' throughout the day if they had constant access to email.

Now University of California informatics professor Gloria Mark has given her verdict on email after running an experiment in which 13 volunteers ignored their 'you've got mail' chimes for five days.

Always connected: Scientists who attached heart rate monitors to office workers found they remained in a state of 'high alert'

Speaking to The Times about her experiment, she said: 'I had this crazy idea that people were addicted to email.

'So I started thinking, the way you can test that is if you take people away from email cold turkey. You should see symptoms of withdrawal, the same way people are addicted to alcohol or drugs.'<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2197689/How-quitting-email-good-heart-makes-productive--difficult-giving-drugs.html Quitting email is good for your heart and makes you more productive, say researchers (but it's as difficult as giving up drugs)] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

== Egg Yolks - 13 Aug 2012 ==
{{quote|LONDON, Ont. – Yolk or smoke — the first is almost as bad for you as the second, London researchers have found. But the egg lobby very much disagrees.

When it comes to raising your risk of heart attacks and strokes, eating egg yolks is nearly as bad as smoking, the Western University researchers found.

"If you are at risk of heart attack and stroke, you shouldn't eat egg yolks," said Dr. David Spence, a Robarts Research Institute scientist.<ref>[http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/13/egg-yolks-almost-as-unhealthy-as-cigarettes-study Egg Yolks Amost as Unhealthy as Cigarettes] - Toronto Sun</ref>}}

== Lack of exercise - 18 Jul 2012 ==
{{quote|A lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world, a study suggests.

The report, published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3m deaths a year.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-18876880 Inactivity 'killing as many as smoking'] - BBC</ref>}}

{{quote|If you thought kicking the cigarette habit was enough to keep you healthy, you may want to go and find your trainers.

Because failing to take enough exercise is as deadly as smoking, researchers say.

More than 90,000 lives in Britain each year from illnesses including heart disease, breast and bowel cancer and diabetes.

[...]

Researchers at Harvard estimated the number of lives lost each year because of a lack of exercise.

The study, published in The Lancet, found that worldwide it leads to one in ten deaths, or 5.3million of the 57million deaths globally.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2175127/Lack-exercise-bad-smoking-Failing-fit-causes-90-000-deaths-year.html Why being a couch potato is as bad for you as smoking] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

== Fast Food, [[Aseem Malhotra]] - 14 Apr 2012 ==
{{quote|A consultant psychiatrist friend, on his recent appointment to a new job, was so disgusted by the detrimental effect of the unchecked consumption of junk food on his patients' health that he successfully banned vending machines selling chocolates, fizzy drinks and crisps from the hospital grounds.

He wondered whether I – as a clinician – believed the consequences of eating junk food were as bad for our health as smoking cigarettes. "No, not as bad," I replied, "in many ways it's far worse!"<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/14/demonise-junk-food-sake-children We must demonise junk food for the sake of our children] - CiF, The Guardian</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]
[[Category:Food]]

Bjorn’s Beer Effect

2022-12-06T11:52:49Z

Paul:

Locally raised, and spent taxes, generally favour outcomes those paying the tax want, and less of those who think they know where best they could spend other people' money. Succinctly described thus:

{{Quote|Instead they have what I call the Bjorn’s Beer Effect. You’re in a society of 10,000 people. You know the guy who raises the local tax money and allocates that local tax money. You also know where he has a beer on a Friday night. More importantly Bjorn knows that everyone knows he collects and spends the money: and also where he has a beer on a Friday. That money is going to be rather better spent than if it travels off possibly 3,000 miles into some faceless bureaucracy.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/12/20/how-to-turn-the-united-states-into-scandinavia/?sh=78aa527a6695 How To Turn The United States Into Scandinavia] - Tim Worstall, Forbes</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Bjorn’s Beer Effect

2022-12-06T11:52:31Z

Paul:

Bjorn’s Beer Effect

2022-12-05T18:15:22Z

Paul: Created page with "{{Quote|Instead they have what I call the Bjorn’s Beer Effect. You’re in a society of 10,000 people. You know the guy who raises the local tax money and allocates that loc..."

{{Quote|Instead they have what I call the Bjorn’s Beer Effect. You’re in a society of 10,000 people. You know the guy who raises the local tax money and allocates that local tax money. You also know where he has a beer on a Friday night. More importantly Bjorn knows that everyone knows he collects and spends the money: and also where he has a beer on a Friday. That money is going to be rather better spent than if it travels off possibly 3,000 miles into some faceless bureaucracy.}}

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/12/20/how-to-turn-the-united-states-into-scandinavia/?sh=78aa527a6695

Cost of smokers

2022-06-16T15:00:43Z

Paul: /* From 6pm 27 October 2021 */

Much is made by anti-tobacco groups of the cost of smokers and smoking to the [[NHS]] (or the economy) in the UK, but such bland statements generally ignore various factors.

== "Smoking breaks" ==
First is the claim that smoking breaks cost the economy millions, or even billions<ref name="dmsick">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190911/Smokers-cost-businesses-2-1bn-year-fag-breaks-sickness.html Smokers cost businesses £2.1bn a year due to 'fag breaks' and sickness] - The Daily Mail</ref> while conveniently ignoring 'coffee breaks' that the non-smokers take.

The fact that breaks are needed/highly recommended in some jobs to remain productive seems to be ignored<ref>[http://www.hp.com/ergo/takingbreaks.html Working in comfort – Taking breaks and varying your tasks] - Hewlett Packard</ref>, as is the rather overwhelming fact that workers taking breaks (of any kind) is a matter between employer and employee, and as long as the work gets done, then there is no monetary cost:

{{quote|Workers need breaks from their work in order to remain productive and on top of their work. Whether they take a fag break or a coffee break is irrelevant – and one cannot assume that people do not indulge in work activities or discussions while smoking a cigarette or over a cup of coffee or tea. It does not cost the economy – unlike expecting people to work without taking breaks. The question is; does the work get done, not how many minutes were taken out of the day on breaks recharging the mental batteries. And just how many cigarette related fires in the workplace have there been, precisely? This is barrel scraping to the extreme, frankly.<ref>[http://www.longrider.co.uk/blog/2012/10/31/more-smoking-research/ More Smoking “Research”] - Longrider</ref>}}

== Sick days ==
Also mentioned in the referenced Daily Mail article<ref name="dmsick" /> is the claim that smokers have more sick days off than non-smokers, with reference to [[Weng, Ali & Leonardi-Bee (2012)]] - a piece of research with data of dubious provenance:
* if 3 non-smokers out of a workforce of 1000 have a sick day off, the implication to the research is that there will be about 4 smokers who have a day off. Or put another way, if sick days by smokers are costing business £1.1billion<ref name="dmsick" />, then sick days by non-smokers are costing those same businesses a similar (but obviously smaller) amount - this amount is never mentioned, but from those numbers £0.83billion would be a decent estimate.
* the researchers cherry-picked their data - it was a meta-study of 29 studies, and of those they examined they used at most 17, and at least 8, to produce individual 'findings.'

== Sickness in general ==
{{quote|This figure includes [...] and £28.8million from smoking-related sick days. <ref name="lancs">[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9334247.Cost_of_smoking_to_East_Lancashire_s_economy_calculated_as___163million/ Cost of smoking to East Lancashire's economy calculated as £163million] - Lancashire Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Sick days due to smoking related illnesses cost us £14.2m every year<ref name="plymouth">[http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Smoking-costs-Plymouth-78-2million-year/story-17756284-detail/story.html Smoking costs Plymouth £78.2million a year] - This is Plymouth</ref>}}

Largely bunkum as one commentator points out:

{{quote2|What's a smoking related sick day? Is it when you smoked too many fags the night before? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of that would be classed as a smoking related sick day would be long term absence due to multi factoral diseases that can be related to smoking. Employers tend to have sick pay schemes that are funded from the wage pot anyway. Some don't even pay sick pay. Employers make allowances for employees having time of work on the sick; you can't say that smoking related illnesses are costing them money.<ref>[http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/163-million-lets-have-fag-and-take.html 163 million? Let's have a fag and take a closer look.] - The Moose</ref>}}

{{quote2|What smoking related illnesses cause time off work? If a person truly has a smoking related illness<sup>‡</sup> that means they cannot work for a period of time it is generally a serious illness that would see them out of work permanently, usually in old age.

<sup>‡</sup>Smoking related. That's because many smoking related illnesses can't actually be pinned down to smoking and may have been the result of other factors. A smoking related illness is an illness that may have been caused by smoking.<ref>[http://allgoneballs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-cost-of-smoking-bollocks.html - More 'cost of smoking' bollocks] - It's all bollocks</ref>}}

== Littering ==

If every smoker stopped smoking tomorrow, would the ever decreasing number of bins (especially those with ashtrays in them) disappear completely?

Would thousands of people who clean the streets of litter suddenly find themselves unemployed?

Or would Blackburn and Darwin council/[[Kingdom Environmental Services]] be deprived of a further £617,000/yr of income?

{{quote|1= I fired off an FOI request to B&D council and asked exactly what they had issued ''[£75]'' fines for in the last six months.

...

* Litter – black bag = 2
* Litter – cigarette = 4113
* Litter – food = 16
* Dog fouling = 26
* Litter – other = 110
* Litter – printed material = 9
* Smoke free = 151

...

If it was just about litter, if it was only about 'taking back the streets for law abiding citizens', why would [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] also be involved in enforcing smoking bans in indoor spaces and vehicles?<ref>[[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] [https://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/kingdom-environmental-services-another.html - Another Attack on Smokers?] - The Moose blog</ref>

}}

Or £48,700/year (they get 15% of the fines, [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] keep the rest) in Flintshire

{{quote2|According to the report, a total of 4330 ''[of 4,726]'' of the ''[£75]'' fines handed out have been for people dropping cigarettes, with 296 other littering fines and 100 dog fouling fines dished out.<ref><[https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/litter-fine-company-catches-almost-13621113 Litter fine company catches almost 5,000 people in Flintshire] - Daily Post</ref>}}

== Cost to the NHS ==
Another claim is that smokers cost the NHS, and that they should pay extra for their habit. Ignoring the fact that they already do.

=== 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 ===
* Flat excise duty of £244.78 per 1000 cigarettes.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates, Updated 13 November 2020], GOV.UK [https://web.archive.org/web/20201209085821/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates archive.org]</ref>
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* Absolute minimum excise of £320.90 per 1000 cigarettes
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Actual excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax/Net'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£244.78/(1000/20)||=D2+E2||=max(F2,min)||=C2-G2||=B2+G8||=I2/A2||=I1/H2
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.90||£6.00||£6.42||£0.25||£7.75||96.89%||3117%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.90||£6.06||£6.42||£1.02||£7.48||88.01%||734%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.90||£6.13||£6.42||£1.37||£7.63||84.81%||558%
|-
| £9.50||£1.58||£7.92||£1.31||£4.90||£6.20||£6.42||£1.71||£7.79||81.95%||454%
|-
| £10.00||£1.67||£8.33||£1.38||£4.90||£6.27||£6.42||£2.06||£7.94||79.37%||385%
|-
| £11.00||£1.83||£9.17||£1.51||£4.90||£6.41||£6.42||£2.76||£8.24||74.92%||299%
|-
| £12.00||£2.00||£10.00||£1.65||£4.90||£6.55||£6.55||£3.45||£8.55||71.21%||247%
|-
| £13.00||£2.17||£10.83||£1.79||£4.90||£6.68||£6.68||£4.15||£8.85||68.08%||213%
|-
| £14.00||£2.33||£11.67||£1.93||£4.90||£6.82||£6.82||£4.85||£9.15||65.39%||189%
|-
| £15.00||£2.50||£12.50||£2.06||£4.90||£6.96||£6.96||£5.54||£9.46||63.05%||171%
|}

=== 2017/2018 ===
* Flat excise duty of £207.99 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£207.99/(1000/20)||=C2-D2-E2||=B2+D2+e2||=F2/A2
|-
| £6.00||£1.00||£5.00||£0.83||£4.16||£0.02||£5.98||99.75%
|-
| £6.50||£1.08||£5.42||£0.89||£4.16||£0.36||£6.14||94.41%
|-
| £7.00||£1.17||£5.83||£0.96||£4.16||£0.71||£6.29||89.84%
|-
| £7.50||£1.25||£6.25||£1.03||£4.16||£1.06||£6.44||85.88%
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.16||£1.41||£6.59||82.41%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.16||£1.75||£6.75||79.36%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.16||£2.10||£6.90||76.64%
|}

=== 2012/2013 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for 2012 will be<ref>[http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0730.pdf Tobacco Products Duty Rates] - HMRC</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £167.41 per 1,000 cigarettes (£3.3482 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £7.50 packet of Marlboro for example, the net cost is £2.02, Excise £4.23 and VAT £1.25 for a total tax-take of £5.48 (73%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=3.3482+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%
|-
| £5.75||£0.958||£4.792||£4.027||£0.765||£4.985||87%
|-
| £6.00||£1.000||£5.000||£4.056||£0.944||£5.056||84%
|-
| £6.25||£1.042||£5.208||£4.086||£1.122||£5.128||82%
|-
| £6.50||£1.083||£5.417||£4.115||£1.301||£5.199||80%
|-
| £6.75||£1.125||£5.625||£4.145||£1.480||£5.270||78%
|-
| £7.00||£1.167||£5.833||£4.174||£1.659||£5.341||76%
|-
| £7.25||£1.208||£6.042||£4.204||£1.838||£5.412||75%
|-
| £7.50||£1.250||£6.250||£4.233||£2.017||£5.483||73%
|-
| £7.75||£1.292||£6.458||£4.263||£2.195||£5.555||72%
|-
| £8.00||£1.333||£6.667||£4.292||£2.374||£5.626||70%
|}

=== From 6pm 27 October 2021 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for will be<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates] - HMRC Oct '21 [https://archive.ph/wip/nYcYq archive.is]</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £262.90 per 1,000 cigarettes (£5.258 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £9.75 packet of Pall Mall Shift Blue Kingsize from Tesco<ref>[https://archive.ph/Bax6T Archived Tesco website]</ref> for example, the net cost is £1.17, Excise £6.41, and VAT £1.63 for a total tax-take of £8.03 (82%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=5.258+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £9.75||£1.625||£8.125||£6.409||£1.716||£8.034||82%
|-
| £10.00||£1.667||£8.333||£6.438||£1.895||£8.105||81%
|-
| £10.50||£1.750||£8.750||£6.497||£2.253||£8.247||79%
|-
| £11.00||£1.833||£9.167||£6.556||£2.610||£8.390||76%
|-
| £12.00||£2.000||£10.000||£6.674||£3.326||£8.674||72%
|-
| £13.00||£2.167||£10.833||£6.792||£4.041||£8.959||69%
|-
| £14.00||£2.333||£11.667||£6.910||£4.756||£9.244||66%
|-
| £15.00||£2.500||£12.500||£7.028||£5.472||£9.528||64%
|}

=== Income ===
Income for 2011/12 (the year prior to these figures) were £9.5bn from Excise and £2.6bn from VAT<ref>[http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/ Tax revenue from tobacco] - Tobacco Manufacturers Association</ref> for a total of £12.1bn. Health care spending (including spending on the likes of [[Alcohol Concern]], [[ASH]], and homoeopathy<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8330749/Homeopathy-still-being-funded-on-NHS.html Homeopathy still being funded on NHS] - The Telegraph</ref>) was £121.3bn for 2011<ref>[http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2011UKbn Total Public Spending Expenditure 2011] - UK Public Spending</ref>

In 2017 <ref>[https://iea.org.uk/publications/smoking-and-the-public-purse/ Smoking and the Public Purse] - iea</ref> excise was estimated to be £10.7bn and VAT £2.1bn for a total of £12.8bn.

Note that this implied 10% total funding of the NHS from tobacco, ''does not include'' the other tax extracted from smokers (in the manner it is extracted from non-smokers) in the form of VAT on all other products, excise on other products such as fuel etc. (I explicitly don't include excise from alcohol, since there are similar arguments to tobacco that can be made for that.)

== Early death ==
Finally, there is the alleged cost to the 'tax-payer' in the form of old-aged smokers
* if people do have smoking related illnesses in old age, they are more likely to die earlier
* thus they will require less treatment
* additionally they will be drawing down less state retirement pension

However some anti-smoking rhetoric will put an early death as a detriment to the economy:

{{quote|It estimates that £47.7million is lost in output due to early deaths caused by smoking and £8.5million due to early deaths caused by [[passive smoking]].<ref name="lancs" />}}

{{quote|The output lost from early deaths is £23.3m a year<ref name="plymouth" />}}

Patent nonsense - unemployment in the UK has never been below 3% since 1971 and never been below 5% since 1975. Anyone leaving the workforce due to any reason is likely to be replaced with one of the unemployed:

[[File:Uk-unemployment-71-13.png]] <ref>[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate United Kingdom Unemployment Rate] - Trading Economics</ref>

This also ignores the fact that we do not have a duty to live as long as we can to be sponged off by the state/contribute to the economy. Any commentator coming up with a "lost" money figure is being necessarily speculative, and likely presumes that any (ex-)smoker dying "earlier" than actuarial life tables suggest has died primarily because of smoking.

Additionally Policy Exchange released [[Nash & Featherstone 2010]] which stated:
{{quote|[...]smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable mortality - over 83,000 deaths in England in 2008<sup>3</sup>[...]

[...]

[...]and also the [annual] loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers (£4.1 billion) and passive smokers (£713 million).

[...]

<sup>3</sup>NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.<ref>[[media:Cough up - march 10.pdf|Cough up: Nash & Featherstone 2010]]</ref>}}

£4.813 billion divided by 83,000 people is £57,987.95. I rather suspect that your average person who's died from "smoking related disease/illness" would not - had they lived - have contributed £58,000 '''per annum''' to the economy had they not died. Or more pertinently not smoked.

Median gross wage (for men, in full-time work, in London) in 2010 was £33,852<ref name="ons2010">[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_241497.pdf 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (SOC 2000)] - Office for National Statistics</ref>. Average gross pension income was £23,192<ref name="dwp">[http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd6/2010_11/pi_series_1011.pdfThe Pensioners’ Incomes Series 2010-11] - Department for Work and Pensions; page 20</ref>

They also, no doubt, don't bother including the other side of the fence: the people who are (ex-)smokers who live longer such as Jeanne Calment (died 122) who smoked most of her life<ref name="sun">[http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3787078/How-to-live-to-100-by-worlds-oldest-people.html How to live to 100... beer, fags and red meat] - The Sun</ref>, Buster Martin (died 104, but exact age disputed) who smoked from the age of seven<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing The strange tale of Buster Martin] - The Guardian</ref> until his death.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Cost of smokers

2022-06-16T14:59:14Z

Paul: /* From 6pm 27 October 2021 */

Much is made by anti-tobacco groups of the cost of smokers and smoking to the [[NHS]] (or the economy) in the UK, but such bland statements generally ignore various factors.

== "Smoking breaks" ==
First is the claim that smoking breaks cost the economy millions, or even billions<ref name="dmsick">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190911/Smokers-cost-businesses-2-1bn-year-fag-breaks-sickness.html Smokers cost businesses £2.1bn a year due to 'fag breaks' and sickness] - The Daily Mail</ref> while conveniently ignoring 'coffee breaks' that the non-smokers take.

The fact that breaks are needed/highly recommended in some jobs to remain productive seems to be ignored<ref>[http://www.hp.com/ergo/takingbreaks.html Working in comfort – Taking breaks and varying your tasks] - Hewlett Packard</ref>, as is the rather overwhelming fact that workers taking breaks (of any kind) is a matter between employer and employee, and as long as the work gets done, then there is no monetary cost:

{{quote|Workers need breaks from their work in order to remain productive and on top of their work. Whether they take a fag break or a coffee break is irrelevant – and one cannot assume that people do not indulge in work activities or discussions while smoking a cigarette or over a cup of coffee or tea. It does not cost the economy – unlike expecting people to work without taking breaks. The question is; does the work get done, not how many minutes were taken out of the day on breaks recharging the mental batteries. And just how many cigarette related fires in the workplace have there been, precisely? This is barrel scraping to the extreme, frankly.<ref>[http://www.longrider.co.uk/blog/2012/10/31/more-smoking-research/ More Smoking “Research”] - Longrider</ref>}}

== Sick days ==
Also mentioned in the referenced Daily Mail article<ref name="dmsick" /> is the claim that smokers have more sick days off than non-smokers, with reference to [[Weng, Ali & Leonardi-Bee (2012)]] - a piece of research with data of dubious provenance:
* if 3 non-smokers out of a workforce of 1000 have a sick day off, the implication to the research is that there will be about 4 smokers who have a day off. Or put another way, if sick days by smokers are costing business £1.1billion<ref name="dmsick" />, then sick days by non-smokers are costing those same businesses a similar (but obviously smaller) amount - this amount is never mentioned, but from those numbers £0.83billion would be a decent estimate.
* the researchers cherry-picked their data - it was a meta-study of 29 studies, and of those they examined they used at most 17, and at least 8, to produce individual 'findings.'

== Sickness in general ==
{{quote|This figure includes [...] and £28.8million from smoking-related sick days. <ref name="lancs">[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9334247.Cost_of_smoking_to_East_Lancashire_s_economy_calculated_as___163million/ Cost of smoking to East Lancashire's economy calculated as £163million] - Lancashire Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Sick days due to smoking related illnesses cost us £14.2m every year<ref name="plymouth">[http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Smoking-costs-Plymouth-78-2million-year/story-17756284-detail/story.html Smoking costs Plymouth £78.2million a year] - This is Plymouth</ref>}}

Largely bunkum as one commentator points out:

{{quote2|What's a smoking related sick day? Is it when you smoked too many fags the night before? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of that would be classed as a smoking related sick day would be long term absence due to multi factoral diseases that can be related to smoking. Employers tend to have sick pay schemes that are funded from the wage pot anyway. Some don't even pay sick pay. Employers make allowances for employees having time of work on the sick; you can't say that smoking related illnesses are costing them money.<ref>[http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/163-million-lets-have-fag-and-take.html 163 million? Let's have a fag and take a closer look.] - The Moose</ref>}}

{{quote2|What smoking related illnesses cause time off work? If a person truly has a smoking related illness<sup>‡</sup> that means they cannot work for a period of time it is generally a serious illness that would see them out of work permanently, usually in old age.

<sup>‡</sup>Smoking related. That's because many smoking related illnesses can't actually be pinned down to smoking and may have been the result of other factors. A smoking related illness is an illness that may have been caused by smoking.<ref>[http://allgoneballs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-cost-of-smoking-bollocks.html - More 'cost of smoking' bollocks] - It's all bollocks</ref>}}

== Littering ==

If every smoker stopped smoking tomorrow, would the ever decreasing number of bins (especially those with ashtrays in them) disappear completely?

Would thousands of people who clean the streets of litter suddenly find themselves unemployed?

Or would Blackburn and Darwin council/[[Kingdom Environmental Services]] be deprived of a further £617,000/yr of income?

{{quote|1= I fired off an FOI request to B&D council and asked exactly what they had issued ''[£75]'' fines for in the last six months.

...

* Litter – black bag = 2
* Litter – cigarette = 4113
* Litter – food = 16
* Dog fouling = 26
* Litter – other = 110
* Litter – printed material = 9
* Smoke free = 151

...

If it was just about litter, if it was only about 'taking back the streets for law abiding citizens', why would [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] also be involved in enforcing smoking bans in indoor spaces and vehicles?<ref>[[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] [https://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/kingdom-environmental-services-another.html - Another Attack on Smokers?] - The Moose blog</ref>

}}

Or £48,700/year (they get 15% of the fines, [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] keep the rest) in Flintshire

{{quote2|According to the report, a total of 4330 ''[of 4,726]'' of the ''[£75]'' fines handed out have been for people dropping cigarettes, with 296 other littering fines and 100 dog fouling fines dished out.<ref><[https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/litter-fine-company-catches-almost-13621113 Litter fine company catches almost 5,000 people in Flintshire] - Daily Post</ref>}}

== Cost to the NHS ==
Another claim is that smokers cost the NHS, and that they should pay extra for their habit. Ignoring the fact that they already do.

=== 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 ===
* Flat excise duty of £244.78 per 1000 cigarettes.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates, Updated 13 November 2020], GOV.UK [https://web.archive.org/web/20201209085821/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates archive.org]</ref>
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* Absolute minimum excise of £320.90 per 1000 cigarettes
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Actual excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax/Net'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£244.78/(1000/20)||=D2+E2||=max(F2,min)||=C2-G2||=B2+G8||=I2/A2||=I1/H2
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.90||£6.00||£6.42||£0.25||£7.75||96.89%||3117%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.90||£6.06||£6.42||£1.02||£7.48||88.01%||734%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.90||£6.13||£6.42||£1.37||£7.63||84.81%||558%
|-
| £9.50||£1.58||£7.92||£1.31||£4.90||£6.20||£6.42||£1.71||£7.79||81.95%||454%
|-
| £10.00||£1.67||£8.33||£1.38||£4.90||£6.27||£6.42||£2.06||£7.94||79.37%||385%
|-
| £11.00||£1.83||£9.17||£1.51||£4.90||£6.41||£6.42||£2.76||£8.24||74.92%||299%
|-
| £12.00||£2.00||£10.00||£1.65||£4.90||£6.55||£6.55||£3.45||£8.55||71.21%||247%
|-
| £13.00||£2.17||£10.83||£1.79||£4.90||£6.68||£6.68||£4.15||£8.85||68.08%||213%
|-
| £14.00||£2.33||£11.67||£1.93||£4.90||£6.82||£6.82||£4.85||£9.15||65.39%||189%
|-
| £15.00||£2.50||£12.50||£2.06||£4.90||£6.96||£6.96||£5.54||£9.46||63.05%||171%
|}

=== 2017/2018 ===
* Flat excise duty of £207.99 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£207.99/(1000/20)||=C2-D2-E2||=B2+D2+e2||=F2/A2
|-
| £6.00||£1.00||£5.00||£0.83||£4.16||£0.02||£5.98||99.75%
|-
| £6.50||£1.08||£5.42||£0.89||£4.16||£0.36||£6.14||94.41%
|-
| £7.00||£1.17||£5.83||£0.96||£4.16||£0.71||£6.29||89.84%
|-
| £7.50||£1.25||£6.25||£1.03||£4.16||£1.06||£6.44||85.88%
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.16||£1.41||£6.59||82.41%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.16||£1.75||£6.75||79.36%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.16||£2.10||£6.90||76.64%
|}

=== 2012/2013 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for 2012 will be<ref>[http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0730.pdf Tobacco Products Duty Rates] - HMRC</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £167.41 per 1,000 cigarettes (£3.3482 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £7.50 packet of Marlboro for example, the net cost is £2.02, Excise £4.23 and VAT £1.25 for a total tax-take of £5.48 (73%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=3.3482+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%
|-
| £5.75||£0.958||£4.792||£4.027||£0.765||£4.985||87%
|-
| £6.00||£1.000||£5.000||£4.056||£0.944||£5.056||84%
|-
| £6.25||£1.042||£5.208||£4.086||£1.122||£5.128||82%
|-
| £6.50||£1.083||£5.417||£4.115||£1.301||£5.199||80%
|-
| £6.75||£1.125||£5.625||£4.145||£1.480||£5.270||78%
|-
| £7.00||£1.167||£5.833||£4.174||£1.659||£5.341||76%
|-
| £7.25||£1.208||£6.042||£4.204||£1.838||£5.412||75%
|-
| £7.50||£1.250||£6.250||£4.233||£2.017||£5.483||73%
|-
| £7.75||£1.292||£6.458||£4.263||£2.195||£5.555||72%
|-
| £8.00||£1.333||£6.667||£4.292||£2.374||£5.626||70%
|}

=== From 6pm 27 October 2021 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for will be<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates] - HMRC Oct '21 [https://archive.ph/wip/nYcYq archive.is]</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £262.90 per 1,000 cigarettes (£5.258 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £9.75 packet of Pall Mall Shift Blue Kingsize from Tesco for example, the net cost is £1.17 Excise £6.41 and VAT £1.63 for a total tax-take of £8.03 (82%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=5.258+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £9.75||£1.625||£8.125||£6.409||£1.716||£8.034||82%
|-
| £10.00||£1.667||£8.333||£6.438||£1.895||£8.105||81%
|-
| £10.50||£1.750||£8.750||£6.497||£2.253||£8.247||79%
|-
| £11.00||£1.833||£9.167||£6.556||£2.610||£8.390||76%
|-
| £12.00||£2.000||£10.000||£6.674||£3.326||£8.674||72%
|-
| £13.00||£2.167||£10.833||£6.792||£4.041||£8.959||69%
|-
| £14.00||£2.333||£11.667||£6.910||£4.756||£9.244||66%
|-
| £15.00||£2.500||£12.500||£7.028||£5.472||£9.528||64%
|}

=== Income ===
Income for 2011/12 (the year prior to these figures) were £9.5bn from Excise and £2.6bn from VAT<ref>[http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/ Tax revenue from tobacco] - Tobacco Manufacturers Association</ref> for a total of £12.1bn. Health care spending (including spending on the likes of [[Alcohol Concern]], [[ASH]], and homoeopathy<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8330749/Homeopathy-still-being-funded-on-NHS.html Homeopathy still being funded on NHS] - The Telegraph</ref>) was £121.3bn for 2011<ref>[http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2011UKbn Total Public Spending Expenditure 2011] - UK Public Spending</ref>

In 2017 <ref>[https://iea.org.uk/publications/smoking-and-the-public-purse/ Smoking and the Public Purse] - iea</ref> excise was estimated to be £10.7bn and VAT £2.1bn for a total of £12.8bn.

Note that this implied 10% total funding of the NHS from tobacco, ''does not include'' the other tax extracted from smokers (in the manner it is extracted from non-smokers) in the form of VAT on all other products, excise on other products such as fuel etc. (I explicitly don't include excise from alcohol, since there are similar arguments to tobacco that can be made for that.)

== Early death ==
Finally, there is the alleged cost to the 'tax-payer' in the form of old-aged smokers
* if people do have smoking related illnesses in old age, they are more likely to die earlier
* thus they will require less treatment
* additionally they will be drawing down less state retirement pension

However some anti-smoking rhetoric will put an early death as a detriment to the economy:

{{quote|It estimates that £47.7million is lost in output due to early deaths caused by smoking and £8.5million due to early deaths caused by [[passive smoking]].<ref name="lancs" />}}

{{quote|The output lost from early deaths is £23.3m a year<ref name="plymouth" />}}

Patent nonsense - unemployment in the UK has never been below 3% since 1971 and never been below 5% since 1975. Anyone leaving the workforce due to any reason is likely to be replaced with one of the unemployed:

[[File:Uk-unemployment-71-13.png]] <ref>[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate United Kingdom Unemployment Rate] - Trading Economics</ref>

This also ignores the fact that we do not have a duty to live as long as we can to be sponged off by the state/contribute to the economy. Any commentator coming up with a "lost" money figure is being necessarily speculative, and likely presumes that any (ex-)smoker dying "earlier" than actuarial life tables suggest has died primarily because of smoking.

Additionally Policy Exchange released [[Nash & Featherstone 2010]] which stated:
{{quote|[...]smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable mortality - over 83,000 deaths in England in 2008<sup>3</sup>[...]

[...]

[...]and also the [annual] loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers (£4.1 billion) and passive smokers (£713 million).

[...]

<sup>3</sup>NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.<ref>[[media:Cough up - march 10.pdf|Cough up: Nash & Featherstone 2010]]</ref>}}

£4.813 billion divided by 83,000 people is £57,987.95. I rather suspect that your average person who's died from "smoking related disease/illness" would not - had they lived - have contributed £58,000 '''per annum''' to the economy had they not died. Or more pertinently not smoked.

Median gross wage (for men, in full-time work, in London) in 2010 was £33,852<ref name="ons2010">[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_241497.pdf 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (SOC 2000)] - Office for National Statistics</ref>. Average gross pension income was £23,192<ref name="dwp">[http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd6/2010_11/pi_series_1011.pdfThe Pensioners’ Incomes Series 2010-11] - Department for Work and Pensions; page 20</ref>

They also, no doubt, don't bother including the other side of the fence: the people who are (ex-)smokers who live longer such as Jeanne Calment (died 122) who smoked most of her life<ref name="sun">[http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3787078/How-to-live-to-100-by-worlds-oldest-people.html How to live to 100... beer, fags and red meat] - The Sun</ref>, Buster Martin (died 104, but exact age disputed) who smoked from the age of seven<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing The strange tale of Buster Martin] - The Guardian</ref> until his death.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Cost of smokers

2022-06-16T14:55:43Z

Paul: /* from 6pm 27 October 2021 */

Much is made by anti-tobacco groups of the cost of smokers and smoking to the [[NHS]] (or the economy) in the UK, but such bland statements generally ignore various factors.

== "Smoking breaks" ==
First is the claim that smoking breaks cost the economy millions, or even billions<ref name="dmsick">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190911/Smokers-cost-businesses-2-1bn-year-fag-breaks-sickness.html Smokers cost businesses £2.1bn a year due to 'fag breaks' and sickness] - The Daily Mail</ref> while conveniently ignoring 'coffee breaks' that the non-smokers take.

The fact that breaks are needed/highly recommended in some jobs to remain productive seems to be ignored<ref>[http://www.hp.com/ergo/takingbreaks.html Working in comfort – Taking breaks and varying your tasks] - Hewlett Packard</ref>, as is the rather overwhelming fact that workers taking breaks (of any kind) is a matter between employer and employee, and as long as the work gets done, then there is no monetary cost:

{{quote|Workers need breaks from their work in order to remain productive and on top of their work. Whether they take a fag break or a coffee break is irrelevant – and one cannot assume that people do not indulge in work activities or discussions while smoking a cigarette or over a cup of coffee or tea. It does not cost the economy – unlike expecting people to work without taking breaks. The question is; does the work get done, not how many minutes were taken out of the day on breaks recharging the mental batteries. And just how many cigarette related fires in the workplace have there been, precisely? This is barrel scraping to the extreme, frankly.<ref>[http://www.longrider.co.uk/blog/2012/10/31/more-smoking-research/ More Smoking “Research”] - Longrider</ref>}}

== Sick days ==
Also mentioned in the referenced Daily Mail article<ref name="dmsick" /> is the claim that smokers have more sick days off than non-smokers, with reference to [[Weng, Ali & Leonardi-Bee (2012)]] - a piece of research with data of dubious provenance:
* if 3 non-smokers out of a workforce of 1000 have a sick day off, the implication to the research is that there will be about 4 smokers who have a day off. Or put another way, if sick days by smokers are costing business £1.1billion<ref name="dmsick" />, then sick days by non-smokers are costing those same businesses a similar (but obviously smaller) amount - this amount is never mentioned, but from those numbers £0.83billion would be a decent estimate.
* the researchers cherry-picked their data - it was a meta-study of 29 studies, and of those they examined they used at most 17, and at least 8, to produce individual 'findings.'

== Sickness in general ==
{{quote|This figure includes [...] and £28.8million from smoking-related sick days. <ref name="lancs">[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9334247.Cost_of_smoking_to_East_Lancashire_s_economy_calculated_as___163million/ Cost of smoking to East Lancashire's economy calculated as £163million] - Lancashire Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Sick days due to smoking related illnesses cost us £14.2m every year<ref name="plymouth">[http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Smoking-costs-Plymouth-78-2million-year/story-17756284-detail/story.html Smoking costs Plymouth £78.2million a year] - This is Plymouth</ref>}}

Largely bunkum as one commentator points out:

{{quote2|What's a smoking related sick day? Is it when you smoked too many fags the night before? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of that would be classed as a smoking related sick day would be long term absence due to multi factoral diseases that can be related to smoking. Employers tend to have sick pay schemes that are funded from the wage pot anyway. Some don't even pay sick pay. Employers make allowances for employees having time of work on the sick; you can't say that smoking related illnesses are costing them money.<ref>[http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/163-million-lets-have-fag-and-take.html 163 million? Let's have a fag and take a closer look.] - The Moose</ref>}}

{{quote2|What smoking related illnesses cause time off work? If a person truly has a smoking related illness<sup>‡</sup> that means they cannot work for a period of time it is generally a serious illness that would see them out of work permanently, usually in old age.

<sup>‡</sup>Smoking related. That's because many smoking related illnesses can't actually be pinned down to smoking and may have been the result of other factors. A smoking related illness is an illness that may have been caused by smoking.<ref>[http://allgoneballs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-cost-of-smoking-bollocks.html - More 'cost of smoking' bollocks] - It's all bollocks</ref>}}

== Littering ==

If every smoker stopped smoking tomorrow, would the ever decreasing number of bins (especially those with ashtrays in them) disappear completely?

Would thousands of people who clean the streets of litter suddenly find themselves unemployed?

Or would Blackburn and Darwin council/[[Kingdom Environmental Services]] be deprived of a further £617,000/yr of income?

{{quote|1= I fired off an FOI request to B&D council and asked exactly what they had issued ''[£75]'' fines for in the last six months.

...

* Litter – black bag = 2
* Litter – cigarette = 4113
* Litter – food = 16
* Dog fouling = 26
* Litter – other = 110
* Litter – printed material = 9
* Smoke free = 151

...

If it was just about litter, if it was only about 'taking back the streets for law abiding citizens', why would [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] also be involved in enforcing smoking bans in indoor spaces and vehicles?<ref>[[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] [https://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/kingdom-environmental-services-another.html - Another Attack on Smokers?] - The Moose blog</ref>

}}

Or £48,700/year (they get 15% of the fines, [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] keep the rest) in Flintshire

{{quote2|According to the report, a total of 4330 ''[of 4,726]'' of the ''[£75]'' fines handed out have been for people dropping cigarettes, with 296 other littering fines and 100 dog fouling fines dished out.<ref><[https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/litter-fine-company-catches-almost-13621113 Litter fine company catches almost 5,000 people in Flintshire] - Daily Post</ref>}}

== Cost to the NHS ==
Another claim is that smokers cost the NHS, and that they should pay extra for their habit. Ignoring the fact that they already do.

=== 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 ===
* Flat excise duty of £244.78 per 1000 cigarettes.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates, Updated 13 November 2020], GOV.UK [https://web.archive.org/web/20201209085821/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates archive.org]</ref>
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* Absolute minimum excise of £320.90 per 1000 cigarettes
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Actual excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax/Net'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£244.78/(1000/20)||=D2+E2||=max(F2,min)||=C2-G2||=B2+G8||=I2/A2||=I1/H2
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.90||£6.00||£6.42||£0.25||£7.75||96.89%||3117%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.90||£6.06||£6.42||£1.02||£7.48||88.01%||734%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.90||£6.13||£6.42||£1.37||£7.63||84.81%||558%
|-
| £9.50||£1.58||£7.92||£1.31||£4.90||£6.20||£6.42||£1.71||£7.79||81.95%||454%
|-
| £10.00||£1.67||£8.33||£1.38||£4.90||£6.27||£6.42||£2.06||£7.94||79.37%||385%
|-
| £11.00||£1.83||£9.17||£1.51||£4.90||£6.41||£6.42||£2.76||£8.24||74.92%||299%
|-
| £12.00||£2.00||£10.00||£1.65||£4.90||£6.55||£6.55||£3.45||£8.55||71.21%||247%
|-
| £13.00||£2.17||£10.83||£1.79||£4.90||£6.68||£6.68||£4.15||£8.85||68.08%||213%
|-
| £14.00||£2.33||£11.67||£1.93||£4.90||£6.82||£6.82||£4.85||£9.15||65.39%||189%
|-
| £15.00||£2.50||£12.50||£2.06||£4.90||£6.96||£6.96||£5.54||£9.46||63.05%||171%
|}

=== 2017/2018 ===
* Flat excise duty of £207.99 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£207.99/(1000/20)||=C2-D2-E2||=B2+D2+e2||=F2/A2
|-
| £6.00||£1.00||£5.00||£0.83||£4.16||£0.02||£5.98||99.75%
|-
| £6.50||£1.08||£5.42||£0.89||£4.16||£0.36||£6.14||94.41%
|-
| £7.00||£1.17||£5.83||£0.96||£4.16||£0.71||£6.29||89.84%
|-
| £7.50||£1.25||£6.25||£1.03||£4.16||£1.06||£6.44||85.88%
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.16||£1.41||£6.59||82.41%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.16||£1.75||£6.75||79.36%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.16||£2.10||£6.90||76.64%
|}

=== 2012/2013 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for 2012 will be<ref>[http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0730.pdf Tobacco Products Duty Rates] - HMRC</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £167.41 per 1,000 cigarettes (£3.3482 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £7.50 packet of Marlboro for example, the net cost is £2.02, Excise £4.23 and VAT £1.25 for a total tax-take of £5.48 (73%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=3.3482+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%
|-
| £5.75||£0.958||£4.792||£4.027||£0.765||£4.985||87%
|-
| £6.00||£1.000||£5.000||£4.056||£0.944||£5.056||84%
|-
| £6.25||£1.042||£5.208||£4.086||£1.122||£5.128||82%
|-
| £6.50||£1.083||£5.417||£4.115||£1.301||£5.199||80%
|-
| £6.75||£1.125||£5.625||£4.145||£1.480||£5.270||78%
|-
| £7.00||£1.167||£5.833||£4.174||£1.659||£5.341||76%
|-
| £7.25||£1.208||£6.042||£4.204||£1.838||£5.412||75%
|-
| £7.50||£1.250||£6.250||£4.233||£2.017||£5.483||73%
|-
| £7.75||£1.292||£6.458||£4.263||£2.195||£5.555||72%
|-
| £8.00||£1.333||£6.667||£4.292||£2.374||£5.626||70%
|}

=== From 6pm 27 October 2021 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for will be<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates] - HMRC Oct '21 [https://archive.ph/wip/nYcYq archive.is]</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £262.90 per 1,000 cigarettes (£5.258 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £9.75 packet of Pall Mall Shift Blue Kingsize from Tesco for example, the net cost is £1.17 Excise £6.41 and VAT £1.63 for a total tax-take of £8.03 (82%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=5.258+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%

|}

=== Income ===
Income for 2011/12 (the year prior to these figures) were £9.5bn from Excise and £2.6bn from VAT<ref>[http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/ Tax revenue from tobacco] - Tobacco Manufacturers Association</ref> for a total of £12.1bn. Health care spending (including spending on the likes of [[Alcohol Concern]], [[ASH]], and homoeopathy<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8330749/Homeopathy-still-being-funded-on-NHS.html Homeopathy still being funded on NHS] - The Telegraph</ref>) was £121.3bn for 2011<ref>[http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2011UKbn Total Public Spending Expenditure 2011] - UK Public Spending</ref>

In 2017 <ref>[https://iea.org.uk/publications/smoking-and-the-public-purse/ Smoking and the Public Purse] - iea</ref> excise was estimated to be £10.7bn and VAT £2.1bn for a total of £12.8bn.

Note that this implied 10% total funding of the NHS from tobacco, ''does not include'' the other tax extracted from smokers (in the manner it is extracted from non-smokers) in the form of VAT on all other products, excise on other products such as fuel etc. (I explicitly don't include excise from alcohol, since there are similar arguments to tobacco that can be made for that.)

== Early death ==
Finally, there is the alleged cost to the 'tax-payer' in the form of old-aged smokers
* if people do have smoking related illnesses in old age, they are more likely to die earlier
* thus they will require less treatment
* additionally they will be drawing down less state retirement pension

However some anti-smoking rhetoric will put an early death as a detriment to the economy:

{{quote|It estimates that £47.7million is lost in output due to early deaths caused by smoking and £8.5million due to early deaths caused by [[passive smoking]].<ref name="lancs" />}}

{{quote|The output lost from early deaths is £23.3m a year<ref name="plymouth" />}}

Patent nonsense - unemployment in the UK has never been below 3% since 1971 and never been below 5% since 1975. Anyone leaving the workforce due to any reason is likely to be replaced with one of the unemployed:

[[File:Uk-unemployment-71-13.png]] <ref>[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate United Kingdom Unemployment Rate] - Trading Economics</ref>

This also ignores the fact that we do not have a duty to live as long as we can to be sponged off by the state/contribute to the economy. Any commentator coming up with a "lost" money figure is being necessarily speculative, and likely presumes that any (ex-)smoker dying "earlier" than actuarial life tables suggest has died primarily because of smoking.

Additionally Policy Exchange released [[Nash & Featherstone 2010]] which stated:
{{quote|[...]smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable mortality - over 83,000 deaths in England in 2008<sup>3</sup>[...]

[...]

[...]and also the [annual] loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers (£4.1 billion) and passive smokers (£713 million).

[...]

<sup>3</sup>NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.<ref>[[media:Cough up - march 10.pdf|Cough up: Nash & Featherstone 2010]]</ref>}}

£4.813 billion divided by 83,000 people is £57,987.95. I rather suspect that your average person who's died from "smoking related disease/illness" would not - had they lived - have contributed £58,000 '''per annum''' to the economy had they not died. Or more pertinently not smoked.

Median gross wage (for men, in full-time work, in London) in 2010 was £33,852<ref name="ons2010">[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_241497.pdf 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (SOC 2000)] - Office for National Statistics</ref>. Average gross pension income was £23,192<ref name="dwp">[http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd6/2010_11/pi_series_1011.pdfThe Pensioners’ Incomes Series 2010-11] - Department for Work and Pensions; page 20</ref>

They also, no doubt, don't bother including the other side of the fence: the people who are (ex-)smokers who live longer such as Jeanne Calment (died 122) who smoked most of her life<ref name="sun">[http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3787078/How-to-live-to-100-by-worlds-oldest-people.html How to live to 100... beer, fags and red meat] - The Sun</ref>, Buster Martin (died 104, but exact age disputed) who smoked from the age of seven<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing The strange tale of Buster Martin] - The Guardian</ref> until his death.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Cost of smokers

2022-06-16T14:54:17Z

Paul: /* from 6pm 27 October 2021 */

Much is made by anti-tobacco groups of the cost of smokers and smoking to the [[NHS]] (or the economy) in the UK, but such bland statements generally ignore various factors.

== "Smoking breaks" ==
First is the claim that smoking breaks cost the economy millions, or even billions<ref name="dmsick">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190911/Smokers-cost-businesses-2-1bn-year-fag-breaks-sickness.html Smokers cost businesses £2.1bn a year due to 'fag breaks' and sickness] - The Daily Mail</ref> while conveniently ignoring 'coffee breaks' that the non-smokers take.

The fact that breaks are needed/highly recommended in some jobs to remain productive seems to be ignored<ref>[http://www.hp.com/ergo/takingbreaks.html Working in comfort – Taking breaks and varying your tasks] - Hewlett Packard</ref>, as is the rather overwhelming fact that workers taking breaks (of any kind) is a matter between employer and employee, and as long as the work gets done, then there is no monetary cost:

{{quote|Workers need breaks from their work in order to remain productive and on top of their work. Whether they take a fag break or a coffee break is irrelevant – and one cannot assume that people do not indulge in work activities or discussions while smoking a cigarette or over a cup of coffee or tea. It does not cost the economy – unlike expecting people to work without taking breaks. The question is; does the work get done, not how many minutes were taken out of the day on breaks recharging the mental batteries. And just how many cigarette related fires in the workplace have there been, precisely? This is barrel scraping to the extreme, frankly.<ref>[http://www.longrider.co.uk/blog/2012/10/31/more-smoking-research/ More Smoking “Research”] - Longrider</ref>}}

== Sick days ==
Also mentioned in the referenced Daily Mail article<ref name="dmsick" /> is the claim that smokers have more sick days off than non-smokers, with reference to [[Weng, Ali & Leonardi-Bee (2012)]] - a piece of research with data of dubious provenance:
* if 3 non-smokers out of a workforce of 1000 have a sick day off, the implication to the research is that there will be about 4 smokers who have a day off. Or put another way, if sick days by smokers are costing business £1.1billion<ref name="dmsick" />, then sick days by non-smokers are costing those same businesses a similar (but obviously smaller) amount - this amount is never mentioned, but from those numbers £0.83billion would be a decent estimate.
* the researchers cherry-picked their data - it was a meta-study of 29 studies, and of those they examined they used at most 17, and at least 8, to produce individual 'findings.'

== Sickness in general ==
{{quote|This figure includes [...] and £28.8million from smoking-related sick days. <ref name="lancs">[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9334247.Cost_of_smoking_to_East_Lancashire_s_economy_calculated_as___163million/ Cost of smoking to East Lancashire's economy calculated as £163million] - Lancashire Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Sick days due to smoking related illnesses cost us £14.2m every year<ref name="plymouth">[http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Smoking-costs-Plymouth-78-2million-year/story-17756284-detail/story.html Smoking costs Plymouth £78.2million a year] - This is Plymouth</ref>}}

Largely bunkum as one commentator points out:

{{quote2|What's a smoking related sick day? Is it when you smoked too many fags the night before? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of that would be classed as a smoking related sick day would be long term absence due to multi factoral diseases that can be related to smoking. Employers tend to have sick pay schemes that are funded from the wage pot anyway. Some don't even pay sick pay. Employers make allowances for employees having time of work on the sick; you can't say that smoking related illnesses are costing them money.<ref>[http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/163-million-lets-have-fag-and-take.html 163 million? Let's have a fag and take a closer look.] - The Moose</ref>}}

{{quote2|What smoking related illnesses cause time off work? If a person truly has a smoking related illness<sup>‡</sup> that means they cannot work for a period of time it is generally a serious illness that would see them out of work permanently, usually in old age.

<sup>‡</sup>Smoking related. That's because many smoking related illnesses can't actually be pinned down to smoking and may have been the result of other factors. A smoking related illness is an illness that may have been caused by smoking.<ref>[http://allgoneballs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-cost-of-smoking-bollocks.html - More 'cost of smoking' bollocks] - It's all bollocks</ref>}}

== Littering ==

If every smoker stopped smoking tomorrow, would the ever decreasing number of bins (especially those with ashtrays in them) disappear completely?

Would thousands of people who clean the streets of litter suddenly find themselves unemployed?

Or would Blackburn and Darwin council/[[Kingdom Environmental Services]] be deprived of a further £617,000/yr of income?

{{quote|1= I fired off an FOI request to B&D council and asked exactly what they had issued ''[£75]'' fines for in the last six months.

...

* Litter – black bag = 2
* Litter – cigarette = 4113
* Litter – food = 16
* Dog fouling = 26
* Litter – other = 110
* Litter – printed material = 9
* Smoke free = 151

...

If it was just about litter, if it was only about 'taking back the streets for law abiding citizens', why would [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] also be involved in enforcing smoking bans in indoor spaces and vehicles?<ref>[[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] [https://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/kingdom-environmental-services-another.html - Another Attack on Smokers?] - The Moose blog</ref>

}}

Or £48,700/year (they get 15% of the fines, [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] keep the rest) in Flintshire

{{quote2|According to the report, a total of 4330 ''[of 4,726]'' of the ''[£75]'' fines handed out have been for people dropping cigarettes, with 296 other littering fines and 100 dog fouling fines dished out.<ref><[https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/litter-fine-company-catches-almost-13621113 Litter fine company catches almost 5,000 people in Flintshire] - Daily Post</ref>}}

== Cost to the NHS ==
Another claim is that smokers cost the NHS, and that they should pay extra for their habit. Ignoring the fact that they already do.

=== 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 ===
* Flat excise duty of £244.78 per 1000 cigarettes.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates, Updated 13 November 2020], GOV.UK [https://web.archive.org/web/20201209085821/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates archive.org]</ref>
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* Absolute minimum excise of £320.90 per 1000 cigarettes
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Actual excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax/Net'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£244.78/(1000/20)||=D2+E2||=max(F2,min)||=C2-G2||=B2+G8||=I2/A2||=I1/H2
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.90||£6.00||£6.42||£0.25||£7.75||96.89%||3117%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.90||£6.06||£6.42||£1.02||£7.48||88.01%||734%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.90||£6.13||£6.42||£1.37||£7.63||84.81%||558%
|-
| £9.50||£1.58||£7.92||£1.31||£4.90||£6.20||£6.42||£1.71||£7.79||81.95%||454%
|-
| £10.00||£1.67||£8.33||£1.38||£4.90||£6.27||£6.42||£2.06||£7.94||79.37%||385%
|-
| £11.00||£1.83||£9.17||£1.51||£4.90||£6.41||£6.42||£2.76||£8.24||74.92%||299%
|-
| £12.00||£2.00||£10.00||£1.65||£4.90||£6.55||£6.55||£3.45||£8.55||71.21%||247%
|-
| £13.00||£2.17||£10.83||£1.79||£4.90||£6.68||£6.68||£4.15||£8.85||68.08%||213%
|-
| £14.00||£2.33||£11.67||£1.93||£4.90||£6.82||£6.82||£4.85||£9.15||65.39%||189%
|-
| £15.00||£2.50||£12.50||£2.06||£4.90||£6.96||£6.96||£5.54||£9.46||63.05%||171%
|}

=== 2017/2018 ===
* Flat excise duty of £207.99 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£207.99/(1000/20)||=C2-D2-E2||=B2+D2+e2||=F2/A2
|-
| £6.00||£1.00||£5.00||£0.83||£4.16||£0.02||£5.98||99.75%
|-
| £6.50||£1.08||£5.42||£0.89||£4.16||£0.36||£6.14||94.41%
|-
| £7.00||£1.17||£5.83||£0.96||£4.16||£0.71||£6.29||89.84%
|-
| £7.50||£1.25||£6.25||£1.03||£4.16||£1.06||£6.44||85.88%
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.16||£1.41||£6.59||82.41%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.16||£1.75||£6.75||79.36%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.16||£2.10||£6.90||76.64%
|}

=== 2012/2013 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for 2012 will be<ref>[http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0730.pdf Tobacco Products Duty Rates] - HMRC</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £167.41 per 1,000 cigarettes (£3.3482 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £7.50 packet of Marlboro for example, the net cost is £2.02, Excise £4.23 and VAT £1.25 for a total tax-take of £5.48 (73%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=3.3482+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%
|-
| £5.75||£0.958||£4.792||£4.027||£0.765||£4.985||87%
|-
| £6.00||£1.000||£5.000||£4.056||£0.944||£5.056||84%
|-
| £6.25||£1.042||£5.208||£4.086||£1.122||£5.128||82%
|-
| £6.50||£1.083||£5.417||£4.115||£1.301||£5.199||80%
|-
| £6.75||£1.125||£5.625||£4.145||£1.480||£5.270||78%
|-
| £7.00||£1.167||£5.833||£4.174||£1.659||£5.341||76%
|-
| £7.25||£1.208||£6.042||£4.204||£1.838||£5.412||75%
|-
| £7.50||£1.250||£6.250||£4.233||£2.017||£5.483||73%
|-
| £7.75||£1.292||£6.458||£4.263||£2.195||£5.555||72%
|-
| £8.00||£1.333||£6.667||£4.292||£2.374||£5.626||70%
|}

=== from 6pm 27 October 2021 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for will be<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates] - HMRC Oct '21 [[archive.is | https://archive.ph/wip/nYcYq]]</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £262.90 per 1,000 cigarettes (£5.258 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £9.75 packet of Pall Mall Shift Blue Kingsize from Tesco for example, the net cost is £1.17 Excise £6.41 and VAT £1.63 for a total tax-take of £8.03 (82%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=5.258+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%

|}

Income for 2011/12 (the year prior to these figures) were £9.5bn from Excise and £2.6bn from VAT<ref>[http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/ Tax revenue from tobacco] - Tobacco Manufacturers Association</ref> for a total of £12.1bn. Health care spending (including spending on the likes of [[Alcohol Concern]], [[ASH]], and homoeopathy<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8330749/Homeopathy-still-being-funded-on-NHS.html Homeopathy still being funded on NHS] - The Telegraph</ref>) was £121.3bn for 2011<ref>[http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2011UKbn Total Public Spending Expenditure 2011] - UK Public Spending</ref>

In 2017 <ref>[https://iea.org.uk/publications/smoking-and-the-public-purse/ Smoking and the Public Purse] - iea</ref> excise was estimated to be £10.7bn and VAT £2.1bn for a total of £12.8bn.

Note that this implied 10% total funding of the NHS from tobacco, ''does not include'' the other tax extracted from smokers (in the manner it is extracted from non-smokers) in the form of VAT on all other products, excise on other products such as fuel etc. (I explicitly don't include excise from alcohol, since there are similar arguments to tobacco that can be made for that.)

== Early death ==
Finally, there is the alleged cost to the 'tax-payer' in the form of old-aged smokers
* if people do have smoking related illnesses in old age, they are more likely to die earlier
* thus they will require less treatment
* additionally they will be drawing down less state retirement pension

However some anti-smoking rhetoric will put an early death as a detriment to the economy:

{{quote|It estimates that £47.7million is lost in output due to early deaths caused by smoking and £8.5million due to early deaths caused by [[passive smoking]].<ref name="lancs" />}}

{{quote|The output lost from early deaths is £23.3m a year<ref name="plymouth" />}}

Patent nonsense - unemployment in the UK has never been below 3% since 1971 and never been below 5% since 1975. Anyone leaving the workforce due to any reason is likely to be replaced with one of the unemployed:

[[File:Uk-unemployment-71-13.png]] <ref>[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate United Kingdom Unemployment Rate] - Trading Economics</ref>

This also ignores the fact that we do not have a duty to live as long as we can to be sponged off by the state/contribute to the economy. Any commentator coming up with a "lost" money figure is being necessarily speculative, and likely presumes that any (ex-)smoker dying "earlier" than actuarial life tables suggest has died primarily because of smoking.

Additionally Policy Exchange released [[Nash & Featherstone 2010]] which stated:
{{quote|[...]smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable mortality - over 83,000 deaths in England in 2008<sup>3</sup>[...]

[...]

[...]and also the [annual] loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers (£4.1 billion) and passive smokers (£713 million).

[...]

<sup>3</sup>NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.<ref>[[media:Cough up - march 10.pdf|Cough up: Nash & Featherstone 2010]]</ref>}}

£4.813 billion divided by 83,000 people is £57,987.95. I rather suspect that your average person who's died from "smoking related disease/illness" would not - had they lived - have contributed £58,000 '''per annum''' to the economy had they not died. Or more pertinently not smoked.

Median gross wage (for men, in full-time work, in London) in 2010 was £33,852<ref name="ons2010">[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_241497.pdf 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (SOC 2000)] - Office for National Statistics</ref>. Average gross pension income was £23,192<ref name="dwp">[http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd6/2010_11/pi_series_1011.pdfThe Pensioners’ Incomes Series 2010-11] - Department for Work and Pensions; page 20</ref>

They also, no doubt, don't bother including the other side of the fence: the people who are (ex-)smokers who live longer such as Jeanne Calment (died 122) who smoked most of her life<ref name="sun">[http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3787078/How-to-live-to-100-by-worlds-oldest-people.html How to live to 100... beer, fags and red meat] - The Sun</ref>, Buster Martin (died 104, but exact age disputed) who smoked from the age of seven<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing The strange tale of Buster Martin] - The Guardian</ref> until his death.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Cost of smokers

2022-06-16T14:53:16Z

Paul: /* Cost to the NHS */

Much is made by anti-tobacco groups of the cost of smokers and smoking to the [[NHS]] (or the economy) in the UK, but such bland statements generally ignore various factors.

== "Smoking breaks" ==
First is the claim that smoking breaks cost the economy millions, or even billions<ref name="dmsick">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190911/Smokers-cost-businesses-2-1bn-year-fag-breaks-sickness.html Smokers cost businesses £2.1bn a year due to 'fag breaks' and sickness] - The Daily Mail</ref> while conveniently ignoring 'coffee breaks' that the non-smokers take.

The fact that breaks are needed/highly recommended in some jobs to remain productive seems to be ignored<ref>[http://www.hp.com/ergo/takingbreaks.html Working in comfort – Taking breaks and varying your tasks] - Hewlett Packard</ref>, as is the rather overwhelming fact that workers taking breaks (of any kind) is a matter between employer and employee, and as long as the work gets done, then there is no monetary cost:

{{quote|Workers need breaks from their work in order to remain productive and on top of their work. Whether they take a fag break or a coffee break is irrelevant – and one cannot assume that people do not indulge in work activities or discussions while smoking a cigarette or over a cup of coffee or tea. It does not cost the economy – unlike expecting people to work without taking breaks. The question is; does the work get done, not how many minutes were taken out of the day on breaks recharging the mental batteries. And just how many cigarette related fires in the workplace have there been, precisely? This is barrel scraping to the extreme, frankly.<ref>[http://www.longrider.co.uk/blog/2012/10/31/more-smoking-research/ More Smoking “Research”] - Longrider</ref>}}

== Sick days ==
Also mentioned in the referenced Daily Mail article<ref name="dmsick" /> is the claim that smokers have more sick days off than non-smokers, with reference to [[Weng, Ali & Leonardi-Bee (2012)]] - a piece of research with data of dubious provenance:
* if 3 non-smokers out of a workforce of 1000 have a sick day off, the implication to the research is that there will be about 4 smokers who have a day off. Or put another way, if sick days by smokers are costing business £1.1billion<ref name="dmsick" />, then sick days by non-smokers are costing those same businesses a similar (but obviously smaller) amount - this amount is never mentioned, but from those numbers £0.83billion would be a decent estimate.
* the researchers cherry-picked their data - it was a meta-study of 29 studies, and of those they examined they used at most 17, and at least 8, to produce individual 'findings.'

== Sickness in general ==
{{quote|This figure includes [...] and £28.8million from smoking-related sick days. <ref name="lancs">[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9334247.Cost_of_smoking_to_East_Lancashire_s_economy_calculated_as___163million/ Cost of smoking to East Lancashire's economy calculated as £163million] - Lancashire Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Sick days due to smoking related illnesses cost us £14.2m every year<ref name="plymouth">[http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Smoking-costs-Plymouth-78-2million-year/story-17756284-detail/story.html Smoking costs Plymouth £78.2million a year] - This is Plymouth</ref>}}

Largely bunkum as one commentator points out:

{{quote2|What's a smoking related sick day? Is it when you smoked too many fags the night before? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of that would be classed as a smoking related sick day would be long term absence due to multi factoral diseases that can be related to smoking. Employers tend to have sick pay schemes that are funded from the wage pot anyway. Some don't even pay sick pay. Employers make allowances for employees having time of work on the sick; you can't say that smoking related illnesses are costing them money.<ref>[http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/163-million-lets-have-fag-and-take.html 163 million? Let's have a fag and take a closer look.] - The Moose</ref>}}

{{quote2|What smoking related illnesses cause time off work? If a person truly has a smoking related illness<sup>‡</sup> that means they cannot work for a period of time it is generally a serious illness that would see them out of work permanently, usually in old age.

<sup>‡</sup>Smoking related. That's because many smoking related illnesses can't actually be pinned down to smoking and may have been the result of other factors. A smoking related illness is an illness that may have been caused by smoking.<ref>[http://allgoneballs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-cost-of-smoking-bollocks.html - More 'cost of smoking' bollocks] - It's all bollocks</ref>}}

== Littering ==

If every smoker stopped smoking tomorrow, would the ever decreasing number of bins (especially those with ashtrays in them) disappear completely?

Would thousands of people who clean the streets of litter suddenly find themselves unemployed?

Or would Blackburn and Darwin council/[[Kingdom Environmental Services]] be deprived of a further £617,000/yr of income?

{{quote|1= I fired off an FOI request to B&D council and asked exactly what they had issued ''[£75]'' fines for in the last six months.

...

* Litter – black bag = 2
* Litter – cigarette = 4113
* Litter – food = 16
* Dog fouling = 26
* Litter – other = 110
* Litter – printed material = 9
* Smoke free = 151

...

If it was just about litter, if it was only about 'taking back the streets for law abiding citizens', why would [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] also be involved in enforcing smoking bans in indoor spaces and vehicles?<ref>[[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] [https://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/kingdom-environmental-services-another.html - Another Attack on Smokers?] - The Moose blog</ref>

}}

Or £48,700/year (they get 15% of the fines, [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] keep the rest) in Flintshire

{{quote2|According to the report, a total of 4330 ''[of 4,726]'' of the ''[£75]'' fines handed out have been for people dropping cigarettes, with 296 other littering fines and 100 dog fouling fines dished out.<ref><[https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/litter-fine-company-catches-almost-13621113 Litter fine company catches almost 5,000 people in Flintshire] - Daily Post</ref>}}

== Cost to the NHS ==
Another claim is that smokers cost the NHS, and that they should pay extra for their habit. Ignoring the fact that they already do.

=== 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 ===
* Flat excise duty of £244.78 per 1000 cigarettes.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates, Updated 13 November 2020], GOV.UK [https://web.archive.org/web/20201209085821/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates archive.org]</ref>
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* Absolute minimum excise of £320.90 per 1000 cigarettes
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Actual excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax/Net'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£244.78/(1000/20)||=D2+E2||=max(F2,min)||=C2-G2||=B2+G8||=I2/A2||=I1/H2
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.90||£6.00||£6.42||£0.25||£7.75||96.89%||3117%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.90||£6.06||£6.42||£1.02||£7.48||88.01%||734%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.90||£6.13||£6.42||£1.37||£7.63||84.81%||558%
|-
| £9.50||£1.58||£7.92||£1.31||£4.90||£6.20||£6.42||£1.71||£7.79||81.95%||454%
|-
| £10.00||£1.67||£8.33||£1.38||£4.90||£6.27||£6.42||£2.06||£7.94||79.37%||385%
|-
| £11.00||£1.83||£9.17||£1.51||£4.90||£6.41||£6.42||£2.76||£8.24||74.92%||299%
|-
| £12.00||£2.00||£10.00||£1.65||£4.90||£6.55||£6.55||£3.45||£8.55||71.21%||247%
|-
| £13.00||£2.17||£10.83||£1.79||£4.90||£6.68||£6.68||£4.15||£8.85||68.08%||213%
|-
| £14.00||£2.33||£11.67||£1.93||£4.90||£6.82||£6.82||£4.85||£9.15||65.39%||189%
|-
| £15.00||£2.50||£12.50||£2.06||£4.90||£6.96||£6.96||£5.54||£9.46||63.05%||171%
|}

=== 2017/2018 ===
* Flat excise duty of £207.99 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£207.99/(1000/20)||=C2-D2-E2||=B2+D2+e2||=F2/A2
|-
| £6.00||£1.00||£5.00||£0.83||£4.16||£0.02||£5.98||99.75%
|-
| £6.50||£1.08||£5.42||£0.89||£4.16||£0.36||£6.14||94.41%
|-
| £7.00||£1.17||£5.83||£0.96||£4.16||£0.71||£6.29||89.84%
|-
| £7.50||£1.25||£6.25||£1.03||£4.16||£1.06||£6.44||85.88%
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.16||£1.41||£6.59||82.41%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.16||£1.75||£6.75||79.36%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.16||£2.10||£6.90||76.64%
|}

=== 2012/2013 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for 2012 will be<ref>[http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0730.pdf Tobacco Products Duty Rates] - HMRC</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £167.41 per 1,000 cigarettes (£3.3482 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £7.50 packet of Marlboro for example, the net cost is £2.02, Excise £4.23 and VAT £1.25 for a total tax-take of £5.48 (73%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=3.3482+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%
|-
| £5.75||£0.958||£4.792||£4.027||£0.765||£4.985||87%
|-
| £6.00||£1.000||£5.000||£4.056||£0.944||£5.056||84%
|-
| £6.25||£1.042||£5.208||£4.086||£1.122||£5.128||82%
|-
| £6.50||£1.083||£5.417||£4.115||£1.301||£5.199||80%
|-
| £6.75||£1.125||£5.625||£4.145||£1.480||£5.270||78%
|-
| £7.00||£1.167||£5.833||£4.174||£1.659||£5.341||76%
|-
| £7.25||£1.208||£6.042||£4.204||£1.838||£5.412||75%
|-
| £7.50||£1.250||£6.250||£4.233||£2.017||£5.483||73%
|-
| £7.75||£1.292||£6.458||£4.263||£2.195||£5.555||72%
|-
| £8.00||£1.333||£6.667||£4.292||£2.374||£5.626||70%
|}

=== from 6pm 27 October 2021 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for will be<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates] - HMRC Oct '21 [https://archive.ph/wip/nYcYq](arcive.is)</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £262.90 per 1,000 cigarettes (£5.258 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £9.75 packet of Pall Mall Shift Blue Kingsize from Tesco for example, the net cost is £1.17 Excise £6.41 and VAT £1.63 for a total tax-take of £8.03 (82%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=5.258+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%

|}

Income for 2011/12 (the year prior to these figures) were £9.5bn from Excise and £2.6bn from VAT<ref>[http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/ Tax revenue from tobacco] - Tobacco Manufacturers Association</ref> for a total of £12.1bn. Health care spending (including spending on the likes of [[Alcohol Concern]], [[ASH]], and homoeopathy<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8330749/Homeopathy-still-being-funded-on-NHS.html Homeopathy still being funded on NHS] - The Telegraph</ref>) was £121.3bn for 2011<ref>[http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2011UKbn Total Public Spending Expenditure 2011] - UK Public Spending</ref>

In 2017 <ref>[https://iea.org.uk/publications/smoking-and-the-public-purse/ Smoking and the Public Purse] - iea</ref> excise was estimated to be £10.7bn and VAT £2.1bn for a total of £12.8bn.

Note that this implied 10% total funding of the NHS from tobacco, ''does not include'' the other tax extracted from smokers (in the manner it is extracted from non-smokers) in the form of VAT on all other products, excise on other products such as fuel etc. (I explicitly don't include excise from alcohol, since there are similar arguments to tobacco that can be made for that.)

== Early death ==
Finally, there is the alleged cost to the 'tax-payer' in the form of old-aged smokers
* if people do have smoking related illnesses in old age, they are more likely to die earlier
* thus they will require less treatment
* additionally they will be drawing down less state retirement pension

However some anti-smoking rhetoric will put an early death as a detriment to the economy:

{{quote|It estimates that £47.7million is lost in output due to early deaths caused by smoking and £8.5million due to early deaths caused by [[passive smoking]].<ref name="lancs" />}}

{{quote|The output lost from early deaths is £23.3m a year<ref name="plymouth" />}}

Patent nonsense - unemployment in the UK has never been below 3% since 1971 and never been below 5% since 1975. Anyone leaving the workforce due to any reason is likely to be replaced with one of the unemployed:

[[File:Uk-unemployment-71-13.png]] <ref>[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate United Kingdom Unemployment Rate] - Trading Economics</ref>

This also ignores the fact that we do not have a duty to live as long as we can to be sponged off by the state/contribute to the economy. Any commentator coming up with a "lost" money figure is being necessarily speculative, and likely presumes that any (ex-)smoker dying "earlier" than actuarial life tables suggest has died primarily because of smoking.

Additionally Policy Exchange released [[Nash & Featherstone 2010]] which stated:
{{quote|[...]smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable mortality - over 83,000 deaths in England in 2008<sup>3</sup>[...]

[...]

[...]and also the [annual] loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers (£4.1 billion) and passive smokers (£713 million).

[...]

<sup>3</sup>NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.<ref>[[media:Cough up - march 10.pdf|Cough up: Nash & Featherstone 2010]]</ref>}}

£4.813 billion divided by 83,000 people is £57,987.95. I rather suspect that your average person who's died from "smoking related disease/illness" would not - had they lived - have contributed £58,000 '''per annum''' to the economy had they not died. Or more pertinently not smoked.

Median gross wage (for men, in full-time work, in London) in 2010 was £33,852<ref name="ons2010">[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_241497.pdf 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (SOC 2000)] - Office for National Statistics</ref>. Average gross pension income was £23,192<ref name="dwp">[http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd6/2010_11/pi_series_1011.pdfThe Pensioners’ Incomes Series 2010-11] - Department for Work and Pensions; page 20</ref>

They also, no doubt, don't bother including the other side of the fence: the people who are (ex-)smokers who live longer such as Jeanne Calment (died 122) who smoked most of her life<ref name="sun">[http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3787078/How-to-live-to-100-by-worlds-oldest-people.html How to live to 100... beer, fags and red meat] - The Sun</ref>, Buster Martin (died 104, but exact age disputed) who smoked from the age of seven<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing The strange tale of Buster Martin] - The Guardian</ref> until his death.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

(Almost) As Bad As Smoking

2021-07-16T15:08:43Z

Paul:

Smoking is often seen as being (the most) unhealthy (thing you can do.)

However it often isn't as the following show.

== Living in a City (air, again) 2019 ==
{{quote|1=THE air pollution that city dwellers are exposed to is as bad for the health as smoking a packet of cigarettes a day, a shock report warns.

Breathing in fumes from traffic, planes, power plants and industry on a long-term, regular basis is causing growing numbers of urban non-smokers to develop chronic lung disease, experts say.

Just a decade of city living was found to do the same damage as 29 years of puffing on 20 cigarettes daily.<ref>[https://www.metro.news/city-living-bad-as-20-fags-a-day-scale-of-damage-caused-by-air-pollution-exposed-in-shock-report/1674505/ City living bad as 20 fags a day: Scale of damage caused by air pollution exposed in shock report] - The Metro</ref>}}

10 years of smoking == 30 years of 20-a-day - that's more like 60-a-day, not 20...

== Porn - October 2018 ==

{{quote|Pornography causes so much harm it should be treated like cigarettes and reckless driving, MPs demanded last night.

Members of the Commons women and equalities committee said porn should receive as much public funding as other major health issues.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6304743/Porn-harmful-cigarettes-treated-major-health-crisis.html Porn is as 'harmful as cigarettes' and must be treated as a major health crisis with new restrictions on social media, MPS warn] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

{{quote|The report recommended the Government should “take an evidence based approach to addressing the harms of pornography, similar to the huge investment there has been over many years in tackling road safety, or preventing public health problems caused by lawful behaviour such as smoking”.<ref>[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7557572/porn-harmful-smoking-public-health-issue/ Porn is ‘as harmful as smoking’ and must be treated as major public health issue, MPs warn] - [[The Sun]]</ref>}}

== Air - October 2018 ==

{{quote|“The world has turned the corner on tobacco. Now it must do the same for the ‘new tobacco’ – the toxic air that billions breathe every day,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general. “No one, rich or poor, can escape air pollution. It is a silent public health emergency.”

[...]

Globally, with smoking on the decline, air pollution now causes more deaths annually than tobacco. However, researchers think the harm known to be caused by air pollution, such as heart attacks and lung disease, is only “the tip of the iceberg”.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/27/air-pollution-is-the-new-tobacco-warns-who-head Air pollution is the ‘new tobacco’, warns WHO head] - [[The Guardian]]</ref>}}

== Plastic bottles - May 2018 ==

{{quote|Wayward pupils sneaking a cigarette behind the bike shed could soon be joined by another group of reprobates at a leading private school.

Brighton College has banned disposable plastic bottles and said that it would punish those caught using them in the same way as it dealt with smokers.

The ban extends to plastic straws and non-biodegradable cups and will apply to staff as well.<ref>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/brighton-colleges-plastic-ban-will-treat-disposable-bottles-like-cigarettes-mhvm86znj Pupils using plastic straws and bottles will be punished like smokers at Brighton College] - The Times</ref>}}

== Plus-size Models - August 2017 ==
{{quote|Health officials in Australia have expressed concerned over "drastically overweight" models being "glorified" on the runway.

The Australian Medical Association NSW President, Brad Frankham, told the Daily Telegraph he believes it sends a dangerous message that's as damaging as promoting models who are severely underweight.

Dr Frankhum also stated that he believes there is a "fine line" between being "confident" and promoting something he considers unhealthy.<ref>[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11898474 Health officials: Plus size models as bad as promoting smoking] - nzherald.co.nz</ref>}}

== Eggs (again) - April 2017 ==
An organisation that claims to be on the "frontlines fighting to protect farmed animals" highlights, and possibly deliberately misinterprets, some dodgy research that melds quite closely to their stated ideals:

{{quote|Because egg yolks are loaded with cholesterol, a known risk factor for coronary artery disease and heart attacks, they are as dangerous as cigarettes according to scientists.<ref>[http://www.mercyforanimals.org/heres-why-eating-1-egg-per-day-is-just-as Here’s Why Eating 1 Egg per Day Is Just as Bad as Smoking 5 Cigarettes] - Mercy for Animals</ref>}}

== Lonliness/No Friends - August 2016 ==
{{quote|Having no friends could be as deadly as smoking, researchers at Harvard University have suggested,<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/24/having-no-friends-could-be-as-deadly-as-smoking-harvard-universi/ Having no friends could be as deadly as smoking, Harvard University finds] - The Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Harvard researchers have discovered a new link between loneliness and poor health.

They found that people with fewer social connections had higher levels of fibrinogen — a protein that helps blood clots to form. Larger amounts raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

[...]

They also suggested that having 12 fewer friends had the same effect on fibrinogen levels as taking up smoking.<ref>[http://health.spectator.co.uk/loneliness-is-bad-for-your-health-now-we-are-closer-to-knowing-why/ Loneliness is bad for your health. Now we are closer to knowing why] - Spectator</ref>}}

== Sitting down (again) - 27 July 2016 ==
The Lancet put out a meta-analysis about sedentary lifestyles<ref>[http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30370-1/fulltext - Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women] - The Lancet</ref>, and the following ensued:

{{quote|Steven Ward, executive editor of UK Active, urged employers to do more to encourage workers to be more active during the working day.

He also urged workers to do all they could to find time to get moving.

“This report is showing that inactivity kills,” he said. “When we realised this about smoking we tackled it – we need to do the same about our office culture.”<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/27/office-workers-must-exercise-for-an-hour-a-day-to-counter-death/ - Office workers must exercise for an hour a day to counter death risk] - The Telegraph</ref>}}

== Incense - 26 August 2015 ==

{{quote|In the future, incense might need to carry a health warning, just like tobacco. That’s the conclusion of researchers who for the first time have compared the effects of burning incense indoors to inhaling tobacco smoke.<ref>[http://www.sciencealert.com/incense-could-be-more-harmful-than-cigarette-smoke-researchers-find Incense could be more harmful than cigarette smoke, researchers find] - Science Alert</ref>}}

== Sugar - 2014 ==
{{quote|1='Sugar is the new tobacco': Cuts to amounts hidden in food could halt obesity epidemic, claim doctors<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/sugar-new-tobacco-cuts-amounts-hidden-food-could-halt-obesity-epidemic-doctors-claim-9047785.html 'Sugar is the new tobacco': Cuts to amounts hidden in food could halt obesity epidemic, claim doctors] - The Independant</ref> }}

Maybe, but difficult to blame it since sugar consumption has declined since 1980<ref>[https://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.com/2014/11/calorie-consumption-revisited-no-3-sugar.html Calorie consumption revisited (no. 3): Sugar ] - Velvet Glove, Iron Fist</ref>...

== Sitting down - 17 Jun 2014 ==
{{quote|As several recent studies have discovered, sitting for too long can be as dangerous to health as smoking. It more than doubles your risk of diabetes and is linked with an increase in heart disease. In fact, inactivity is the fourth biggest killer of adults, according to the World Health Organisation.
<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2622916/Work-desk-Then-experts-worrying-news-Why-sitting-bad-smoking.html#ixzz34tgTK4kn Work at a desk? Then experts have worrying news... Why sitting down can be as bad for you as smoking] - Mail Online</ref>}}

Such a shame about all those people in wheelchairs who are going to die of lung cancer then...

== Indoor Suntanning - April 2014 ==
{{quote|...we show that the number of skin cancer cases due to indoor tanning is higher than the number of lung cancer cases due to smoking in the same regions..<ref>[https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/1818976 International Prevalence of Indoor Tanning] - JAMA Network</ref>}}

== Taking your kids to McDonalds - [[Chris Brewis]]; Independant member of Lincolnshire county council - 25 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|Fresh calls have been made to reintroduce compulsory cookery lessons into schools in Lincolnshire.

[...]

Following a presentation to Lincolnshire county councillors on the issue, Independent member Chris Brewis said: "I think incidents of parents taking their children into fast food outlets should be treated as a form of child abuse.

'''"We, as a council, need to tell these parents they are killing their children.'''<ref>[http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Taking-children-fast-food-outlets-form-child/story-16943421-detail/story.html Taking children to fast food outlets is form of child abuse, says Lincolnshire councillor] - This is Lincolnshire</ref>}}

== Being an omnivore - Guardian Editorial - 27 Aug 2012 ==
{{quote|Being a vegetarian can carry with it an oppressive aura of smugness, as each day being a carnivore gets a bit more like smoking – an act that is not only self-destructive but damaging the rest of the world too.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/27/in-praise-of-going-veggie In praise of … going veggie] - The Guardian</ref>}}

== Gay Marriage - 5 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|The head of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) [[Jim Wallace]] says smoking is healthier than the lifestyle that would be promoted by same-sex marriage.

[...]

"I think we're going to owe smokers a big apology when the homosexual community's own statistics for its health - which it presents when it wants more money for health - are that is has higher rates of drug-taking, of suicide, it has the life of a male reduced by up to 20 years," he told the audience.
Advertisement

"The life of smokers is reduced by something like seven to 10 years and yet we tell all our kids at school they shouldn't smoke."
<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/national/smoking-healthier-than-gay-marriage-20120905-25eca.html#ixzz25cnm20wE 'Smoking healthier than gay marriage'] - The Age</ref>}}

Naturally, Mr Wallace hasn't provided his sources for these amazing figures.

== [[E-cigs]] - 3 Sep 2012 ==
Bit of a cheat this one, since it's not directly comparing [[e-cigs]] to smoking (or anything else for that matter) - just merely scaremongering
{{quote|They are touted as a safe alternative to smoking, but electronic cigarettes could damage the lungs, latest research has found.

The devices were found to cause an immediate rise in airway resistance in the lungs - meaning less oxygen is absorbed by the blood.

On average the effect lasted for ten minutes, a report presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Vienna found.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197430/Electronic-cigarettes-damage-lungs-cause-oxygen-absorbed-blood.html Electronic cigarettes 'could damage your lungs' as they cause less oxygen to be absorbed by the blood] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

This seems to be predicated on the fact that some smokers use their lungs to draw on the [[e-cigs]] (as opposed to those who close the back of their throat and produce a partial vacuum by their mouth alone.) Something that the same people smoking cigarettes would never do with real cigarettes...

{{quote|Electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine through a vapour rather than smoke and there has been much debate over their safety.}}

No. There's been a lot of opinion spouted over their safety with no research to back up the scaremongering. Nicotine is the only active ingredient in [[e-cigs]] - a chemical that is 'safely' used in things that the pharmacological industry produce such as gum and patches. The only other constituants are water and (propylene) glycol who's safety is not in doubt<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol#Humans Propylene glycol] - Wikipedia</ref>

{{quote|To investigate, researchers from the University of Athens examined the effects on eight people who had never smoked [...]}}

Words fail.

== Email - 3 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|Scientists who attached heart rate monitors to office workers found they remained in a state of 'high alert' throughout the day if they had constant access to email.

Now University of California informatics professor Gloria Mark has given her verdict on email after running an experiment in which 13 volunteers ignored their 'you've got mail' chimes for five days.

Always connected: Scientists who attached heart rate monitors to office workers found they remained in a state of 'high alert'

Speaking to The Times about her experiment, she said: 'I had this crazy idea that people were addicted to email.

'So I started thinking, the way you can test that is if you take people away from email cold turkey. You should see symptoms of withdrawal, the same way people are addicted to alcohol or drugs.'<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2197689/How-quitting-email-good-heart-makes-productive--difficult-giving-drugs.html Quitting email is good for your heart and makes you more productive, say researchers (but it's as difficult as giving up drugs)] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

== Egg Yolks - 13 Aug 2012 ==
{{quote|LONDON, Ont. – Yolk or smoke — the first is almost as bad for you as the second, London researchers have found. But the egg lobby very much disagrees.

When it comes to raising your risk of heart attacks and strokes, eating egg yolks is nearly as bad as smoking, the Western University researchers found.

"If you are at risk of heart attack and stroke, you shouldn't eat egg yolks," said Dr. David Spence, a Robarts Research Institute scientist.<ref>[http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/13/egg-yolks-almost-as-unhealthy-as-cigarettes-study Egg Yolks Amost as Unhealthy as Cigarettes] - Toronto Sun</ref>}}

== Lack of exercise - 18 Jul 2012 ==
{{quote|A lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world, a study suggests.

The report, published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3m deaths a year.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-18876880 Inactivity 'killing as many as smoking'] - BBC</ref>}}

{{quote|If you thought kicking the cigarette habit was enough to keep you healthy, you may want to go and find your trainers.

Because failing to take enough exercise is as deadly as smoking, researchers say.

More than 90,000 lives in Britain each year from illnesses including heart disease, breast and bowel cancer and diabetes.

[...]

Researchers at Harvard estimated the number of lives lost each year because of a lack of exercise.

The study, published in The Lancet, found that worldwide it leads to one in ten deaths, or 5.3million of the 57million deaths globally.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2175127/Lack-exercise-bad-smoking-Failing-fit-causes-90-000-deaths-year.html Why being a couch potato is as bad for you as smoking] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

== Fast Food, [[Aseem Malhotra]] - 14 Apr 2012 ==
{{quote|A consultant psychiatrist friend, on his recent appointment to a new job, was so disgusted by the detrimental effect of the unchecked consumption of junk food on his patients' health that he successfully banned vending machines selling chocolates, fizzy drinks and crisps from the hospital grounds.

He wondered whether I – as a clinician – believed the consequences of eating junk food were as bad for our health as smoking cigarettes. "No, not as bad," I replied, "in many ways it's far worse!"<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/14/demonise-junk-food-sake-children We must demonise junk food for the sake of our children] - CiF, The Guardian</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]
[[Category:Food]]

User:LinaGourgaud

2021-02-05T09:52:26Z

Paul:

Not much to write about myself really.<br>Lovely to be a part of this site.<br>I really wish Im useful in one way .<br>

Kip's Law

2020-12-29T18:27:06Z

Paul: Created page with "{{quote|1=Every advocate of central planning always — '''always''' — envisions himself as the central planner.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081021220626/http://www.k..."

{{quote|1=Every advocate of central planning always — '''always''' — envisions himself as the central planner.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081021220626/http://www.kipesquire.net/2008/08/kips-law-sighting-friends-of-the-upper-east-side-historic-districts/ Kip's Law Sighting: Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts] - Kip Equire (via archive.org)</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

Cost of smokers

2020-12-09T08:59:31Z

Paul: /* 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 */

Much is made by anti-tobacco groups of the cost of smokers and smoking to the [[NHS]] (or the economy) in the UK, but such bland statements generally ignore various factors.

== "Smoking breaks" ==
First is the claim that smoking breaks cost the economy millions, or even billions<ref name="dmsick">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190911/Smokers-cost-businesses-2-1bn-year-fag-breaks-sickness.html Smokers cost businesses £2.1bn a year due to 'fag breaks' and sickness] - The Daily Mail</ref> while conveniently ignoring 'coffee breaks' that the non-smokers take.

The fact that breaks are needed/highly recommended in some jobs to remain productive seems to be ignored<ref>[http://www.hp.com/ergo/takingbreaks.html Working in comfort – Taking breaks and varying your tasks] - Hewlett Packard</ref>, as is the rather overwhelming fact that workers taking breaks (of any kind) is a matter between employer and employee, and as long as the work gets done, then there is no monetary cost:

{{quote|Workers need breaks from their work in order to remain productive and on top of their work. Whether they take a fag break or a coffee break is irrelevant – and one cannot assume that people do not indulge in work activities or discussions while smoking a cigarette or over a cup of coffee or tea. It does not cost the economy – unlike expecting people to work without taking breaks. The question is; does the work get done, not how many minutes were taken out of the day on breaks recharging the mental batteries. And just how many cigarette related fires in the workplace have there been, precisely? This is barrel scraping to the extreme, frankly.<ref>[http://www.longrider.co.uk/blog/2012/10/31/more-smoking-research/ More Smoking “Research”] - Longrider</ref>}}

== Sick days ==
Also mentioned in the referenced Daily Mail article<ref name="dmsick" /> is the claim that smokers have more sick days off than non-smokers, with reference to [[Weng, Ali & Leonardi-Bee (2012)]] - a piece of research with data of dubious provenance:
* if 3 non-smokers out of a workforce of 1000 have a sick day off, the implication to the research is that there will be about 4 smokers who have a day off. Or put another way, if sick days by smokers are costing business £1.1billion<ref name="dmsick" />, then sick days by non-smokers are costing those same businesses a similar (but obviously smaller) amount - this amount is never mentioned, but from those numbers £0.83billion would be a decent estimate.
* the researchers cherry-picked their data - it was a meta-study of 29 studies, and of those they examined they used at most 17, and at least 8, to produce individual 'findings.'

== Sickness in general ==
{{quote|This figure includes [...] and £28.8million from smoking-related sick days. <ref name="lancs">[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9334247.Cost_of_smoking_to_East_Lancashire_s_economy_calculated_as___163million/ Cost of smoking to East Lancashire's economy calculated as £163million] - Lancashire Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Sick days due to smoking related illnesses cost us £14.2m every year<ref name="plymouth">[http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Smoking-costs-Plymouth-78-2million-year/story-17756284-detail/story.html Smoking costs Plymouth £78.2million a year] - This is Plymouth</ref>}}

Largely bunkum as one commentator points out:

{{quote2|What's a smoking related sick day? Is it when you smoked too many fags the night before? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of that would be classed as a smoking related sick day would be long term absence due to multi factoral diseases that can be related to smoking. Employers tend to have sick pay schemes that are funded from the wage pot anyway. Some don't even pay sick pay. Employers make allowances for employees having time of work on the sick; you can't say that smoking related illnesses are costing them money.<ref>[http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/163-million-lets-have-fag-and-take.html 163 million? Let's have a fag and take a closer look.] - The Moose</ref>}}

{{quote2|What smoking related illnesses cause time off work? If a person truly has a smoking related illness<sup>‡</sup> that means they cannot work for a period of time it is generally a serious illness that would see them out of work permanently, usually in old age.

<sup>‡</sup>Smoking related. That's because many smoking related illnesses can't actually be pinned down to smoking and may have been the result of other factors. A smoking related illness is an illness that may have been caused by smoking.<ref>[http://allgoneballs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-cost-of-smoking-bollocks.html - More 'cost of smoking' bollocks] - It's all bollocks</ref>}}

== Littering ==

If every smoker stopped smoking tomorrow, would the ever decreasing number of bins (especially those with ashtrays in them) disappear completely?

Would thousands of people who clean the streets of litter suddenly find themselves unemployed?

Or would Blackburn and Darwin council/[[Kingdom Environmental Services]] be deprived of a further £617,000/yr of income?

{{quote|1= I fired off an FOI request to B&D council and asked exactly what they had issued ''[£75]'' fines for in the last six months.

...

* Litter – black bag = 2
* Litter – cigarette = 4113
* Litter – food = 16
* Dog fouling = 26
* Litter – other = 110
* Litter – printed material = 9
* Smoke free = 151

...

If it was just about litter, if it was only about 'taking back the streets for law abiding citizens', why would [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] also be involved in enforcing smoking bans in indoor spaces and vehicles?<ref>[[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] [https://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/kingdom-environmental-services-another.html - Another Attack on Smokers?] - The Moose blog</ref>

}}

Or £48,700/year (they get 15% of the fines, [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] keep the rest) in Flintshire

{{quote2|According to the report, a total of 4330 ''[of 4,726]'' of the ''[£75]'' fines handed out have been for people dropping cigarettes, with 296 other littering fines and 100 dog fouling fines dished out.<ref><[https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/litter-fine-company-catches-almost-13621113 Litter fine company catches almost 5,000 people in Flintshire] - Daily Post</ref>}}

== Cost to the NHS ==
Another claim is that smokers cost the NHS, and that they should pay extra for their habit. Ignoring the fact that they already do.

=== 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 ===
* Flat excise duty of £244.78 per 1000 cigarettes.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates Tobacco Products Duty rates, Updated 13 November 2020], GOV.UK [https://web.archive.org/web/20201209085821/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-tobacco-duty/excise-duty-tobacco-duty-rates archive.org]</ref>
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* Absolute minimum excise of £320.90 per 1000 cigarettes
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Actual excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax/Net'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£244.78/(1000/20)||=D2+E2||=max(F2,min)||=C2-G2||=B2+G8||=I2/A2||=I1/H2
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.90||£6.00||£6.42||£0.25||£7.75||96.89%||3117%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.90||£6.06||£6.42||£1.02||£7.48||88.01%||734%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.90||£6.13||£6.42||£1.37||£7.63||84.81%||558%
|-
| £9.50||£1.58||£7.92||£1.31||£4.90||£6.20||£6.42||£1.71||£7.79||81.95%||454%
|-
| £10.00||£1.67||£8.33||£1.38||£4.90||£6.27||£6.42||£2.06||£7.94||79.37%||385%
|-
| £11.00||£1.83||£9.17||£1.51||£4.90||£6.41||£6.42||£2.76||£8.24||74.92%||299%
|-
| £12.00||£2.00||£10.00||£1.65||£4.90||£6.55||£6.55||£3.45||£8.55||71.21%||247%
|-
| £13.00||£2.17||£10.83||£1.79||£4.90||£6.68||£6.68||£4.15||£8.85||68.08%||213%
|-
| £14.00||£2.33||£11.67||£1.93||£4.90||£6.82||£6.82||£4.85||£9.15||65.39%||189%
|-
| £15.00||£2.50||£12.50||£2.06||£4.90||£6.96||£6.96||£5.54||£9.46||63.05%||171%
|}

=== 2017/2018 ===
* Flat excise duty of £207.99 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£207.99/(1000/20)||=C2-D2-E2||=B2+D2+e2||=F2/A2
|-
| £6.00||£1.00||£5.00||£0.83||£4.16||£0.02||£5.98||99.75%
|-
| £6.50||£1.08||£5.42||£0.89||£4.16||£0.36||£6.14||94.41%
|-
| £7.00||£1.17||£5.83||£0.96||£4.16||£0.71||£6.29||89.84%
|-
| £7.50||£1.25||£6.25||£1.03||£4.16||£1.06||£6.44||85.88%
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.16||£1.41||£6.59||82.41%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.16||£1.75||£6.75||79.36%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.16||£2.10||£6.90||76.64%
|}

=== 2012/2013 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for 2012 will be<ref>[http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0730.pdf Tobacco Products Duty Rates] - HMRC</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £167.41 per 1,000 cigarettes (£3.3482 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £7.50 packet of Marlboro for example, the net cost is £2.02, Excise £4.23 and VAT £1.25 for a total tax-take of £5.48 (73%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=3.3482+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%
|-
| £5.75||£0.958||£4.792||£4.027||£0.765||£4.985||87%
|-
| £6.00||£1.000||£5.000||£4.056||£0.944||£5.056||84%
|-
| £6.25||£1.042||£5.208||£4.086||£1.122||£5.128||82%
|-
| £6.50||£1.083||£5.417||£4.115||£1.301||£5.199||80%
|-
| £6.75||£1.125||£5.625||£4.145||£1.480||£5.270||78%
|-
| £7.00||£1.167||£5.833||£4.174||£1.659||£5.341||76%
|-
| £7.25||£1.208||£6.042||£4.204||£1.838||£5.412||75%
|-
| £7.50||£1.250||£6.250||£4.233||£2.017||£5.483||73%
|-
| £7.75||£1.292||£6.458||£4.263||£2.195||£5.555||72%
|-
| £8.00||£1.333||£6.667||£4.292||£2.374||£5.626||70%
|}

Income for 2011/12 (the year prior to these figures) were £9.5bn from Excise and £2.6bn from VAT<ref>[http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/ Tax revenue from tobacco] - Tobacco Manufacturers Association</ref> for a total of £12.1bn. Health care spending (including spending on the likes of [[Alcohol Concern]], [[ASH]], and homoeopathy<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8330749/Homeopathy-still-being-funded-on-NHS.html Homeopathy still being funded on NHS] - The Telegraph</ref>) was £121.3bn for 2011<ref>[http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2011UKbn Total Public Spending Expenditure 2011] - UK Public Spending</ref>

In 2017 <ref>[https://iea.org.uk/publications/smoking-and-the-public-purse/ Smoking and the Public Purse] - iea</ref> excise was estimated to be £10.7bn and VAT £2.1bn for a total of £12.8bn.

Note that this implied 10% total funding of the NHS from tobacco, ''does not include'' the other tax extracted from smokers (in the manner it is extracted from non-smokers) in the form of VAT on all other products, excise on other products such as fuel etc. (I explicitly don't include excise from alcohol, since there are similar arguments to tobacco that can be made for that.)

== Early death ==
Finally, there is the alleged cost to the 'tax-payer' in the form of old-aged smokers
* if people do have smoking related illnesses in old age, they are more likely to die earlier
* thus they will require less treatment
* additionally they will be drawing down less state retirement pension

However some anti-smoking rhetoric will put an early death as a detriment to the economy:

{{quote|It estimates that £47.7million is lost in output due to early deaths caused by smoking and £8.5million due to early deaths caused by [[passive smoking]].<ref name="lancs" />}}

{{quote|The output lost from early deaths is £23.3m a year<ref name="plymouth" />}}

Patent nonsense - unemployment in the UK has never been below 3% since 1971 and never been below 5% since 1975. Anyone leaving the workforce due to any reason is likely to be replaced with one of the unemployed:

[[File:Uk-unemployment-71-13.png]] <ref>[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate United Kingdom Unemployment Rate] - Trading Economics</ref>

This also ignores the fact that we do not have a duty to live as long as we can to be sponged off by the state/contribute to the economy. Any commentator coming up with a "lost" money figure is being necessarily speculative, and likely presumes that any (ex-)smoker dying "earlier" than actuarial life tables suggest has died primarily because of smoking.

Additionally Policy Exchange released [[Nash & Featherstone 2010]] which stated:
{{quote|[...]smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable mortality - over 83,000 deaths in England in 2008<sup>3</sup>[...]

[...]

[...]and also the [annual] loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers (£4.1 billion) and passive smokers (£713 million).

[...]

<sup>3</sup>NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.<ref>[[media:Cough up - march 10.pdf|Cough up: Nash & Featherstone 2010]]</ref>}}

£4.813 billion divided by 83,000 people is £57,987.95. I rather suspect that your average person who's died from "smoking related disease/illness" would not - had they lived - have contributed £58,000 '''per annum''' to the economy had they not died. Or more pertinently not smoked.

Median gross wage (for men, in full-time work, in London) in 2010 was £33,852<ref name="ons2010">[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_241497.pdf 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (SOC 2000)] - Office for National Statistics</ref>. Average gross pension income was £23,192<ref name="dwp">[http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd6/2010_11/pi_series_1011.pdfThe Pensioners’ Incomes Series 2010-11] - Department for Work and Pensions; page 20</ref>

They also, no doubt, don't bother including the other side of the fence: the people who are (ex-)smokers who live longer such as Jeanne Calment (died 122) who smoked most of her life<ref name="sun">[http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3787078/How-to-live-to-100-by-worlds-oldest-people.html How to live to 100... beer, fags and red meat] - The Sun</ref>, Buster Martin (died 104, but exact age disputed) who smoked from the age of seven<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing The strange tale of Buster Martin] - The Guardian</ref> until his death.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Cost of smokers

2020-12-09T08:41:40Z

Paul: /* Cost to the NHS */

Much is made by anti-tobacco groups of the cost of smokers and smoking to the [[NHS]] (or the economy) in the UK, but such bland statements generally ignore various factors.

== "Smoking breaks" ==
First is the claim that smoking breaks cost the economy millions, or even billions<ref name="dmsick">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190911/Smokers-cost-businesses-2-1bn-year-fag-breaks-sickness.html Smokers cost businesses £2.1bn a year due to 'fag breaks' and sickness] - The Daily Mail</ref> while conveniently ignoring 'coffee breaks' that the non-smokers take.

The fact that breaks are needed/highly recommended in some jobs to remain productive seems to be ignored<ref>[http://www.hp.com/ergo/takingbreaks.html Working in comfort – Taking breaks and varying your tasks] - Hewlett Packard</ref>, as is the rather overwhelming fact that workers taking breaks (of any kind) is a matter between employer and employee, and as long as the work gets done, then there is no monetary cost:

{{quote|Workers need breaks from their work in order to remain productive and on top of their work. Whether they take a fag break or a coffee break is irrelevant – and one cannot assume that people do not indulge in work activities or discussions while smoking a cigarette or over a cup of coffee or tea. It does not cost the economy – unlike expecting people to work without taking breaks. The question is; does the work get done, not how many minutes were taken out of the day on breaks recharging the mental batteries. And just how many cigarette related fires in the workplace have there been, precisely? This is barrel scraping to the extreme, frankly.<ref>[http://www.longrider.co.uk/blog/2012/10/31/more-smoking-research/ More Smoking “Research”] - Longrider</ref>}}

== Sick days ==
Also mentioned in the referenced Daily Mail article<ref name="dmsick" /> is the claim that smokers have more sick days off than non-smokers, with reference to [[Weng, Ali & Leonardi-Bee (2012)]] - a piece of research with data of dubious provenance:
* if 3 non-smokers out of a workforce of 1000 have a sick day off, the implication to the research is that there will be about 4 smokers who have a day off. Or put another way, if sick days by smokers are costing business £1.1billion<ref name="dmsick" />, then sick days by non-smokers are costing those same businesses a similar (but obviously smaller) amount - this amount is never mentioned, but from those numbers £0.83billion would be a decent estimate.
* the researchers cherry-picked their data - it was a meta-study of 29 studies, and of those they examined they used at most 17, and at least 8, to produce individual 'findings.'

== Sickness in general ==
{{quote|This figure includes [...] and £28.8million from smoking-related sick days. <ref name="lancs">[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9334247.Cost_of_smoking_to_East_Lancashire_s_economy_calculated_as___163million/ Cost of smoking to East Lancashire's economy calculated as £163million] - Lancashire Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Sick days due to smoking related illnesses cost us £14.2m every year<ref name="plymouth">[http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Smoking-costs-Plymouth-78-2million-year/story-17756284-detail/story.html Smoking costs Plymouth £78.2million a year] - This is Plymouth</ref>}}

Largely bunkum as one commentator points out:

{{quote2|What's a smoking related sick day? Is it when you smoked too many fags the night before? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of that would be classed as a smoking related sick day would be long term absence due to multi factoral diseases that can be related to smoking. Employers tend to have sick pay schemes that are funded from the wage pot anyway. Some don't even pay sick pay. Employers make allowances for employees having time of work on the sick; you can't say that smoking related illnesses are costing them money.<ref>[http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/163-million-lets-have-fag-and-take.html 163 million? Let's have a fag and take a closer look.] - The Moose</ref>}}

{{quote2|What smoking related illnesses cause time off work? If a person truly has a smoking related illness<sup>‡</sup> that means they cannot work for a period of time it is generally a serious illness that would see them out of work permanently, usually in old age.

<sup>‡</sup>Smoking related. That's because many smoking related illnesses can't actually be pinned down to smoking and may have been the result of other factors. A smoking related illness is an illness that may have been caused by smoking.<ref>[http://allgoneballs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-cost-of-smoking-bollocks.html - More 'cost of smoking' bollocks] - It's all bollocks</ref>}}

== Littering ==

If every smoker stopped smoking tomorrow, would the ever decreasing number of bins (especially those with ashtrays in them) disappear completely?

Would thousands of people who clean the streets of litter suddenly find themselves unemployed?

Or would Blackburn and Darwin council/[[Kingdom Environmental Services]] be deprived of a further £617,000/yr of income?

{{quote|1= I fired off an FOI request to B&D council and asked exactly what they had issued ''[£75]'' fines for in the last six months.

...

* Litter – black bag = 2
* Litter – cigarette = 4113
* Litter – food = 16
* Dog fouling = 26
* Litter – other = 110
* Litter – printed material = 9
* Smoke free = 151

...

If it was just about litter, if it was only about 'taking back the streets for law abiding citizens', why would [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] also be involved in enforcing smoking bans in indoor spaces and vehicles?<ref>[[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] [https://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/kingdom-environmental-services-another.html - Another Attack on Smokers?] - The Moose blog</ref>

}}

Or £48,700/year (they get 15% of the fines, [[Kingdom Environmental Services|Kingdom]] keep the rest) in Flintshire

{{quote2|According to the report, a total of 4330 ''[of 4,726]'' of the ''[£75]'' fines handed out have been for people dropping cigarettes, with 296 other littering fines and 100 dog fouling fines dished out.<ref><[https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/litter-fine-company-catches-almost-13621113 Litter fine company catches almost 5,000 people in Flintshire] - Daily Post</ref>}}

== Cost to the NHS ==
Another claim is that smokers cost the NHS, and that they should pay extra for their habit. Ignoring the fact that they already do.

=== 2020/2020 from Nov 2020 ===
* Flat excise duty of £244.78 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* Absolute minimum excise of £320.90 per 1000 cigarettes
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Actual excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax/Net'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£244.78/(1000/20)||=D2+E2||=max(F2,min)||=C2-G2||=B2+G8||=I2/A2||=I1/H2
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.90||£6.00||£6.42||£0.25||£7.75||96.89%||3117%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.90||£6.06||£6.42||£1.02||£7.48||88.01%||734%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.90||£6.13||£6.42||£1.37||£7.63||84.81%||558%
|-
| £9.50||£1.58||£7.92||£1.31||£4.90||£6.20||£6.42||£1.71||£7.79||81.95%||454%
|-
| £10.00||£1.67||£8.33||£1.38||£4.90||£6.27||£6.42||£2.06||£7.94||79.37%||385%
|-
| £11.00||£1.83||£9.17||£1.51||£4.90||£6.41||£6.42||£2.76||£8.24||74.92%||299%
|-
| £12.00||£2.00||£10.00||£1.65||£4.90||£6.55||£6.55||£3.45||£8.55||71.21%||247%
|-
| £13.00||£2.17||£10.83||£1.79||£4.90||£6.68||£6.68||£4.15||£8.85||68.08%||213%
|-
| £14.00||£2.33||£11.67||£1.93||£4.90||£6.82||£6.82||£4.85||£9.15||65.39%||189%
|-
| £15.00||£2.50||£12.50||£2.06||£4.90||£6.96||£6.96||£5.54||£9.46||63.05%||171%
|}

=== 2017/2018 ===
* Flat excise duty of £207.99 per 1000 cigarettes.
* Excise rate of 16.50%
* VAT rate of 20%

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''%age excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Flat rate excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=C2*0.165||C2*£207.99/(1000/20)||=C2-D2-E2||=B2+D2+e2||=F2/A2
|-
| £6.00||£1.00||£5.00||£0.83||£4.16||£0.02||£5.98||99.75%
|-
| £6.50||£1.08||£5.42||£0.89||£4.16||£0.36||£6.14||94.41%
|-
| £7.00||£1.17||£5.83||£0.96||£4.16||£0.71||£6.29||89.84%
|-
| £7.50||£1.25||£6.25||£1.03||£4.16||£1.06||£6.44||85.88%
|-
| £8.00||£1.33||£6.67||£1.10||£4.16||£1.41||£6.59||82.41%
|-
| £8.50||£1.42||£7.08||£1.17||£4.16||£1.75||£6.75||79.36%
|-
| £9.00||£1.50||£7.50||£1.24||£4.16||£2.10||£6.90||76.64%
|}

=== 2012/2013 ===
Excise on tobacco in the UK for 2012 will be<ref>[http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0730.pdf Tobacco Products Duty Rates] - HMRC</ref> equal to 16.5% of the (pre-excise, pre-tax) retail price '''plus''' an equivalent £167.41 per 1,000 cigarettes (£3.3482 per 20.) On top of this 20% VAT is charged. On a £7.50 packet of Marlboro for example, the net cost is £2.02, Excise £4.23 and VAT £1.25 for a total tax-take of £5.48 (73%):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc VAT+Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''VAT'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Inc Excise alone'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Excise'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Net'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Total Tax'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax %age of Cost'''
|-
| Formula||=A2-A2*(100/120)||=A2-B2||=3.3482+(C2-C2*(100/116.5))||=C2-D2||=B2+D2||=F2/A2
|-
| £5.50||£0.917||£4.583||£3.997||£0.586||£4.914||89%
|-
| £5.75||£0.958||£4.792||£4.027||£0.765||£4.985||87%
|-
| £6.00||£1.000||£5.000||£4.056||£0.944||£5.056||84%
|-
| £6.25||£1.042||£5.208||£4.086||£1.122||£5.128||82%
|-
| £6.50||£1.083||£5.417||£4.115||£1.301||£5.199||80%
|-
| £6.75||£1.125||£5.625||£4.145||£1.480||£5.270||78%
|-
| £7.00||£1.167||£5.833||£4.174||£1.659||£5.341||76%
|-
| £7.25||£1.208||£6.042||£4.204||£1.838||£5.412||75%
|-
| £7.50||£1.250||£6.250||£4.233||£2.017||£5.483||73%
|-
| £7.75||£1.292||£6.458||£4.263||£2.195||£5.555||72%
|-
| £8.00||£1.333||£6.667||£4.292||£2.374||£5.626||70%
|}

Income for 2011/12 (the year prior to these figures) were £9.5bn from Excise and £2.6bn from VAT<ref>[http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publications-research/facts-figures/tax-revenue-from-tobacco/ Tax revenue from tobacco] - Tobacco Manufacturers Association</ref> for a total of £12.1bn. Health care spending (including spending on the likes of [[Alcohol Concern]], [[ASH]], and homoeopathy<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8330749/Homeopathy-still-being-funded-on-NHS.html Homeopathy still being funded on NHS] - The Telegraph</ref>) was £121.3bn for 2011<ref>[http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/total_spending_2011UKbn Total Public Spending Expenditure 2011] - UK Public Spending</ref>

In 2017 <ref>[https://iea.org.uk/publications/smoking-and-the-public-purse/ Smoking and the Public Purse] - iea</ref> excise was estimated to be £10.7bn and VAT £2.1bn for a total of £12.8bn.

Note that this implied 10% total funding of the NHS from tobacco, ''does not include'' the other tax extracted from smokers (in the manner it is extracted from non-smokers) in the form of VAT on all other products, excise on other products such as fuel etc. (I explicitly don't include excise from alcohol, since there are similar arguments to tobacco that can be made for that.)

== Early death ==
Finally, there is the alleged cost to the 'tax-payer' in the form of old-aged smokers
* if people do have smoking related illnesses in old age, they are more likely to die earlier
* thus they will require less treatment
* additionally they will be drawing down less state retirement pension

However some anti-smoking rhetoric will put an early death as a detriment to the economy:

{{quote|It estimates that £47.7million is lost in output due to early deaths caused by smoking and £8.5million due to early deaths caused by [[passive smoking]].<ref name="lancs" />}}

{{quote|The output lost from early deaths is £23.3m a year<ref name="plymouth" />}}

Patent nonsense - unemployment in the UK has never been below 3% since 1971 and never been below 5% since 1975. Anyone leaving the workforce due to any reason is likely to be replaced with one of the unemployed:

[[File:Uk-unemployment-71-13.png]] <ref>[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate United Kingdom Unemployment Rate] - Trading Economics</ref>

This also ignores the fact that we do not have a duty to live as long as we can to be sponged off by the state/contribute to the economy. Any commentator coming up with a "lost" money figure is being necessarily speculative, and likely presumes that any (ex-)smoker dying "earlier" than actuarial life tables suggest has died primarily because of smoking.

Additionally Policy Exchange released [[Nash & Featherstone 2010]] which stated:
{{quote|[...]smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable mortality - over 83,000 deaths in England in 2008<sup>3</sup>[...]

[...]

[...]and also the [annual] loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers (£4.1 billion) and passive smokers (£713 million).

[...]

<sup>3</sup>NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.<ref>[[media:Cough up - march 10.pdf|Cough up: Nash & Featherstone 2010]]</ref>}}

£4.813 billion divided by 83,000 people is £57,987.95. I rather suspect that your average person who's died from "smoking related disease/illness" would not - had they lived - have contributed £58,000 '''per annum''' to the economy had they not died. Or more pertinently not smoked.

Median gross wage (for men, in full-time work, in London) in 2010 was £33,852<ref name="ons2010">[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_241497.pdf 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (SOC 2000)] - Office for National Statistics</ref>. Average gross pension income was £23,192<ref name="dwp">[http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd6/2010_11/pi_series_1011.pdfThe Pensioners’ Incomes Series 2010-11] - Department for Work and Pensions; page 20</ref>

They also, no doubt, don't bother including the other side of the fence: the people who are (ex-)smokers who live longer such as Jeanne Calment (died 122) who smoked most of her life<ref name="sun">[http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3787078/How-to-live-to-100-by-worlds-oldest-people.html How to live to 100... beer, fags and red meat] - The Sun</ref>, Buster Martin (died 104, but exact age disputed) who smoked from the age of seven<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing The strange tale of Buster Martin] - The Guardian</ref> until his death.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Neil Ferguson

2020-10-26T12:06:04Z

Paul: Created page with "Not to be confused with Niall Ferguson. == Qualifications == * 1987 - 1990 - MA in Physics, University of Oxford <ref name="linkedin">[https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-fe..."

Not to be confused with [[Niall Ferguson]].

== Qualifications ==
* 1987 - 1990 - MA in Physics, University of Oxford <ref name="linkedin">[https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-ferguson-ab364412/ Neil Ferguson] - LinkedIn</ref>

* 1990 - 1994 - DPhil in Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford <ref name="linkedin" />

== Positions held ==

* 2007 - Present - Director, MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling, [[Imperial College London]] <ref name="linkedin" />
* 2012 - Present - Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, [[Imperial College London]] <ref name="linkedin" />
* 2014 - Present - Director, NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Modelling Methodology, [[Imperial College London]] <ref name="linkedin" />

== Background ==

Colloquially known as Professor Pantsdown
<ref>[https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/5604532/neil-ferguson-stay-home-lockdown-advice-unreliable-code/ 'IT'S A MESS' Professor Pantsdown’s ‘Stay At Home’ lockdown advice based on badly written and unreliable computer code, experts say] - The Sun</ref>
<ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/professor-pantsdown-might-done-favour-21983566 Professor Pantsdown might have done us all a favour by massaging the Staats] - The Mirror</ref>
<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/news/uk-news/covid-19-why-we-may-regret-loss-professor-lockdown-kevan-christie-2847180 Covid-19: Why we may regret loss of ‘Professor Lockdown’] - The Scotsman</ref>
, after breaking his own COVID-19 lockdown rules (only essential travel, don't go to other people's homes) in May 2020 to go and visit his married lover [[Antonia Staats]].

Better known for his inability to accurately forecast things involving his apparent area of knowledge (including COVID-19):

* 2001 - Ferguson was behind the disputed research that sparked the mass culling of eleven million sheep and cattle during the UK 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, deemed later to have been totally unnecessary <ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13299666 Mass culling for foot-and-mouth 'may be unnecessary'] - [[BBC]]</ref>. It cost the UK economy £10 billion<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1278465/neil-ferguson-coronavirus-imperial-college-london-epidemiology-sage-spt Neil Ferguson: Coronavirus response adviser's previous epidemic mistakes revealed] - [[The Express]]</ref>

* 2002 - Ferguson predicted that, by 2080, up to 150,000 people could die from exposure to BSE (mad cow disease) in beef. In the U.K., there were only 177 deaths from BSE.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/28/neil-ferguson-scientist-convinced-boris-johnson-uk-coronavirus-lockdown-criticised/ Neil Ferguson, the scientist who convinced Boris Johnson of UK coronavirus lockdown, criticised in past for flawed research] - [[The Telegraph]]</ref>

* 2005 - Ferguson predicted that up to 150 million people could be killed from bird flu. In the end, only 282 people died worldwide from the disease between 2003 and 2009.<ref name="nationalreview">[https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/professor-lockdown-modeler-resigns-in-disgrace/ ‘Professor Lockdown’ Modeler Resigns in Disgrace] - [[National Review]]</ref>

* 2009 - A UK government estimate, based on Ferguson’s advice, said a “reasonable worst-case scenario” was that the swine flu would lead to 65,000 British deaths. In the end, swine flu killed 457 people in the U.K.<ref name="nationalreview" />

* 2020 - Ferguson admitted that his Imperial College model of the COVID-19 disease, of 500,000 deaths unless an immediate lockdown was implemented, was based on undocumented, 13-year-old computer code that was intended to be used for a feared influenza pandemic, rather than a coronavirus.<ref name="nationalreview" /> Other data analysts opined that using such modelling in a private business context would get one fired.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8327641/Coronavirus-modelling-Professor-Neil-Ferguson-branded-mess-experts.html Computer code for Prof Lockdown's model which predicted 500,000 would die from Covid-19 and inspired Britain's 'Stay Home' plan is a 'mess which would get you fired in private industry' say data experts] - [[The Daily Mail]]</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:People]]

[[Category:COVID-19]]

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems

2020-07-01T11:58:02Z

Paul: Created page with "Established in 2006<ref>[https://www.shaap.org.uk/about/our-history.html Our history ] - SHAAP</ref>, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) is a tax-p..."

Established in 2006<ref>[https://www.shaap.org.uk/about/our-history.html Our history ] - [[SHAAP]]</ref>, [[Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems]] ([[SHAAP]]) is a tax-payer funded organisation (solely by grants from the Scottish Government<ref name="about">[https://www.shaap.org.uk/about.html About SHAAP] - [[SHAAP]]</ref>) which is a partnership of the Medical Royal Colleges in Scotland and the Faculty of Public Health and is based at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE)<ref name="about" />.

Since 2007<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/chasing-healthier-outcomes-1414395 Chasing healthier outcomes] - The Scotsman</ref>, they have pestered the Scottish Government for [[Minimum Pricing]] on alcohol, using the usual flawed arguments.

==References==

[[Category:Alcohol]]

SHAAP

2020-07-01T11:45:36Z

Paul: Redirected page to Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems

#REDIRECT [[Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems]]

Category:TODO

2020-05-01T18:54:20Z

Paul: Created page with "Things that need doing. Or updating. Or, more likely, starting."

Things that need doing.

Or updating.

Or, more likely, starting.

Diagonal Comparison

2020-05-01T18:53:51Z

Paul:

TODO: https://kaalvtn.blogspot.com/2013/01/b-diagonal-comparison_17.html

[[Category:TODO]]

Diagonal Comparison

2020-05-01T18:42:43Z

Paul: Created page with "TODO: https://kaalvtn.blogspot.com/2013/01/b-diagonal-comparison_17.html"

TODO: https://kaalvtn.blogspot.com/2013/01/b-diagonal-comparison_17.html

Movendi International

2020-03-27T16:32:51Z

Paul:

Formerly known as the [[Movendi International|International Order of Good Templars]]<ref>[https://movendi.ngo/about-movendi/the-movendi-way/who-we-are/the-history/ The History] - [[Movendi International]] [http://archive.is/7rlJg archive.is]</ref>, a temperance movement promoting abstinence from alcohol and drugs<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organisation_of_Good_Templars International Order of Good Templars] - Wikipedia</ref>. Presumably the name was a rebrand to make themselves more fluffy and approachable in much the same way as the [[Institute of Alcohol Studies]] ([[UK Temperance Alliance Ltd]]) and [[American Council on Alcohol Problems]] (Anti-Saloon League) did.

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Alcohol]]
[[Category:Smoking]]

[[Category:Temperance]]

Movendi International

2020-03-27T16:29:46Z

Paul: Created page with "Formerly known as the International Order of Good Templars, a temperance movement promoting abstinence from alcohol and drugs<ref>[https://en.wikiped..."

Formerly known as the [[Movendi International|International Order of Good Templars]], a temperance movement promoting abstinence from alcohol and drugs<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organisation_of_Good_Templars International Order of Good Templars] - Wikipedia</ref>. Presumably the name was a rebrand to make themselves more fluffy and approachable in much the same way as the [[Institute of Alcohol Studies]] ([[UK Temperance Alliance Ltd]]) and [[American Council on Alcohol Problems]] (Anti-Saloon League) did.

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Alcohol]]
[[Category:Smoking]]

[[Category:Temperance]]

Institute of Alcohol Studies

2020-03-27T16:20:51Z

Paul:

The Institute of Alcohol Studies is an anti-alcohol organisation, a [[Fakecharity]], and is the trading arm of another charity - the [[Alliance House Foundation]]. The latter has had numerous names in the past, later ones were changed to make the organisation seem less prudish and puritanical<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_Alliance United Kingdom Alliance] - Wikipedia</ref>:

20 July 1852 - The [[National League for the Total and Legal Suppression of Intemperance]] was formed by [[Nathaniel Card]] - a Quaker and previously a member of the [[Manchester and Salford Temperance Society]]. Rather than espouse temperance and teetotalism, they aimed for actual legislation to ban alcohol completely.

14 Feb 1853 - The name changed to the [[United Kingdom Alliance for the Suppression of the Traffic in all Intoxicating Liquors]].

1942 - The organisation became a limited company and changed its name to [[UK Temperance Alliance Ltd]]

2003 - Change of name again to [[Alliance House Foundation]]

= Complaint to [[IPSO]] =

On 30th May 2016, [[The Times]] published an article titled [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anti-drink-lobby-drew-up-official-safety-limits-zwz7m7db8 "Anti-drink lobby drew up official safety limits"] in which it claimed that

{{quote|The report to Britain’s chief medical officers, who provoked an outcry when they announced the new limit in January, did not mention that four key figures behind it were closely associated with the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS), a lobby group financed by the temperance movement.}}

The four alluded to were [[Linda Bauld]], [[Gerard Hastings]], [[Katherine Brown]] and [[Petra Meier]]. Also present were [[Ian Gilmore]] and [[Nick Sheron]], founders of the [[Alcohol Health Alliance]]<ref>[http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-institute-of-alcohol-studies-is_20.html The Institute of Alcohol Studies is officially anti-alcohol] - Velvet Glove, Iron Fist blog</ref><ref>[https://iea.org.uk/public-health-england-a-tax-funded-neo-temperance-campaign-group/ - Public Health England: a tax-funded neo-temperance campaign group] - [[IEA]]</ref>.

As a result of the paper's story, the head of [[Institute of Alcohol Studies]], [[Katherine Brown]] complained about her organisation's portrayal, claiming that

{{quote|no members of the ''[guidelines development group]'' were “anti-alcohol lobbyists”, nor do they have any links to “anti-alcohol organisations”.<ref>[https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=04923-16 04923-16 Brown v The Times] - IPSO</ref>}}

IPSO, however was having none of it and threw the complaint out, not upheld.

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Alcohol]]
[[Category:Charity]]
[[Category:Fake Charity]]
[[Category:Temperance]]

ACAP

2020-03-27T15:42:19Z

Paul: Redirected page to American Council on Alcohol Problems

#REDIRECT [[American Council on Alcohol Problems]]

American Council on Alcohol Problems

2020-03-27T15:40:15Z

Paul:

The new name of the [[American Council on Alcohol Problems|Anti-Saloon League]] as of 1948. They renamed as part of a rebranding exercise.

In March 2020, their Wikipedia page was slated for deletion because:

{{quote|1=Creation of a now-blocked single purpose promotional account/sockpuppeter. No secondary sources to establish notability<ref>[http://archive.is/IIx4P American Council on Alcohol Problems - Wikipedia] - archive.is</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Alcohol]]

[[Category:Temperance]]

American Council on Alcohol Problems

2020-03-27T15:39:45Z

Paul: Created page with "The new name of the American Council on Alcohol Problems as of 1948. They renamed as part of a rebranding exercise. In March 2020, their Wikipedia page..."

The new name of the [[Anti-Saloon League|American Council on Alcohol Problems]] as of 1948. They renamed as part of a rebranding exercise.

In March 2020, their Wikipedia page was slated for deletion because:

{{quote|1=Creation of a now-blocked single purpose promotional account/sockpuppeter. No secondary sources to establish notability<ref>[http://archive.is/IIx4P American Council on Alcohol Problems - Wikipedia] - archive.is</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Alcohol]]

[[Category:Temperance]]

Victims

2019-11-11T12:10:03Z

Paul: /* Unnamed people or groups */

== Victims of anti-smoking policies. ==
This is a list of people who have suffered from rules and restrictions put in place to prevent people from smoking, especially indoors.

Contrast with the purported victims of [[SHS]] for whom the rules were put in place with no evidence for [[SHS]] to back them up.

More [[victims]] may be found in [https://thesmokersgraveyard.wordpress.com/ The Smokers' Graveyard]

== Named individuals ==

===Jon Bird===
{{quote|1=A restaurant owner sprayed a fire extinguisher in the face of a man who refused to put out his cigarette while smoking outside the business.

The man, identified by local media as Alex Jamison, can be seen in a video which is circulating online threatening to put out the smoker’s cigarette with the small portable fire extinguisher.

When the smoker, Jon Bird, defiantly takes another drag Mr Jamison lifts the device and fires a jet of white powder straight into Mr Bird’s face.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fire-extinguisher-smoke-cigarette-video-salt-lake-city-utah-alex-jamison-jon-bird-a9118281.html Man sprays smoker in face with fire extinguisher to put out cigarette: 'You can't smoke around here'] - The Independant</ref>}}

===Beulah Toombs===
{{quote|1= A grandmother who has been smoking most of her 89 years is being kicked out of her home because she won’t quit smoking.

It’s a Housing & Urban Development section 202 home for low-income seniors, but it is privately owned. The smoking grandmother is Buelah Toombs, who prefers Dorals.

HUD, by law, cannot mandate what a private owner does, but HUD is moving ahead anyway.<ref>[https://www.housingwire.com/articles/29753-grandmother-evicted-from-hud-home-for-cigarettes Grandmother evicted from HUD home for cigarettes] - HousingWire</ref>}}

{{quote2|1= Beulah Toombs started smoking a long time ago. She isn’t sure exactly when, but she was young. Maybe it was 1935, the year Babe Ruth quit playing baseball. Or maybe 1939, the year “The Grapes of Wrath” was published. But it was definitely before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.<ref>[https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/04/20/smoking-grandma-rather-move-quit/7951293/ Smoking grandma would rather move than quit] - Cincinnati.com </ref>}}

=== Emma Martin ===
{{quote|A Gold Coast disability pensioner has allegedly been savagely beaten and kicked to the ground for smoking a cigarette in an underground carpark.

Emma Martin and her friend were in the carpark of their Southport apartment building when they were approached by fellow tenant, Rewi Borell, who argued the 36-year-old was not allowed to smoke at the location<ref>[https://www.9news.com.au/2018/11/23/20/28/southport-pensioner-assaulted-in-underground-carpark-for-smoking-cigarette Pensioner allegedly assaulted for smoking cigarette] - 9News</ref>}}

=== Eduard Assylov ===
{{quote|Eduard Assylov, a 37-year-old motor mechanic, was stabbed to death and his head, limbs and genitals chopped off with a knife.

His roommate confessed to the crime and said that had become fed up with Assylov's smoking, and had eventually 'gone berserk' when the mechanic lit up in their home. <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5202221/Non-smoker-hacks-room-mates-penis-smoking.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 Non-smoker hacks off his room-mate's penis and decapitates him because he was fed up with his cigarettes] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

===Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann===

Feeling the need to incessantly hector smokers can have dire repercussions...

{{quote|The calls come after the death of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who was allegedly punched in the head in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital after expressing concern about people smoking near the hospital entrance.

<ref name="cowra">[http://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/4928813/safety-concerns-could-see-hospital-smoking-ban-reviewed/?cs=2452 Health workers attacked and abused over hospital smoking ban] - Cowra Guardian</ref>}}

{{quote2|It is alleged Esmaili had followed Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann into the foyer of Box Hill Hospital and allegedly hit the surgeon's head from behind.

The heart surgeon told Esmaili off for smoking in the non-smoking area outside the front entrance of Box Hill Hospital.

Esmaili was visiting a patient with friends.

The court heard Esmaili had been suffering from drug withdrawals and psychiatric illness, and he did not apply for bail.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4645278/Melbourne-surgeon-dies-one-punch-attack-hospital.html 'We are devastated': Family of heart surgeon 'punched in the head when he told a man to stop smoking' outside a Melbourne hospital] - [Daily Mail]</ref>}}

===Shannon Vincel===
August 16, 2016, 46 yr old Shannon Vincel was attacked in a area popular with smokers outside the grounds of a non-smoking cancer treatment centre property late evening on Monday 15th August. She died the next day.

{{quote|Shannon Vincel, of Springfield, Mo., was hit in the head with an unidentified object as she sat on a folding chair with another person outside the hotel facility about a mile from the hospital about 9:30 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from Zion police.<ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/crime/ct-lns-zion-cancer-patient-killed-st-0818-20160817-story.html Police: Patient dies after attack outside Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion] - Chicago Tribune</ref>}}

{{quote2|I wonder why Shannon Vincel was sitting out on the street outside the Cancer Treatment Center at 10 pm at night? There was no explanation for it in any of the news reports I read, or any of the news video clips I watched. Nor any explanation for why this area was so ‘popular’ with patients.

[...]

The reporter didn’t mention smoking. But she was standing outside the Center near the spot where Shannon Vincel was murdered (above), and right behind her was a big sign that said: “Entering a smoke free campus. NO SMOKING.”

[...]

And then the penny dropped. The ‘popular area’ was where patients went to smoke and chat. Maybe she didn’t even smoke, but had gone outside to be with a smoking friend.<ref>[https://cfrankdavis.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/driven-to-her-death-by-tobacco-control/ Driven To Her Death By Tobacco Control] - Frank Davies Blog</ref>}}

===Dean George===
April 2016, 40 yr old prisoner commits suicide because jail introduces smoking ban.
{{quote|A prisoner has killed himself after allegedly being stopped from smoking in Swansea jail.

Inmate Dean George, 40, was found dead in his cell at one of eight jails trialling the "no smoking" ban on health grounds.

Prison Service chiefs are investigating his death at Swansea prison which started the smoking ban four months ago.

Other prisoners say tensions are running high over the smoking ban - and that George had threatened to kill himself.<ref>[http://www.swanseasound.co.uk/news/local/prisoner-suicide-over-smoking-ban/ Prisoner Suicide Over Smoking Ban] - swanseasound</ref>}}

===Eric Garner===
July 2015, 48 yr old Eric Garner was arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. During the arrest he was put into a chokehold, and in a video taken at the time<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-man-dies-puts-choke-hold-article-1.1871486 Staten Island man dies after NYPD cop puts him in chokehold — SEE THE VIDEO] - Daily News</ref> appeared to have his head slammed against the sidewalk. He later died as a result of his treatment by the police, prompting some to ask "Is Selling Untaxed Cigarettes Now a Capital Offense<ref name="daily-caller">[http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/22/is-selling-untaxed-cigarettes-now-a-capital-offense/ Is Selling Untaxed Cigarettes Now A Capital Offense?] - Daily Caller</ref>":
{{quote|Garner didn’t die of lung cancer or emphysema. He died during a struggle with at least five police officers as he protested repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. If the video is accurate, the officers escalated the physical confrontation rather quickly. One appeared to put Garner in a chokehold.<ref name="daily-caller" />}}

===Andy Nowicki===
April 2014, World War II veteran Andy Nowicki was at the center of a conflict over the Newington Housing Authority's newly enacted no smoking policy. Having lived there for 20 years, he was in the middle of being evicted for having the temerity to smoke in his own house, and also smoke within 10 feet of the property. He died in the middle of it all, aged 90, from a stroke<ref>[http://articles.courant.com/2014-04-29/community/hc-newington-smoker-dies-20140429_1_andy-nowicki-newington-housing-authority-janet-nowicki Vet At Center Of Newington No-Smoking Conflict Dies] - The Courant</ref>.
{{quote|Housing Authority Executive Director Melinda Harvey defended the authority Tuesday, saying Nowicki had been caught smoking in violation of the settlement and therefore had to vacate his apartment.

"He continued to not comply," Harvey said. "So we contacted Paul [Doyle] and met with him."}}

===Jonathan Brace===
April 2013, Jonathan, a 33 yr old software engineer, died because his mother forbade him to smoke in the house. Instead he sat on the window ledge of his bedroom, from which he apparently fell 20 ft hitting his head on the patio below one evening. His mother found him the following morning.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2308190 Software engineer, 33, died after falling from bedroom window...] - Daily Mail</ref>

===Lorraine Adolph===
December 2008, Lorraine, 68, - a patient at Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Canada, went out in sub-zero temperatures to have a cigarette. She was found one week later, frozen to death<ref>http://elderadvocates.ca/inquiry-for-lorraine-adolph/</ref>, 400 meters<ref>http://elderadv.posterous.com/lorraine-adolph-fatality-inquiry-half-truths</ref> from the building.
===David Arnett===
David, 12, committed suicide rather than admit to his parents he'd been smoking. After smelling smoke on him and finding cigarettes, his form tutor gave him 24 hours to own up to his parents<ref>http://www.theargus.co.uk/archive/2004/07/21/The+Argus+Archive/6713314.Pupil_caught_with_cigarettes_found_hanged/</ref> before the school contacted them. David strangled himself with his school tie while his father was preparing dinner<ref>http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local-news/david_12_is_found_hanged_after_he_was_caught_with_cigarettes_1_1437882</ref>.
=== Dana Blake ===
April 2003, Dana, a bouncer in a New York night club, was stabbed to death in a fight that started when Dana tried to evict a patron who was flouting the newly enacted smoking ban two weeks previously.

: Travis Keyes, the owner of B3, a bar next door, didn't hesitate to blame the new law, which has been billed as a way to safeguard the health of pub employees.

: "It all started over a cigarette," said Keyes, who helped chase down the Chans. "It's so ironic: Something that's supposed to save lives has already taken a life."<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,84090,00.html</ref>

Isaias Umali, not one of those involved with the initial flouting of the smoking ban, was convicted of First Degree manslaughter, and sentenced to 17 years in prison<ref>http://gothamist.com/2005/02/17/east_village_murder_followups.php</ref>.

=== Elena Brennan ===

Shortly after 6am on 13th July 2011, Elena Brennan was discovered by a passing private ambulance driver dead, still in her dressing gown, from massive head injury she sustained after falling 20 feet onto a concrete ramp beneath her second storey flat (3rd floor in the US)<ref>http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/streathamnews/9455300.Pensioner_died_after_smoking_cigarette_out_of_window__inquest_hears/</ref>. The inquest found that she'd fallen from her window because she had been leaning out of the window to have a cigarette<ref>http://www.courtnewsuk.co.uk/online_archive/?name=Elena+Brennan&place=&courts=0</ref>.
=== Barry Collen ===
January 2008, Barry Collen (74) was found frozen to death at 4.30am at his care home in Winnipeg, Canada, after going outside in -20°C temperatures at 1am for a cigarette<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2008/01/11/collen.html</ref><ref>http://www.forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=689</ref>

"He was banned from the smoking room, for smoking too much.<ref>http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/01/11/pf-4767877.html</ref>"

=== Jane O'Grady ===

In October 2011, it was reported that Ms O'Grady, a 97 year old, was threatened with eviction from her independent living facility. Her smoking wasn't a problem when she moved in in 2005<ref>http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_indian_river_county/vero_beach/jane-ogrady-97-in-jeopardy-of-eviction-from-lakes-at-pointe-west-home-because-of-smoking-habit</ref>, but in 2008, The Lakes at Pointe West implemented a no-smoking policy.

In a letter to the media in Feb 2012, The Lakes stated they wanted her to either stop smoking, or move to accomodation where she can be given mobility assistance to smoke outside because of the other 197 residents. Ms O'Grady wants neither.<ref>http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/09/letter-vero-beach-senior-home-wants-smoker-stay-mo/</ref><ref>http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Facility-Defends-Eviction-of-97-Year-Old-Smoker-139087514.html</ref>

Jane died 20th Feb 2012<ref>http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/26/letter-great-void-with-passing-of-great-lady/</ref>
=== Matthew Long ===
August 2007, Matthew fell 2½ft from a brick terrace into the car park, and was brain-damaged from the fall<ref>http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/1889489/Man-sues-after-falling-over-on-cigarette-break.html</ref>. He went on to sue the owners of the pub for encouraging use of the area without putting warning signs up. His sister is quoted as saying "He smoked only ten cigarettes a day but he must be the worst victim of the smoking ban. If he hadn't had to step outside to light up it would never have happened."
=== Miles Patterson ===
January 2008, Miles, 65, a resident of Manitoulin Lodge in Gore Bay, Ontario, Canada was found suffering from hypothermia after he'd gone outside for a cigarette "sometime after the established smoking period"<ref>http://www.thestar.com/news/article/177526--death-puts-spotlight-on-anti-smoking-law</ref>. He later died after being admitted to hospital.
=== Angel Raich ===
Angel, 46, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor early 2012. In April 2012 she was kicked out of University of California, San Francisco (USCF) Parnassus campus for using medical marijuana<ref>http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Dying-Patient-Kicked-Out-of-Hospital-for-Using-Medical-Marijuana-142425965.html</ref>. USCF stated:

: UCSF is a smoke-free campus and this includes medical marijuana. Several members of the media have asked if UCSF allows the use of a vaporized form of marijuana. It does not. Even a vaporized form of medical marijuana releases particles in the air that are damaging to the lung. Any particles from vapor and odor could have an impact on other patients and hospital employees.

Apparently unrelated, USCF conducts studies to test the effacacy of medical marijuana on patients with chronic pain<ref>http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2011/12/11077/ucsf-study-finds-medical-marijuana-could-help-patients-reduce-pain-opiates</ref>.

=== Richard Read ===

On the 29th October 2011, Richard Read, 61, suffered severe burns, and subsequently died, after he accidentally fumbled with the Zippo lighting his pipe<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2101560/Smoker-killed-fireball-dropped-Zippo-lighter-car-seat-lighting-pipe.html</ref> while sitting in his parked car outside of his home. The dropped zippo caused the car to catch alight and subsequently explode.

It appears he had a stroke<ref>http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk/news/local/tributes_to_man_in_car_fire_tragedy_1_3926460</ref>.
===Stacey Solomon===
Stacey is an English singer, television presenter and reality TV star, who rose to fame during the sixth series of X-Factor. She was photographed smoking when she was seven months pregnant, even though she was trying to give up. As a result FoxyBingo sacked her as a judge on their 'Foxy Mum' panel, and dropped her from their shortlist for Celeb Mum of the Year 2012<ref>http://www.foxybingo.com/skin/community/celebmum.php</ref>[[http://www.webcitation.org/65waQEseI archive]]<ref>http://uk.omg.yahoo.com/gossip/googoogaga/stacey-solomon-smoking-while-pregnant-criticism-little-harsh-143800312.html</ref>
===Lawrence Walker===
In June 2008, taxman Lawrence Walker committed suicide by jumping off cliffs in Newquay after the smoking ban left him a virtual recluse<ref>http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/taxman-kills-himself-over-smoking-363784</ref>.

===Eamonn Mulvenna===
October 22nd, 2005, Eamonn, 20, fell from a 2nd-floor fire escape when he was having a cigarette, due to a smoking ban within Whispers club.

{{quote|The inquest heard that as a result of the smoking ban Whispers lap-dancing club had allowed customers to go out a fire exit on to the fire escape that was 27 feet above an alleyway.<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/news/smoker-died-after-fall-from-fire-escape-1.1006536 Smoker died after fall from fire escape] - [[The Irish Times]]</ref>}}

== Unnamed people or groups ==

=== One dead, three injured in smoking area, Hythe Quay, Maldon ===
{{quote|1=A murder inquiry was under way last night after a car smashed into a pub smoking shelter, killing one and injuring three others.

Drinkers were left pinned against a wall after the Nissan Qashqai mounted a pavement and careered into the outdoor porch.

[...]

Witnesses said the driver did not appear to apply the brakes – raising fears it was a deliberate attack.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7645373/Drinker-left-badly-injured-car-crash-pubs-smoking-area-sparked-murder-probe.html Drinker, 34, who was left badly injured in car crash at pub's smoking area that sparked murder probe] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

===Health Workers in Australia===

So, when people get in your face and demand you stop smoking outside...

{{quote|Rules banning smoking outside Victoria's public hospitals could be reviewed because health workers are being attacked and abused while trying to police the policy.

[...]

The calls come after the death of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who was allegedly punched in the head in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital after expressing concern about people smoking near the hospital entrance.

Last month two patient transport officers were reportedly assaulted outside Dandenong Hospital after refusing a request for a cigarette.

Ambulance union state secretary Steve McGhie said one of the officers had surgery because of an injury sustained in the assault. <ref name="cowra" />}}

===Psychiatric Patients in New Zealand===

August 2016, lawyer goes to court to argue that non-smoking policies in psychiatric facilities actually prolongs the incarciration time that patients spend there.

{{quote|Mr Francois said nicotine withdrawals mirror the symptoms of a mental illness and can be misinterpreted by staff - leading to patients spending longer in an institution than necessary.

"Those symptoms are interpreted by nurses and staff as just being another signal, another sign, of how insane they are."<ref>[http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/larry-williams-drive-with-anz/audio/banning-confined-vulnerable-patients-from-smoking-inhumane-under-bill-of-rights-lawyer/ Banning confined, vulnerable patients from smoking inhumane under Bill of Rights - Lawyer] - Newstalk ZB</ref>}}

===Six Irish students (one with dual American nationality), Berkely, Calafornia, USA===
June 2015:
{{quote|Early Tuesday, 13 people, most of them young Irish students here on the visa program, were crowded onto a fourth-floor balcony off Unit 405 for what neighbors described as a loud party when the balcony collapsed, sending people tumbling onto the street below.

Six people were killed; five were Irish and the sixth had dual Irish-American citizenship, according to the Irish Embassy. Three of the dead were men, three were women, and all were in their 20s. At least seven others suffered injuries, some serious.

[...]

Residents here said that apartments were often crammed with students trying to hold down living costs, and that people typically went out to the balcony to smoke.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/balcony-collapse-berkeley-dead.html?_r=1 Deaths of Irish Students in Berkeley Balcony Collapse Cast Pall on Program] - The New York Times</ref> }}

===Female Backpacker, Scotland===
2004, a female backpacker was found dead at 3am after falling off the roof of a hostel<ref>http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BACKPACKER+DIES+IN+FALL+FROM+ROOF.-a0117839097</ref>. One theory is that she climbed on to the flat roof of the no-smoking Edinburgh Backpackers hostel for a cigarette.

=== Female Students ===
September 2011, on-campus students University of Montana must go to the edge of the campus to have a cigarette. Female students have been discouraged from walking across campus alone at night<ref>http://www.montanakaimin.com/news/ban-places-smokers-in-dangerous-situation-1.2602457#.T02MPYzKa7J</ref> for their own safety. Previously ashtrays were placed 25 feet away from entrances<ref>http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_b3f8cba8-d76b-11e0-8ef3-001cc4c03286.html</ref> but they were all moved to the edge of the campus as part of the new policy.

=== Scottish care home residents ===
February 2012, Canmore Lodge, Dunfermline bans smoking; spokesman for the care home said: “Canmore Lodge can confirm that they will be closing the smoking room at the home as the health and wellbeing of our residents is always our utmost priority." Instead they will have to use, in winter as well as summer what amounts to, as one relative called it "basically a bus shelter."<ref>http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/02/09/pensioners-forced-into-freezing-shelter-for-smoke/</ref>
=== Unnamed Barmaid ===
A bar manager blames the smoking ban for one of his staff being raped while going outside for a cigarette<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/1103369/posts</ref>. Councilman Bill Sova says it's inappropriate to blame the ban. "It should be Calantino's [manger's] responsibility to ensure his employees and patrons are safe."

=== Unnamed Hospital Patient ===
One evening in December 2000, a 54 year old patient at [http://g.co/maps/vpqc9 Seven Oaks General Hospital] in Winnipeg was trapped outside in -30°C temperatures in only her hospital gown, when the door locked behind her and she couldn't find another way in<ref>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/hospital-smoking-bans-endanger-patients-study-132980933.html</ref>. She was found, comatose, an hour later suffering from hypothermia and frostbite to her hands and feet. Four fingers on her right hand had to be amputated. She was left with limited mobility in her left hand.

=== Unnamed Tourist ===
Around 11pm on 2nd April 2010, a 25 yr old German Tourist was dragged from the street and raped in an alleyway while having a cigarette outside a Covent Garden restaurant.<ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23821871-tourist-raped-while-smoking-outside-covent-garden-restaurant.do</ref><ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/tourist-raped-in-londons-west-end-1937270.html</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Fake attacks

2019-10-21T12:49:31Z

Paul:

This is merely a selection - there's a longer list at [http://fakehatecrimes.org/ http://fakehatecrimes.org/]

== October 2019 - Talha Javaid - 'racist' text - Windsor, Ontario, Canada ==
{{quote|1= Javaid is a hockey player from Windsor who travels to Lansing Michigan to help coach a youth hockey program. He goes to school at the University of Windsor and has hopes of becoming a lawyer one day. He also happens to be Muslim.

On October 11 he shared on twitter a text he received from one of his players’ parents. The text begins “Hi, I just wanted to express how I feel about you as my sons hockey coach. I’m not racist or anything but…”<ref>https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/it-goes-against-tradition-youth-hockey-coach-from-windsor-target-of-racist-text-1.4640104 'It goes against tradition' youth hockey coach from Windsor target of racist text] - CTV News, Winsor</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=A Pakistani-born Canadian Muslim hockey coach’s story about being the victim of a racist text from the father of one of his players is beginning to unravel as the facility he claims to have coached at denies knowing him.<ref>[https://dailycaller.com/2019/10/18/talha-javaid-hockey-anti-muslim-text/ Muslim Hockey Coach’s Claim To Be The Victim Of A Racist Text Comes Under Question] - The Daily Caller</ref>}}

{{quote3|1=Suburban Ice East Lansing strongly denies any association with Javaid.

“We’ve never heard of him,” a staff woman tells The Post Millennial. “He never taught here. He had no ties to Suburban Ice whatsoever.”

Javaid’s “best friend” and co-coach volunteer who is named as “Sebastian Nystrom” in the Yahoo profile, also could not be located. Reporter Shireen Ahmed did not respond to inquiries seeking comment on how she verified Javaid’s claims. <ref>[https://www.thepostmillennial.com/he-never-taught-here-ice-rink-disputes-claim-of-racism-by-hockey-coach/ “He never taught here”: ice rink disputes claim of racism by hockey coach] - The Post Millennial</ref>}}

== September 2019 - Amari Allen - Claimed three white classmates held her down and cut her dreadlocks off - Springfield, Virginia ==
{{quote|1=The black high school student who accused three white male classmates of pinning her down and cutting off her dreadlocks has 'acknowledged' that she made the allegation up, according to her school.

Amari Allen, 12, claimed she was held down by three boys who cut her hair off at their $12,000-a-year school. She also gave a tearful interview about it afterwards and said they called her hair 'ugly' and 'nappy', a racist term that is used to derogatorily describe African American women's hair. <ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7521717/Black-high-school-student-said-bullies-cut-dreadlocks-admits-up.html Black high school student, 12, who accused three of her male white classmates of pinning her down and cutting off her dreadlocks, admits that she made it up] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

== February 2019 - Jussie Smollett - Racist and Homophobic Attack - Chiacago ==
{{quote|1=“Empire” star Jussie Smollett was hospitalized early Tuesday following an assault in Chicago in what is described as a possible hate crime, Variety has confirmed.

According to a statement released by the Chicago Police Department, Smollett was beaten by two men who approached him by yelling out “racial and homophobic slurs” at approximately 2 a.m. Tuesday morning in the 300 block of E. North Water Street. They proceeded to assault Smollett and “poured an unknown chemical substance” on him.

The two men are also said to have put a rope around Smollett’s neck before fleeing on foot. Smollett then transported himself to an area hospital and is described as being in “good condition.”<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-assaulted-chicago-1203122135/ ‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett Assaulted in Chicago in Suspected Hate Crime] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Chicago police are pushing back on media reports that said the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax and say the reports are “unconfirmed by case detectives.”

Two Chicago media outlets reported Thursday that multiple sources told them that investigators believe the attack was staged.

Police spent much of Thursday interviewing two persons of interest in the case, who are believed to have been seen on surveillance images on the night of the attack.<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/music/news/jussie-smollett-attack-staged-1203140464/ Chicago Police Say Reports Jussie Smollett Attack Was Staged Are ‘Unconfirmed’] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=
Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records that were heavily redacted and do NOT prove he was talking to his manager at the time of racist, homophobic attack
* Smollett submitted phone records on Monday morning, two weeks after the attack
* They were redacted, according to police, and do not prove he was on the phone with his manager Brandon Z. Moore when he was jumped
* Moore submitted a screenshot of his call history on February 5 to prove their * He is the only person to have claimed to have heard or witnessed Smollett being attacked
* The frustrated Empire star hit out at police on Monday for suggesting that he had not been cooperative<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6695695/Chicago-police-say-Jussie-Smollett-gave-insufficient-redacted-phone-records.html Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

{{quote3|1=“The new direction of the investigation is now based on the premise that Mr. Smollett was an active participant in the incident,” a law enforcement source close to the situation told Deadline today.

“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” a Chicago PD statement late Saturday declared. “We’ve reached out to the ‘Empire’ cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”<ref>[https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-attack-suspect-chicago-police-cnn-empire-1202559032/ Jussie Smollett Viewed As “Active Participant” By Cops In Alleged Assault] - Deadline</ref>}}

{{quote4|1=More than three weeks after he alleged that he was the victim of a hate crime, actor Jussie Smollett has been arrested on suspicion of filing a false report about it, Chicago police said Thursday morning.

...

Smollett faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false report claiming he was attacked by two men, including one who was masked, in the early morning of January 29 in Chicago. He alleged they yelled racist and homophobic slurs, tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown substance on him<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/21/entertainment/jussie-smollett-thursday/index.html Jussie Smollett arrested and faces a felony charge for allegedly filing false police report] - CNN]</ref>}}

Later
{{quote|1=Calling himself a man of faith, “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that he felt vindicated after a stunning reversal by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office to drop all charges against him in an alleged hate crime hoax.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-wont-be-prosecuted-on-charges-he-faked-attack Jussie Smollett hoax charges dropped, actor wants to 'move on with my life'] - Fox News</ref>}}

== November 2018 - Racist notes - Drake University ==

{{quote|1=In mid-November, a Drake University student told school officials she had received four racist notes in one of the residence halls, at least one of which was addressed to her.

After a police and school investigation, the student, who has not been charged or named, admitted to writing one of the notes. The Des Moines Register reports that Drake officials “are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes.”<ref>[https://www.dailywire.com/news/38921/hate-crime-hoax-student-claimed-she-received-ashe-schow
HATE CRIME HOAX: A Student Claimed She Received Racist Notes. Guess Who Sent Them.] - The Daily Wire</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=An 18-year-old Drake University student is responsible for four of five racist notes found in residence halls and now faces criminal charges, school officials said.

The student admitted to writing one of the notes, officials said. She also reported receiving at least one of the notes, officials said.

A Drake spokesman said officials are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes. A fifth note, received by a different student in early November, is not connected to the other four notes, now considered copycats, officials said.<ref>[https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/11/30/drake-university-student-fakes-alleged-racist-note-racism-campus-des-moines/2162705002/ Drake University officials: Four of the five racist notes found on campus were hoaxes] - Des Moines Register</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racial slurs - U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School ==
{{quote|1=In late September, five black cadet candidates found racial slurs scrawled on message boards on their doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School. One candidate found the words “go home n‑‑‑‑‑‑” written outside his room, his mother posted on social media, according to the [https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/09/28/racial-slurs-written-on-dorm-room-boards-of-black-air-force-academy-cadet-candidates/ Air Force Times.]

[...]

But on Tuesday, the school made a jolting announcement. The person responsible for the racist messages, the academy said, was, in fact, one of the cadet candidates who reported being targeted by them.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/08/a-black-student-wrote-those-racist-messages-that-shook-the-air-force-academy/?noredirect=on A black student wrote those racist messages that shook the Air Force Academy, school says ] - [[The Washington Post]]</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racist graffiti - Riley County ==
{{quote|1=A man who defaced his own car with racist graffiti and filed a false police report to Riley County Police Department will not face charges because “having done so would not be in the best interests of the citizens who comprise the Manhattan community.”

Dauntarius Williams, 21, of Manhattan, “was genuinely remorseful and expressed sincere regret” of the negative media attention received as a result of his actions, Riley County Police Department said in a Nov. 6 release. <ref>[https://www.kansas.com/news/state/article183090886.html
Kansas man said he defaced his own car with racist slurs] - The Wichita Eagle</ref>}}

== November 2014 - Jackie Coakley - "A Rape on Campus" - University of Virginia ==

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone magazine retracted its article about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity after the release of a report on Sunday that concluded the widely discredited piece was the result of failures at every stage of the process.

The report, published by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and commissioned by Rolling Stone, said the magazine failed to engage in “basic, even routine journalistic practice” to verify details of the ordeal that the magazine’s source, identified only as Jackie, described to the article’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely. <ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/media/rolling-stone-retracts-article-on-rape-at-university-of-virginia.html?module=inline Rolling Stone Article on Rape at University of Virginia Failed All Basics, Report Says] - The New York Times</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the University of Virginia fraternity at the center of a discredited article about an alleged gang rape, effectively closing the door on a pivotal and damaging chapter in the magazine’s history.

Under the terms of the settlement, the magazine agreed to pay the Virginia Alpha Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity $1.65 million. The fraternity had originally sought a trial by jury and $25 million in damages.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/business/media/rape-uva-rolling-stone-frat.html Rolling Stone to Pay $1.65 Million to Fraternity Over Discredited Rape Story] - The New York Times</ref>}}

== August 2012 - Charlie Rogers - Homophobia - Omaha ==
{{quote|1=Three masked men allegedly bound Rogers and carved homophobic slurs into her skin Sunday, Lincoln police said. The incident has been classified as a hate crime because derogatory terms for lesbians were used, said Officer Katie Flood, a spokeswoman for the Lincoln Police Department.<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/27/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Woman who had gay slurs carved in her body speaks out] - CNN</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=But the Lincoln Police Department said Tuesday that "the physical evidence conflicted with Charlie Rogers' version of events" and that "extensive investigation revealed numerous inconsistencies."

Rogers was arrested Tuesday, police said.

Her attorney, Brett McArthur, told CNN Tuesday night that Rogers had agreed as part of an arrangement to turn herself in, in exchange for a personal recognizance bond. <ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/21/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Lesbian who reported 'hate crime' attack staged incident, Nebraska police say] - CNN</ref>}}

== March 2006 - Duke lacrosse Rape ==
{{quote|1=The Duke Lacrosse Case was a widely reported 2006 criminal case in which three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. The case evoked varied responses from the media, faculty groups, students, the community, and others. The case's resolution sparked public discussion of racism, media bias, and due process on campuses, and ultimately led to the resignation and disbarment of the lead prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duke_lacrosse_case&oldid=882694038 Duke lacrosee case] - Wikipedia</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

Fake attacks

2019-09-30T22:23:49Z

Paul: /* September 2019 - Amari Allen - Claimed three white classmates held her down and cut her dreadlocks off - Springfield, Virginia */

This is merely a selection - there's a longer list at [http://fakehatecrimes.org/ http://fakehatecrimes.org/]

== September 2019 - Amari Allen - Claimed three white classmates held her down and cut her dreadlocks off - Springfield, Virginia ==
{{quote|1=The black high school student who accused three white male classmates of pinning her down and cutting off her dreadlocks has 'acknowledged' that she made the allegation up, according to her school.

Amari Allen, 12, claimed she was held down by three boys who cut her hair off at their $12,000-a-year school. She also gave a tearful interview about it afterwards and said they called her hair 'ugly' and 'nappy', a racist term that is used to derogatorily describe African American women's hair. <ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7521717/Black-high-school-student-said-bullies-cut-dreadlocks-admits-up.html Black high school student, 12, who accused three of her male white classmates of pinning her down and cutting off her dreadlocks, admits that she made it up] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

== February 2019 - Jussie Smollett - Racist and Homophobic Attack - Chiacago ==
{{quote|1=“Empire” star Jussie Smollett was hospitalized early Tuesday following an assault in Chicago in what is described as a possible hate crime, Variety has confirmed.

According to a statement released by the Chicago Police Department, Smollett was beaten by two men who approached him by yelling out “racial and homophobic slurs” at approximately 2 a.m. Tuesday morning in the 300 block of E. North Water Street. They proceeded to assault Smollett and “poured an unknown chemical substance” on him.

The two men are also said to have put a rope around Smollett’s neck before fleeing on foot. Smollett then transported himself to an area hospital and is described as being in “good condition.”<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-assaulted-chicago-1203122135/ ‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett Assaulted in Chicago in Suspected Hate Crime] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Chicago police are pushing back on media reports that said the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax and say the reports are “unconfirmed by case detectives.”

Two Chicago media outlets reported Thursday that multiple sources told them that investigators believe the attack was staged.

Police spent much of Thursday interviewing two persons of interest in the case, who are believed to have been seen on surveillance images on the night of the attack.<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/music/news/jussie-smollett-attack-staged-1203140464/ Chicago Police Say Reports Jussie Smollett Attack Was Staged Are ‘Unconfirmed’] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=
Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records that were heavily redacted and do NOT prove he was talking to his manager at the time of racist, homophobic attack
* Smollett submitted phone records on Monday morning, two weeks after the attack
* They were redacted, according to police, and do not prove he was on the phone with his manager Brandon Z. Moore when he was jumped
* Moore submitted a screenshot of his call history on February 5 to prove their * He is the only person to have claimed to have heard or witnessed Smollett being attacked
* The frustrated Empire star hit out at police on Monday for suggesting that he had not been cooperative<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6695695/Chicago-police-say-Jussie-Smollett-gave-insufficient-redacted-phone-records.html Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

{{quote3|1=“The new direction of the investigation is now based on the premise that Mr. Smollett was an active participant in the incident,” a law enforcement source close to the situation told Deadline today.

“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” a Chicago PD statement late Saturday declared. “We’ve reached out to the ‘Empire’ cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”<ref>[https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-attack-suspect-chicago-police-cnn-empire-1202559032/ Jussie Smollett Viewed As “Active Participant” By Cops In Alleged Assault] - Deadline</ref>}}

{{quote4|1=More than three weeks after he alleged that he was the victim of a hate crime, actor Jussie Smollett has been arrested on suspicion of filing a false report about it, Chicago police said Thursday morning.

...

Smollett faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false report claiming he was attacked by two men, including one who was masked, in the early morning of January 29 in Chicago. He alleged they yelled racist and homophobic slurs, tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown substance on him<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/21/entertainment/jussie-smollett-thursday/index.html Jussie Smollett arrested and faces a felony charge for allegedly filing false police report] - CNN]</ref>}}

Later
{{quote|1=Calling himself a man of faith, “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that he felt vindicated after a stunning reversal by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office to drop all charges against him in an alleged hate crime hoax.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-wont-be-prosecuted-on-charges-he-faked-attack Jussie Smollett hoax charges dropped, actor wants to 'move on with my life'] - Fox News</ref>}}

== November 2018 - Racist notes - Drake University ==

{{quote|1=In mid-November, a Drake University student told school officials she had received four racist notes in one of the residence halls, at least one of which was addressed to her.

After a police and school investigation, the student, who has not been charged or named, admitted to writing one of the notes. The Des Moines Register reports that Drake officials “are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes.”<ref>[https://www.dailywire.com/news/38921/hate-crime-hoax-student-claimed-she-received-ashe-schow
HATE CRIME HOAX: A Student Claimed She Received Racist Notes. Guess Who Sent Them.] - The Daily Wire</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=An 18-year-old Drake University student is responsible for four of five racist notes found in residence halls and now faces criminal charges, school officials said.

The student admitted to writing one of the notes, officials said. She also reported receiving at least one of the notes, officials said.

A Drake spokesman said officials are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes. A fifth note, received by a different student in early November, is not connected to the other four notes, now considered copycats, officials said.<ref>[https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/11/30/drake-university-student-fakes-alleged-racist-note-racism-campus-des-moines/2162705002/ Drake University officials: Four of the five racist notes found on campus were hoaxes] - Des Moines Register</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racial slurs - U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School ==
{{quote|1=In late September, five black cadet candidates found racial slurs scrawled on message boards on their doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School. One candidate found the words “go home n‑‑‑‑‑‑” written outside his room, his mother posted on social media, according to the [https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/09/28/racial-slurs-written-on-dorm-room-boards-of-black-air-force-academy-cadet-candidates/ Air Force Times.]

[...]

But on Tuesday, the school made a jolting announcement. The person responsible for the racist messages, the academy said, was, in fact, one of the cadet candidates who reported being targeted by them.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/08/a-black-student-wrote-those-racist-messages-that-shook-the-air-force-academy/?noredirect=on A black student wrote those racist messages that shook the Air Force Academy, school says ] - [[The Washington Post]]</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racist graffiti - Riley County ==
{{quote|1=A man who defaced his own car with racist graffiti and filed a false police report to Riley County Police Department will not face charges because “having done so would not be in the best interests of the citizens who comprise the Manhattan community.”

Dauntarius Williams, 21, of Manhattan, “was genuinely remorseful and expressed sincere regret” of the negative media attention received as a result of his actions, Riley County Police Department said in a Nov. 6 release. <ref>[https://www.kansas.com/news/state/article183090886.html
Kansas man said he defaced his own car with racist slurs] - The Wichita Eagle</ref>}}

== November 2014 - Jackie Coakley - "A Rape on Campus" - University of Virginia ==

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone magazine retracted its article about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity after the release of a report on Sunday that concluded the widely discredited piece was the result of failures at every stage of the process.

The report, published by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and commissioned by Rolling Stone, said the magazine failed to engage in “basic, even routine journalistic practice” to verify details of the ordeal that the magazine’s source, identified only as Jackie, described to the article’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely. <ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/media/rolling-stone-retracts-article-on-rape-at-university-of-virginia.html?module=inline Rolling Stone Article on Rape at University of Virginia Failed All Basics, Report Says] - The New York Times</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the University of Virginia fraternity at the center of a discredited article about an alleged gang rape, effectively closing the door on a pivotal and damaging chapter in the magazine’s history.

Under the terms of the settlement, the magazine agreed to pay the Virginia Alpha Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity $1.65 million. The fraternity had originally sought a trial by jury and $25 million in damages.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/business/media/rape-uva-rolling-stone-frat.html Rolling Stone to Pay $1.65 Million to Fraternity Over Discredited Rape Story] - The New York Times</ref>}}

== August 2012 - Charlie Rogers - Homophobia - Omaha ==
{{quote|1=Three masked men allegedly bound Rogers and carved homophobic slurs into her skin Sunday, Lincoln police said. The incident has been classified as a hate crime because derogatory terms for lesbians were used, said Officer Katie Flood, a spokeswoman for the Lincoln Police Department.<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/27/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Woman who had gay slurs carved in her body speaks out] - CNN</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=But the Lincoln Police Department said Tuesday that "the physical evidence conflicted with Charlie Rogers' version of events" and that "extensive investigation revealed numerous inconsistencies."

Rogers was arrested Tuesday, police said.

Her attorney, Brett McArthur, told CNN Tuesday night that Rogers had agreed as part of an arrangement to turn herself in, in exchange for a personal recognizance bond. <ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/21/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Lesbian who reported 'hate crime' attack staged incident, Nebraska police say] - CNN</ref>}}

== March 2006 - Duke lacrosse Rape ==
{{quote|1=The Duke Lacrosse Case was a widely reported 2006 criminal case in which three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. The case evoked varied responses from the media, faculty groups, students, the community, and others. The case's resolution sparked public discussion of racism, media bias, and due process on campuses, and ultimately led to the resignation and disbarment of the lead prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duke_lacrosse_case&oldid=882694038 Duke lacrosee case] - Wikipedia</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

Fake attacks

2019-09-30T22:23:34Z

Paul:

This is merely a selection - there's a longer list at [http://fakehatecrimes.org/ http://fakehatecrimes.org/]

== September 2019 - Amari Allen - Claimed three white classmates held her down and cut her dreadlocks off - Springfield, Virginia ==
{{quote|1=The black high school student who accused three white male classmates of pinning her down and cutting off her dreadlocks has 'acknowledged' that she made the allegation up, according to her school.

Amari Allen, 12, claimed she was held down by three boys who cut her hair off at their $12,000-a-year school. She also gave a tearful interview about it afterwards and said they called her hair 'ugly' and 'nappy', a racist term that is used to derogatorily describe African American women's hair. <ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7521717/Black-high-school-student-said-bullies-cut-dreadlocks-admits-up.html Black high school student, 12, who accused three of her male white classmates of pinning her down and cutting off her dreadlocks, admits that she made it up] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>

== February 2019 - Jussie Smollett - Racist and Homophobic Attack - Chiacago ==
{{quote|1=“Empire” star Jussie Smollett was hospitalized early Tuesday following an assault in Chicago in what is described as a possible hate crime, Variety has confirmed.

According to a statement released by the Chicago Police Department, Smollett was beaten by two men who approached him by yelling out “racial and homophobic slurs” at approximately 2 a.m. Tuesday morning in the 300 block of E. North Water Street. They proceeded to assault Smollett and “poured an unknown chemical substance” on him.

The two men are also said to have put a rope around Smollett’s neck before fleeing on foot. Smollett then transported himself to an area hospital and is described as being in “good condition.”<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-assaulted-chicago-1203122135/ ‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett Assaulted in Chicago in Suspected Hate Crime] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Chicago police are pushing back on media reports that said the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax and say the reports are “unconfirmed by case detectives.”

Two Chicago media outlets reported Thursday that multiple sources told them that investigators believe the attack was staged.

Police spent much of Thursday interviewing two persons of interest in the case, who are believed to have been seen on surveillance images on the night of the attack.<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/music/news/jussie-smollett-attack-staged-1203140464/ Chicago Police Say Reports Jussie Smollett Attack Was Staged Are ‘Unconfirmed’] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=
Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records that were heavily redacted and do NOT prove he was talking to his manager at the time of racist, homophobic attack
* Smollett submitted phone records on Monday morning, two weeks after the attack
* They were redacted, according to police, and do not prove he was on the phone with his manager Brandon Z. Moore when he was jumped
* Moore submitted a screenshot of his call history on February 5 to prove their * He is the only person to have claimed to have heard or witnessed Smollett being attacked
* The frustrated Empire star hit out at police on Monday for suggesting that he had not been cooperative<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6695695/Chicago-police-say-Jussie-Smollett-gave-insufficient-redacted-phone-records.html Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

{{quote3|1=“The new direction of the investigation is now based on the premise that Mr. Smollett was an active participant in the incident,” a law enforcement source close to the situation told Deadline today.

“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” a Chicago PD statement late Saturday declared. “We’ve reached out to the ‘Empire’ cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”<ref>[https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-attack-suspect-chicago-police-cnn-empire-1202559032/ Jussie Smollett Viewed As “Active Participant” By Cops In Alleged Assault] - Deadline</ref>}}

{{quote4|1=More than three weeks after he alleged that he was the victim of a hate crime, actor Jussie Smollett has been arrested on suspicion of filing a false report about it, Chicago police said Thursday morning.

...

Smollett faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false report claiming he was attacked by two men, including one who was masked, in the early morning of January 29 in Chicago. He alleged they yelled racist and homophobic slurs, tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown substance on him<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/21/entertainment/jussie-smollett-thursday/index.html Jussie Smollett arrested and faces a felony charge for allegedly filing false police report] - CNN]</ref>}}

Later
{{quote|1=Calling himself a man of faith, “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that he felt vindicated after a stunning reversal by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office to drop all charges against him in an alleged hate crime hoax.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-wont-be-prosecuted-on-charges-he-faked-attack Jussie Smollett hoax charges dropped, actor wants to 'move on with my life'] - Fox News</ref>}}

== November 2018 - Racist notes - Drake University ==

{{quote|1=In mid-November, a Drake University student told school officials she had received four racist notes in one of the residence halls, at least one of which was addressed to her.

After a police and school investigation, the student, who has not been charged or named, admitted to writing one of the notes. The Des Moines Register reports that Drake officials “are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes.”<ref>[https://www.dailywire.com/news/38921/hate-crime-hoax-student-claimed-she-received-ashe-schow
HATE CRIME HOAX: A Student Claimed She Received Racist Notes. Guess Who Sent Them.] - The Daily Wire</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=An 18-year-old Drake University student is responsible for four of five racist notes found in residence halls and now faces criminal charges, school officials said.

The student admitted to writing one of the notes, officials said. She also reported receiving at least one of the notes, officials said.

A Drake spokesman said officials are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes. A fifth note, received by a different student in early November, is not connected to the other four notes, now considered copycats, officials said.<ref>[https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/11/30/drake-university-student-fakes-alleged-racist-note-racism-campus-des-moines/2162705002/ Drake University officials: Four of the five racist notes found on campus were hoaxes] - Des Moines Register</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racial slurs - U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School ==
{{quote|1=In late September, five black cadet candidates found racial slurs scrawled on message boards on their doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School. One candidate found the words “go home n‑‑‑‑‑‑” written outside his room, his mother posted on social media, according to the [https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/09/28/racial-slurs-written-on-dorm-room-boards-of-black-air-force-academy-cadet-candidates/ Air Force Times.]

[...]

But on Tuesday, the school made a jolting announcement. The person responsible for the racist messages, the academy said, was, in fact, one of the cadet candidates who reported being targeted by them.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/08/a-black-student-wrote-those-racist-messages-that-shook-the-air-force-academy/?noredirect=on A black student wrote those racist messages that shook the Air Force Academy, school says ] - [[The Washington Post]]</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racist graffiti - Riley County ==
{{quote|1=A man who defaced his own car with racist graffiti and filed a false police report to Riley County Police Department will not face charges because “having done so would not be in the best interests of the citizens who comprise the Manhattan community.”

Dauntarius Williams, 21, of Manhattan, “was genuinely remorseful and expressed sincere regret” of the negative media attention received as a result of his actions, Riley County Police Department said in a Nov. 6 release. <ref>[https://www.kansas.com/news/state/article183090886.html
Kansas man said he defaced his own car with racist slurs] - The Wichita Eagle</ref>}}

== November 2014 - Jackie Coakley - "A Rape on Campus" - University of Virginia ==

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone magazine retracted its article about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity after the release of a report on Sunday that concluded the widely discredited piece was the result of failures at every stage of the process.

The report, published by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and commissioned by Rolling Stone, said the magazine failed to engage in “basic, even routine journalistic practice” to verify details of the ordeal that the magazine’s source, identified only as Jackie, described to the article’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely. <ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/media/rolling-stone-retracts-article-on-rape-at-university-of-virginia.html?module=inline Rolling Stone Article on Rape at University of Virginia Failed All Basics, Report Says] - The New York Times</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the University of Virginia fraternity at the center of a discredited article about an alleged gang rape, effectively closing the door on a pivotal and damaging chapter in the magazine’s history.

Under the terms of the settlement, the magazine agreed to pay the Virginia Alpha Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity $1.65 million. The fraternity had originally sought a trial by jury and $25 million in damages.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/business/media/rape-uva-rolling-stone-frat.html Rolling Stone to Pay $1.65 Million to Fraternity Over Discredited Rape Story] - The New York Times</ref>}}

== August 2012 - Charlie Rogers - Homophobia - Omaha ==
{{quote|1=Three masked men allegedly bound Rogers and carved homophobic slurs into her skin Sunday, Lincoln police said. The incident has been classified as a hate crime because derogatory terms for lesbians were used, said Officer Katie Flood, a spokeswoman for the Lincoln Police Department.<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/27/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Woman who had gay slurs carved in her body speaks out] - CNN</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=But the Lincoln Police Department said Tuesday that "the physical evidence conflicted with Charlie Rogers' version of events" and that "extensive investigation revealed numerous inconsistencies."

Rogers was arrested Tuesday, police said.

Her attorney, Brett McArthur, told CNN Tuesday night that Rogers had agreed as part of an arrangement to turn herself in, in exchange for a personal recognizance bond. <ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/21/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Lesbian who reported 'hate crime' attack staged incident, Nebraska police say] - CNN</ref>}}

== March 2006 - Duke lacrosse Rape ==
{{quote|1=The Duke Lacrosse Case was a widely reported 2006 criminal case in which three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. The case evoked varied responses from the media, faculty groups, students, the community, and others. The case's resolution sparked public discussion of racism, media bias, and due process on campuses, and ultimately led to the resignation and disbarment of the lead prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duke_lacrosse_case&oldid=882694038 Duke lacrosee case] - Wikipedia</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

Victims

2019-09-30T08:26:45Z

Paul: /* Named individuals */

== Victims of anti-smoking policies. ==
This is a list of people who have suffered from rules and restrictions put in place to prevent people from smoking, especially indoors.

Contrast with the purported victims of [[SHS]] for whom the rules were put in place with no evidence for [[SHS]] to back them up.

More [[victims]] may be found in [https://thesmokersgraveyard.wordpress.com/ The Smokers' Graveyard]

== Named individuals ==

===Jon Bird===
{{quote|1=A restaurant owner sprayed a fire extinguisher in the face of a man who refused to put out his cigarette while smoking outside the business.

The man, identified by local media as Alex Jamison, can be seen in a video which is circulating online threatening to put out the smoker’s cigarette with the small portable fire extinguisher.

When the smoker, Jon Bird, defiantly takes another drag Mr Jamison lifts the device and fires a jet of white powder straight into Mr Bird’s face.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fire-extinguisher-smoke-cigarette-video-salt-lake-city-utah-alex-jamison-jon-bird-a9118281.html Man sprays smoker in face with fire extinguisher to put out cigarette: 'You can't smoke around here'] - The Independant</ref>}}

===Beulah Toombs===
{{quote|1= A grandmother who has been smoking most of her 89 years is being kicked out of her home because she won’t quit smoking.

It’s a Housing & Urban Development section 202 home for low-income seniors, but it is privately owned. The smoking grandmother is Buelah Toombs, who prefers Dorals.

HUD, by law, cannot mandate what a private owner does, but HUD is moving ahead anyway.<ref>[https://www.housingwire.com/articles/29753-grandmother-evicted-from-hud-home-for-cigarettes Grandmother evicted from HUD home for cigarettes] - HousingWire</ref>}}

{{quote2|1= Beulah Toombs started smoking a long time ago. She isn’t sure exactly when, but she was young. Maybe it was 1935, the year Babe Ruth quit playing baseball. Or maybe 1939, the year “The Grapes of Wrath” was published. But it was definitely before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.<ref>[https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/04/20/smoking-grandma-rather-move-quit/7951293/ Smoking grandma would rather move than quit] - Cincinnati.com </ref>}}

=== Emma Martin ===
{{quote|A Gold Coast disability pensioner has allegedly been savagely beaten and kicked to the ground for smoking a cigarette in an underground carpark.

Emma Martin and her friend were in the carpark of their Southport apartment building when they were approached by fellow tenant, Rewi Borell, who argued the 36-year-old was not allowed to smoke at the location<ref>[https://www.9news.com.au/2018/11/23/20/28/southport-pensioner-assaulted-in-underground-carpark-for-smoking-cigarette Pensioner allegedly assaulted for smoking cigarette] - 9News</ref>}}

=== Eduard Assylov ===
{{quote|Eduard Assylov, a 37-year-old motor mechanic, was stabbed to death and his head, limbs and genitals chopped off with a knife.

His roommate confessed to the crime and said that had become fed up with Assylov's smoking, and had eventually 'gone berserk' when the mechanic lit up in their home. <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5202221/Non-smoker-hacks-room-mates-penis-smoking.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 Non-smoker hacks off his room-mate's penis and decapitates him because he was fed up with his cigarettes] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

===Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann===

Feeling the need to incessantly hector smokers can have dire repercussions...

{{quote|The calls come after the death of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who was allegedly punched in the head in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital after expressing concern about people smoking near the hospital entrance.

<ref name="cowra">[http://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/4928813/safety-concerns-could-see-hospital-smoking-ban-reviewed/?cs=2452 Health workers attacked and abused over hospital smoking ban] - Cowra Guardian</ref>}}

{{quote2|It is alleged Esmaili had followed Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann into the foyer of Box Hill Hospital and allegedly hit the surgeon's head from behind.

The heart surgeon told Esmaili off for smoking in the non-smoking area outside the front entrance of Box Hill Hospital.

Esmaili was visiting a patient with friends.

The court heard Esmaili had been suffering from drug withdrawals and psychiatric illness, and he did not apply for bail.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4645278/Melbourne-surgeon-dies-one-punch-attack-hospital.html 'We are devastated': Family of heart surgeon 'punched in the head when he told a man to stop smoking' outside a Melbourne hospital] - [Daily Mail]</ref>}}

===Shannon Vincel===
August 16, 2016, 46 yr old Shannon Vincel was attacked in a area popular with smokers outside the grounds of a non-smoking cancer treatment centre property late evening on Monday 15th August. She died the next day.

{{quote|Shannon Vincel, of Springfield, Mo., was hit in the head with an unidentified object as she sat on a folding chair with another person outside the hotel facility about a mile from the hospital about 9:30 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from Zion police.<ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/crime/ct-lns-zion-cancer-patient-killed-st-0818-20160817-story.html Police: Patient dies after attack outside Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion] - Chicago Tribune</ref>}}

{{quote2|I wonder why Shannon Vincel was sitting out on the street outside the Cancer Treatment Center at 10 pm at night? There was no explanation for it in any of the news reports I read, or any of the news video clips I watched. Nor any explanation for why this area was so ‘popular’ with patients.

[...]

The reporter didn’t mention smoking. But she was standing outside the Center near the spot where Shannon Vincel was murdered (above), and right behind her was a big sign that said: “Entering a smoke free campus. NO SMOKING.”

[...]

And then the penny dropped. The ‘popular area’ was where patients went to smoke and chat. Maybe she didn’t even smoke, but had gone outside to be with a smoking friend.<ref>[https://cfrankdavis.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/driven-to-her-death-by-tobacco-control/ Driven To Her Death By Tobacco Control] - Frank Davies Blog</ref>}}

===Dean George===
April 2016, 40 yr old prisoner commits suicide because jail introduces smoking ban.
{{quote|A prisoner has killed himself after allegedly being stopped from smoking in Swansea jail.

Inmate Dean George, 40, was found dead in his cell at one of eight jails trialling the "no smoking" ban on health grounds.

Prison Service chiefs are investigating his death at Swansea prison which started the smoking ban four months ago.

Other prisoners say tensions are running high over the smoking ban - and that George had threatened to kill himself.<ref>[http://www.swanseasound.co.uk/news/local/prisoner-suicide-over-smoking-ban/ Prisoner Suicide Over Smoking Ban] - swanseasound</ref>}}

===Eric Garner===
July 2015, 48 yr old Eric Garner was arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. During the arrest he was put into a chokehold, and in a video taken at the time<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-man-dies-puts-choke-hold-article-1.1871486 Staten Island man dies after NYPD cop puts him in chokehold — SEE THE VIDEO] - Daily News</ref> appeared to have his head slammed against the sidewalk. He later died as a result of his treatment by the police, prompting some to ask "Is Selling Untaxed Cigarettes Now a Capital Offense<ref name="daily-caller">[http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/22/is-selling-untaxed-cigarettes-now-a-capital-offense/ Is Selling Untaxed Cigarettes Now A Capital Offense?] - Daily Caller</ref>":
{{quote|Garner didn’t die of lung cancer or emphysema. He died during a struggle with at least five police officers as he protested repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. If the video is accurate, the officers escalated the physical confrontation rather quickly. One appeared to put Garner in a chokehold.<ref name="daily-caller" />}}

===Andy Nowicki===
April 2014, World War II veteran Andy Nowicki was at the center of a conflict over the Newington Housing Authority's newly enacted no smoking policy. Having lived there for 20 years, he was in the middle of being evicted for having the temerity to smoke in his own house, and also smoke within 10 feet of the property. He died in the middle of it all, aged 90, from a stroke<ref>[http://articles.courant.com/2014-04-29/community/hc-newington-smoker-dies-20140429_1_andy-nowicki-newington-housing-authority-janet-nowicki Vet At Center Of Newington No-Smoking Conflict Dies] - The Courant</ref>.
{{quote|Housing Authority Executive Director Melinda Harvey defended the authority Tuesday, saying Nowicki had been caught smoking in violation of the settlement and therefore had to vacate his apartment.

"He continued to not comply," Harvey said. "So we contacted Paul [Doyle] and met with him."}}

===Jonathan Brace===
April 2013, Jonathan, a 33 yr old software engineer, died because his mother forbade him to smoke in the house. Instead he sat on the window ledge of his bedroom, from which he apparently fell 20 ft hitting his head on the patio below one evening. His mother found him the following morning.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2308190 Software engineer, 33, died after falling from bedroom window...] - Daily Mail</ref>

===Lorraine Adolph===
December 2008, Lorraine, 68, - a patient at Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Canada, went out in sub-zero temperatures to have a cigarette. She was found one week later, frozen to death<ref>http://elderadvocates.ca/inquiry-for-lorraine-adolph/</ref>, 400 meters<ref>http://elderadv.posterous.com/lorraine-adolph-fatality-inquiry-half-truths</ref> from the building.
===David Arnett===
David, 12, committed suicide rather than admit to his parents he'd been smoking. After smelling smoke on him and finding cigarettes, his form tutor gave him 24 hours to own up to his parents<ref>http://www.theargus.co.uk/archive/2004/07/21/The+Argus+Archive/6713314.Pupil_caught_with_cigarettes_found_hanged/</ref> before the school contacted them. David strangled himself with his school tie while his father was preparing dinner<ref>http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local-news/david_12_is_found_hanged_after_he_was_caught_with_cigarettes_1_1437882</ref>.
=== Dana Blake ===
April 2003, Dana, a bouncer in a New York night club, was stabbed to death in a fight that started when Dana tried to evict a patron who was flouting the newly enacted smoking ban two weeks previously.

: Travis Keyes, the owner of B3, a bar next door, didn't hesitate to blame the new law, which has been billed as a way to safeguard the health of pub employees.

: "It all started over a cigarette," said Keyes, who helped chase down the Chans. "It's so ironic: Something that's supposed to save lives has already taken a life."<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,84090,00.html</ref>

Isaias Umali, not one of those involved with the initial flouting of the smoking ban, was convicted of First Degree manslaughter, and sentenced to 17 years in prison<ref>http://gothamist.com/2005/02/17/east_village_murder_followups.php</ref>.

=== Elena Brennan ===

Shortly after 6am on 13th July 2011, Elena Brennan was discovered by a passing private ambulance driver dead, still in her dressing gown, from massive head injury she sustained after falling 20 feet onto a concrete ramp beneath her second storey flat (3rd floor in the US)<ref>http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/streathamnews/9455300.Pensioner_died_after_smoking_cigarette_out_of_window__inquest_hears/</ref>. The inquest found that she'd fallen from her window because she had been leaning out of the window to have a cigarette<ref>http://www.courtnewsuk.co.uk/online_archive/?name=Elena+Brennan&place=&courts=0</ref>.
=== Barry Collen ===
January 2008, Barry Collen (74) was found frozen to death at 4.30am at his care home in Winnipeg, Canada, after going outside in -20°C temperatures at 1am for a cigarette<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2008/01/11/collen.html</ref><ref>http://www.forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=689</ref>

"He was banned from the smoking room, for smoking too much.<ref>http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/01/11/pf-4767877.html</ref>"

=== Jane O'Grady ===

In October 2011, it was reported that Ms O'Grady, a 97 year old, was threatened with eviction from her independent living facility. Her smoking wasn't a problem when she moved in in 2005<ref>http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_indian_river_county/vero_beach/jane-ogrady-97-in-jeopardy-of-eviction-from-lakes-at-pointe-west-home-because-of-smoking-habit</ref>, but in 2008, The Lakes at Pointe West implemented a no-smoking policy.

In a letter to the media in Feb 2012, The Lakes stated they wanted her to either stop smoking, or move to accomodation where she can be given mobility assistance to smoke outside because of the other 197 residents. Ms O'Grady wants neither.<ref>http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/09/letter-vero-beach-senior-home-wants-smoker-stay-mo/</ref><ref>http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Facility-Defends-Eviction-of-97-Year-Old-Smoker-139087514.html</ref>

Jane died 20th Feb 2012<ref>http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/26/letter-great-void-with-passing-of-great-lady/</ref>
=== Matthew Long ===
August 2007, Matthew fell 2½ft from a brick terrace into the car park, and was brain-damaged from the fall<ref>http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/1889489/Man-sues-after-falling-over-on-cigarette-break.html</ref>. He went on to sue the owners of the pub for encouraging use of the area without putting warning signs up. His sister is quoted as saying "He smoked only ten cigarettes a day but he must be the worst victim of the smoking ban. If he hadn't had to step outside to light up it would never have happened."
=== Miles Patterson ===
January 2008, Miles, 65, a resident of Manitoulin Lodge in Gore Bay, Ontario, Canada was found suffering from hypothermia after he'd gone outside for a cigarette "sometime after the established smoking period"<ref>http://www.thestar.com/news/article/177526--death-puts-spotlight-on-anti-smoking-law</ref>. He later died after being admitted to hospital.
=== Angel Raich ===
Angel, 46, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor early 2012. In April 2012 she was kicked out of University of California, San Francisco (USCF) Parnassus campus for using medical marijuana<ref>http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Dying-Patient-Kicked-Out-of-Hospital-for-Using-Medical-Marijuana-142425965.html</ref>. USCF stated:

: UCSF is a smoke-free campus and this includes medical marijuana. Several members of the media have asked if UCSF allows the use of a vaporized form of marijuana. It does not. Even a vaporized form of medical marijuana releases particles in the air that are damaging to the lung. Any particles from vapor and odor could have an impact on other patients and hospital employees.

Apparently unrelated, USCF conducts studies to test the effacacy of medical marijuana on patients with chronic pain<ref>http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2011/12/11077/ucsf-study-finds-medical-marijuana-could-help-patients-reduce-pain-opiates</ref>.

=== Richard Read ===

On the 29th October 2011, Richard Read, 61, suffered severe burns, and subsequently died, after he accidentally fumbled with the Zippo lighting his pipe<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2101560/Smoker-killed-fireball-dropped-Zippo-lighter-car-seat-lighting-pipe.html</ref> while sitting in his parked car outside of his home. The dropped zippo caused the car to catch alight and subsequently explode.

It appears he had a stroke<ref>http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk/news/local/tributes_to_man_in_car_fire_tragedy_1_3926460</ref>.
===Stacey Solomon===
Stacey is an English singer, television presenter and reality TV star, who rose to fame during the sixth series of X-Factor. She was photographed smoking when she was seven months pregnant, even though she was trying to give up. As a result FoxyBingo sacked her as a judge on their 'Foxy Mum' panel, and dropped her from their shortlist for Celeb Mum of the Year 2012<ref>http://www.foxybingo.com/skin/community/celebmum.php</ref>[[http://www.webcitation.org/65waQEseI archive]]<ref>http://uk.omg.yahoo.com/gossip/googoogaga/stacey-solomon-smoking-while-pregnant-criticism-little-harsh-143800312.html</ref>
===Lawrence Walker===
In June 2008, taxman Lawrence Walker committed suicide by jumping off cliffs in Newquay after the smoking ban left him a virtual recluse<ref>http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/taxman-kills-himself-over-smoking-363784</ref>.

===Eamonn Mulvenna===
October 22nd, 2005, Eamonn, 20, fell from a 2nd-floor fire escape when he was having a cigarette, due to a smoking ban within Whispers club.

{{quote|The inquest heard that as a result of the smoking ban Whispers lap-dancing club had allowed customers to go out a fire exit on to the fire escape that was 27 feet above an alleyway.<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/news/smoker-died-after-fall-from-fire-escape-1.1006536 Smoker died after fall from fire escape] - [[The Irish Times]]</ref>}}

== Unnamed people or groups ==

===Health Workers in Australia===

So, when people get in your face and demand you stop smoking outside...

{{quote|Rules banning smoking outside Victoria's public hospitals could be reviewed because health workers are being attacked and abused while trying to police the policy.

[...]

The calls come after the death of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who was allegedly punched in the head in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital after expressing concern about people smoking near the hospital entrance.

Last month two patient transport officers were reportedly assaulted outside Dandenong Hospital after refusing a request for a cigarette.

Ambulance union state secretary Steve McGhie said one of the officers had surgery because of an injury sustained in the assault. <ref name="cowra" />}}

===Psychiatric Patients in New Zealand===

August 2016, lawyer goes to court to argue that non-smoking policies in psychiatric facilities actually prolongs the incarciration time that patients spend there.

{{quote|Mr Francois said nicotine withdrawals mirror the symptoms of a mental illness and can be misinterpreted by staff - leading to patients spending longer in an institution than necessary.

"Those symptoms are interpreted by nurses and staff as just being another signal, another sign, of how insane they are."<ref>[http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/larry-williams-drive-with-anz/audio/banning-confined-vulnerable-patients-from-smoking-inhumane-under-bill-of-rights-lawyer/ Banning confined, vulnerable patients from smoking inhumane under Bill of Rights - Lawyer] - Newstalk ZB</ref>}}

===Six Irish students (one with dual American nationality), Berkely, Calafornia, USA===
June 2015:
{{quote|Early Tuesday, 13 people, most of them young Irish students here on the visa program, were crowded onto a fourth-floor balcony off Unit 405 for what neighbors described as a loud party when the balcony collapsed, sending people tumbling onto the street below.

Six people were killed; five were Irish and the sixth had dual Irish-American citizenship, according to the Irish Embassy. Three of the dead were men, three were women, and all were in their 20s. At least seven others suffered injuries, some serious.

[...]

Residents here said that apartments were often crammed with students trying to hold down living costs, and that people typically went out to the balcony to smoke.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/balcony-collapse-berkeley-dead.html?_r=1 Deaths of Irish Students in Berkeley Balcony Collapse Cast Pall on Program] - The New York Times</ref> }}

===Female Backpacker, Scotland===
2004, a female backpacker was found dead at 3am after falling off the roof of a hostel<ref>http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BACKPACKER+DIES+IN+FALL+FROM+ROOF.-a0117839097</ref>. One theory is that she climbed on to the flat roof of the no-smoking Edinburgh Backpackers hostel for a cigarette.

=== Female Students ===
September 2011, on-campus students University of Montana must go to the edge of the campus to have a cigarette. Female students have been discouraged from walking across campus alone at night<ref>http://www.montanakaimin.com/news/ban-places-smokers-in-dangerous-situation-1.2602457#.T02MPYzKa7J</ref> for their own safety. Previously ashtrays were placed 25 feet away from entrances<ref>http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_b3f8cba8-d76b-11e0-8ef3-001cc4c03286.html</ref> but they were all moved to the edge of the campus as part of the new policy.

=== Scottish care home residents ===
February 2012, Canmore Lodge, Dunfermline bans smoking; spokesman for the care home said: “Canmore Lodge can confirm that they will be closing the smoking room at the home as the health and wellbeing of our residents is always our utmost priority." Instead they will have to use, in winter as well as summer what amounts to, as one relative called it "basically a bus shelter."<ref>http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/02/09/pensioners-forced-into-freezing-shelter-for-smoke/</ref>
=== Unnamed Barmaid ===
A bar manager blames the smoking ban for one of his staff being raped while going outside for a cigarette<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/1103369/posts</ref>. Councilman Bill Sova says it's inappropriate to blame the ban. "It should be Calantino's [manger's] responsibility to ensure his employees and patrons are safe."

=== Unnamed Hospital Patient ===
One evening in December 2000, a 54 year old patient at [http://g.co/maps/vpqc9 Seven Oaks General Hospital] in Winnipeg was trapped outside in -30°C temperatures in only her hospital gown, when the door locked behind her and she couldn't find another way in<ref>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/hospital-smoking-bans-endanger-patients-study-132980933.html</ref>. She was found, comatose, an hour later suffering from hypothermia and frostbite to her hands and feet. Four fingers on her right hand had to be amputated. She was left with limited mobility in her left hand.

=== Unnamed Tourist ===
Around 11pm on 2nd April 2010, a 25 yr old German Tourist was dragged from the street and raped in an alleyway while having a cigarette outside a Covent Garden restaurant.<ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23821871-tourist-raped-while-smoking-outside-covent-garden-restaurant.do</ref><ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/tourist-raped-in-londons-west-end-1937270.html</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

(Almost) As Bad As Smoking

2019-08-14T18:07:24Z

Paul:

Smoking is often seen as being (the most) unhealthy (thing you can do.)

However it often isn't as the following show.

== Living in a City (air, again) 2019 ==
{{quote|1=THE air pollution that city dwellers are exposed to is as bad for the health as smoking a packet of cigarettes a day, a shock report warns.

Breathing in fumes from traffic, planes, power plants and industry on a long-term, regular basis is causing growing numbers of urban non-smokers to develop chronic lung disease, experts say.

Just a decade of city living was found to do the same damage as 29 years of puffing on 20 cigarettes daily.<ref>[https://www.metro.news/city-living-bad-as-20-fags-a-day-scale-of-damage-caused-by-air-pollution-exposed-in-shock-report/1674505/ City living bad as 20 fags a day: Scale of damage caused by air pollution exposed in shock report] - The Metro</ref>}}

10 years of smoking == 30 years of 20-a-day - that's more like 60-a-day, not 20...

== Porn - October 2018 ==

{{quote|Pornography causes so much harm it should be treated like cigarettes and reckless driving, MPs demanded last night.

Members of the Commons women and equalities committee said porn should receive as much public funding as other major health issues.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6304743/Porn-harmful-cigarettes-treated-major-health-crisis.html Porn is as 'harmful as cigarettes' and must be treated as a major health crisis with new restrictions on social media, MPS warn] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

{{quote|The report recommended the Government should “take an evidence based approach to addressing the harms of pornography, similar to the huge investment there has been over many years in tackling road safety, or preventing public health problems caused by lawful behaviour such as smoking”.<ref>[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7557572/porn-harmful-smoking-public-health-issue/ Porn is ‘as harmful as smoking’ and must be treated as major public health issue, MPs warn] - [[The Sun]]</ref>}}

== Air - October 2018 ==

{{quote|“The world has turned the corner on tobacco. Now it must do the same for the ‘new tobacco’ – the toxic air that billions breathe every day,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general. “No one, rich or poor, can escape air pollution. It is a silent public health emergency.”

[...]

Globally, with smoking on the decline, air pollution now causes more deaths annually than tobacco. However, researchers think the harm known to be caused by air pollution, such as heart attacks and lung disease, is only “the tip of the iceberg”.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/27/air-pollution-is-the-new-tobacco-warns-who-head Air pollution is the ‘new tobacco’, warns WHO head] - [[The Guardian]]</ref>}}

== Plastic bottles - May 2018 ==

{{quote|Wayward pupils sneaking a cigarette behind the bike shed could soon be joined by another group of reprobates at a leading private school.

Brighton College has banned disposable plastic bottles and said that it would punish those caught using them in the same way as it dealt with smokers.

The ban extends to plastic straws and non-biodegradable cups and will apply to staff as well.<ref>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/brighton-colleges-plastic-ban-will-treat-disposable-bottles-like-cigarettes-mhvm86znj Pupils using plastic straws and bottles will be punished like smokers at Brighton College] - The Times</ref>}}

== Plus-size Models - August 2017 ==
{{quote|Health officials in Australia have expressed concerned over "drastically overweight" models being "glorified" on the runway.

The Australian Medical Association NSW President, Brad Frankham, told the Daily Telegraph he believes it sends a dangerous message that's as damaging as promoting models who are severely underweight.

Dr Frankhum also stated that he believes there is a "fine line" between being "confident" and promoting something he considers unhealthy.<ref>[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11898474 Health officials: Plus size models as bad as promoting smoking] - nzherald.co.nz</ref>}}

== Eggs (again) - April 2017 ==
An organisation that claims to be on the "frontlines fighting to protect farmed animals" highlights, and possibly deliberately misinterprets, some dodgy research that melds quite closely to their stated ideals:

{{quote|Because egg yolks are loaded with cholesterol, a known risk factor for coronary artery disease and heart attacks, they are as dangerous as cigarettes according to scientists.<ref>[http://www.mercyforanimals.org/heres-why-eating-1-egg-per-day-is-just-as Here’s Why Eating 1 Egg per Day Is Just as Bad as Smoking 5 Cigarettes] - Mercy for Animals</ref>}}

== Lonliness/No Friends - August 2016 ==
{{quote|Having no friends could be as deadly as smoking, researchers at Harvard University have suggested,<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/24/having-no-friends-could-be-as-deadly-as-smoking-harvard-universi/ Having no friends could be as deadly as smoking, Harvard University finds] - The Telegraph</ref>}}

{{quote|Harvard researchers have discovered a new link between loneliness and poor health.

They found that people with fewer social connections had higher levels of fibrinogen — a protein that helps blood clots to form. Larger amounts raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

[...]

They also suggested that having 12 fewer friends had the same effect on fibrinogen levels as taking up smoking.<ref>[http://health.spectator.co.uk/loneliness-is-bad-for-your-health-now-we-are-closer-to-knowing-why/ Loneliness is bad for your health. Now we are closer to knowing why] - Spectator</ref>}}

== Sitting down (again) - 27 July 2016 ==
The Lancet put out a meta-analysis about sedentary lifestyles<ref>[http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30370-1/fulltext - Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women] - The Lancet</ref>, and the following ensued:

{{quote|Steven Ward, executive editor of UK Active, urged employers to do more to encourage workers to be more active during the working day.

He also urged workers to do all they could to find time to get moving.

“This report is showing that inactivity kills,” he said. “When we realised this about smoking we tackled it – we need to do the same about our office culture.”<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/27/office-workers-must-exercise-for-an-hour-a-day-to-counter-death/ - Office workers must exercise for an hour a day to counter death risk] - The Telegraph</ref>}}

== Incense - 26 August 2015 ==

{{quote|In the future, incense might need to carry a health warning, just like tobacco. That’s the conclusion of researchers who for the first time have compared the effects of burning incense indoors to inhaling tobacco smoke.<ref>[http://www.sciencealert.com/incense-could-be-more-harmful-than-cigarette-smoke-researchers-find Incense could be more harmful than cigarette smoke, researchers find] - Science Alert</ref>}}

== Sitting down - 17 Jun 2014 ==
{{quote|As several recent studies have discovered, sitting for too long can be as dangerous to health as smoking. It more than doubles your risk of diabetes and is linked with an increase in heart disease. In fact, inactivity is the fourth biggest killer of adults, according to the World Health Organisation.
<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2622916/Work-desk-Then-experts-worrying-news-Why-sitting-bad-smoking.html#ixzz34tgTK4kn Work at a desk? Then experts have worrying news... Why sitting down can be as bad for you as smoking] - Mail Online</ref>}}

Such a shame about all those people in wheelchairs who are going to die of lung cancer then...

== Indoor Suntanning - April 2014 ==
{{quote|...we show that the number of skin cancer cases due to indoor tanning is higher than the number of lung cancer cases due to smoking in the same regions..<ref>[https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/1818976 International Prevalence of Indoor Tanning] - JAMA Network</ref>}}

== Taking your kids to McDonalds - [[Chris Brewis]]; Independant member of Lincolnshire county council - 25 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|Fresh calls have been made to reintroduce compulsory cookery lessons into schools in Lincolnshire.

[...]

Following a presentation to Lincolnshire county councillors on the issue, Independent member Chris Brewis said: "I think incidents of parents taking their children into fast food outlets should be treated as a form of child abuse.

'''"We, as a council, need to tell these parents they are killing their children.'''<ref>[http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Taking-children-fast-food-outlets-form-child/story-16943421-detail/story.html Taking children to fast food outlets is form of child abuse, says Lincolnshire councillor] - This is Lincolnshire</ref>}}

== Being an omnivore - Guardian Editorial - 27 Aug 2012 ==
{{quote|Being a vegetarian can carry with it an oppressive aura of smugness, as each day being a carnivore gets a bit more like smoking – an act that is not only self-destructive but damaging the rest of the world too.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/27/in-praise-of-going-veggie In praise of … going veggie] - The Guardian</ref>}}

== Gay Marriage - 5 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|The head of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) [[Jim Wallace]] says smoking is healthier than the lifestyle that would be promoted by same-sex marriage.

[...]

"I think we're going to owe smokers a big apology when the homosexual community's own statistics for its health - which it presents when it wants more money for health - are that is has higher rates of drug-taking, of suicide, it has the life of a male reduced by up to 20 years," he told the audience.
Advertisement

"The life of smokers is reduced by something like seven to 10 years and yet we tell all our kids at school they shouldn't smoke."
<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/national/smoking-healthier-than-gay-marriage-20120905-25eca.html#ixzz25cnm20wE 'Smoking healthier than gay marriage'] - The Age</ref>}}

Naturally, Mr Wallace hasn't provided his sources for these amazing figures.

== [[E-cigs]] - 3 Sep 2012 ==
Bit of a cheat this one, since it's not directly comparing [[e-cigs]] to smoking (or anything else for that matter) - just merely scaremongering
{{quote|They are touted as a safe alternative to smoking, but electronic cigarettes could damage the lungs, latest research has found.

The devices were found to cause an immediate rise in airway resistance in the lungs - meaning less oxygen is absorbed by the blood.

On average the effect lasted for ten minutes, a report presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Vienna found.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197430/Electronic-cigarettes-damage-lungs-cause-oxygen-absorbed-blood.html Electronic cigarettes 'could damage your lungs' as they cause less oxygen to be absorbed by the blood] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

This seems to be predicated on the fact that some smokers use their lungs to draw on the [[e-cigs]] (as opposed to those who close the back of their throat and produce a partial vacuum by their mouth alone.) Something that the same people smoking cigarettes would never do with real cigarettes...

{{quote|Electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine through a vapour rather than smoke and there has been much debate over their safety.}}

No. There's been a lot of opinion spouted over their safety with no research to back up the scaremongering. Nicotine is the only active ingredient in [[e-cigs]] - a chemical that is 'safely' used in things that the pharmacological industry produce such as gum and patches. The only other constituants are water and (propylene) glycol who's safety is not in doubt<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol#Humans Propylene glycol] - Wikipedia</ref>

{{quote|To investigate, researchers from the University of Athens examined the effects on eight people who had never smoked [...]}}

Words fail.

== Email - 3 Sep 2012 ==
{{quote|Scientists who attached heart rate monitors to office workers found they remained in a state of 'high alert' throughout the day if they had constant access to email.

Now University of California informatics professor Gloria Mark has given her verdict on email after running an experiment in which 13 volunteers ignored their 'you've got mail' chimes for five days.

Always connected: Scientists who attached heart rate monitors to office workers found they remained in a state of 'high alert'

Speaking to The Times about her experiment, she said: 'I had this crazy idea that people were addicted to email.

'So I started thinking, the way you can test that is if you take people away from email cold turkey. You should see symptoms of withdrawal, the same way people are addicted to alcohol or drugs.'<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2197689/How-quitting-email-good-heart-makes-productive--difficult-giving-drugs.html Quitting email is good for your heart and makes you more productive, say researchers (but it's as difficult as giving up drugs)] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

== Egg Yolks - 13 Aug 2012 ==
{{quote|LONDON, Ont. – Yolk or smoke — the first is almost as bad for you as the second, London researchers have found. But the egg lobby very much disagrees.

When it comes to raising your risk of heart attacks and strokes, eating egg yolks is nearly as bad as smoking, the Western University researchers found.

"If you are at risk of heart attack and stroke, you shouldn't eat egg yolks," said Dr. David Spence, a Robarts Research Institute scientist.<ref>[http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/13/egg-yolks-almost-as-unhealthy-as-cigarettes-study Egg Yolks Amost as Unhealthy as Cigarettes] - Toronto Sun</ref>}}

== Lack of exercise - 18 Jul 2012 ==
{{quote|A lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world, a study suggests.

The report, published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3m deaths a year.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-18876880 Inactivity 'killing as many as smoking'] - BBC</ref>}}

{{quote|If you thought kicking the cigarette habit was enough to keep you healthy, you may want to go and find your trainers.

Because failing to take enough exercise is as deadly as smoking, researchers say.

More than 90,000 lives in Britain each year from illnesses including heart disease, breast and bowel cancer and diabetes.

[...]

Researchers at Harvard estimated the number of lives lost each year because of a lack of exercise.

The study, published in The Lancet, found that worldwide it leads to one in ten deaths, or 5.3million of the 57million deaths globally.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2175127/Lack-exercise-bad-smoking-Failing-fit-causes-90-000-deaths-year.html Why being a couch potato is as bad for you as smoking] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

== Fast Food, [[Aseem Malhotra]] - 14 Apr 2012 ==
{{quote|A consultant psychiatrist friend, on his recent appointment to a new job, was so disgusted by the detrimental effect of the unchecked consumption of junk food on his patients' health that he successfully banned vending machines selling chocolates, fizzy drinks and crisps from the hospital grounds.

He wondered whether I – as a clinician – believed the consequences of eating junk food were as bad for our health as smoking cigarettes. "No, not as bad," I replied, "in many ways it's far worse!"<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/14/demonise-junk-food-sake-children We must demonise junk food for the sake of our children] - CiF, The Guardian</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]
[[Category:Food]]

False Rape Accusations

2019-07-31T13:44:12Z

Paul: Created page with "Under Construction.... == Jul 2019 - unnamed UK teenager v 12 locals, Cyprus == https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-british-teenager-accused-lying-18794158 ht..."

Under Construction....

== Jul 2019 - unnamed UK teenager v 12 locals, Cyprus ==

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-british-teenager-accused-lying-18794158

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49142550

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9604688/pictured-ayia-napa-gang-rape-lying-british-court/

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/british-woman-19-faces-court-hearing-in-cyprus-after-rape-allegation-is-dismissed-a4200001.html

A British woman who alleged she was raped in Cyprus has been arrested on suspicion of making a false allegation, according to news agencies.

The 12 Israelis arrested over the alleged attack, which was said to have taken place on 17 July in Ayia Napa, have all been released.

== Oct 2018 - Sophie Skinner v Damion Osborne, Abergavenny, South Wales, UK ==
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6269779/Abergavenny-mum-jailed-falsely-accusing-18-year-old-raping-toilets-near-Weatherspoons.html

Sophie Skinner, 25, accused teenager of raping her in Abergavenny, South Wales
Skinner lured him into public toilets after meeting him in a Weatherspoons pub

== May 2017 - unnamed v Robert Adlington ==
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5765011/Father-two-53-spent-torturous-eight-months-jail-false-rape-claims.html

Robert Adlington was falsely accused of rape and other charges last year

He was repeatedly denied bail, locked up in Nottingham prison for eight months

Police didn't turn over racy text messages that proved the sex was consensual

Case was thrown out by a judge in January when the texts were finally disclosed

== unclear date - Anna Costin v 3 (4?) unnamed ==

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5762475/Woman-false-rape-claims-against-THREE-men-jailed-four-years-appeal.html

Today London's Appeal Court heard one of her victims was able to rubbish her claims with a 'cast-iron alibi' because he was away on holiday at the time.

Another victim proved that he had been at home watching TV when she claimed he raped her.

== Feb 2016 - unnamed v 15 yr old boy, Leicestershire ==
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5347627/Boy-17-cleared-rape-missed-messages-emerge.html

The 17-year-old boy was found not guilty after the emergence of thousands of social media messages proving his innocence that police officers had failed to uncover.

He was expelled from his school in Leicestershire in 2016 following his arrest at the age of 15, according to The Times.

== Jul 2015 - unnamed v Oliver Mears ==
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42745181

Oliver Mears had been on bail since his arrest on suspicion of rape and sexual assault in July 2015, when he was 17.

A judge criticised prosecutors' "last-minute" decision to drop the case, made after new evidence emerged last week.

Surrey Police admitted its initial investigation into Mr Mears, now 19, had been flawed.

== Dec 2012 - Eleanor De Freitas v Alexander Economou ==
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/woman-who-committed-suicide-called-prostitute-by-man-she-accused-of-raping-her-a3257501.html

Economou was accused by Eleanor, a 23-year-old trainee accountant, of rape in December 2012, but the case was not pursued by the Crown Prosecution Service due to lack of evidence.

He then brought a private prosecution against Ms de Freitas, accusing her of deliberately lying about the alleged attack.

The CPS took over the prosecution and she was due to face trial for perverting the course of justice when she committed suicide at the family home in Fulham in 2013.

== 2015(?) - unnamed v Liam Allan ==
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/29/men-falsely-accused-rape-victims-says-wrongly-charged-student/

Liam Allan , then 22, went on trial in December 2017 facing 12 counts of rape and sexual assault. He had spent two years on bail and endured three days of trial before the case collapsed as it emerged his supposed victim had been pestering him for "casual sex".

== 2017(?) - unknown v Isaac Itiary ==
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5199499/Texts-prove-alleged-rape-victim-15-lied-19.html

A series of text messages prove a 15-year-old alleged rape victim repeatedly lied and said she was 19 in the second case which has collapsed after officers sat on evidence.

Isaac Itiary, 25, was released from prison yesterday after it emerged the alleged victim posed as a 19-year-old woman and lied about her age.

== 2017(?) - unknown v Samuel Armstrong ==
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5202449/Tory-MPs-aide-CLEARED-raping-woman.html

A Tory MP's aide cleared of rape today said he could have been wrongly convicted if not for crucial evidence finally disclosed just days before his trial.

== 2017(?) Jemma Beal v 15 men, including Mahad Cassim ==
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4818874/Jemma-Beale-jailed-10-years.html

A fantasist who made up bogus rape and sex assault claims against 15 men in three years for 'attention' has been jailed for 10 years.

Beale, from west London, was even awarded £11,000 in compensation while Mr Cassim languished behind bars.

== 2017 unnamed v unnamed, Redcar, Norht Yorkshire, UK ==
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4390684/Police-arrest-woman-suspicion-wasting-time.html

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of wasting police time after claims a mother was hauled into the back of a car and raped in front of her toddler.

Cleveland Police today confirmed the force was no longer investigating an allegation of rape in Redcar, North Yorkshire, which was said to have happened on Friday, March 3.

== 2017 - Sheena Boll v unknown, Newham, UK ==
https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/crime-court/newham-teacher-impersonated-pupil-to-falsely-accuse-colleague-of-sexual-assault-1-4870688

A teacher who impersonated a pupil on Childline to falsely accuse a colleague of sexual assault has been handed a suspended sentence.

== Mar 2016 - Georgia Harris v unnamed policeman, Kent, UK ==
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sevenoaks/news/waitress-blackmailed-pc-after-doctoring-118386/

A woman has been locked up after she tried to blackmail a police officer she met on a dating website by suggesting he wanted to rape her.

Nightclub waitress Georgia Harris recorded the 22-year-old man as she put a “hypothetical” scenario to him about such a sex attack.

She then sent him a “doctored” video clip of part of the conversation with him saying “I would rape you” and her replying “I don’t want you to rape me.”

== Jun 2016 - Unnamed v unknown, York, UK ==
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/14530182.york-rape-never-happened/

DETECTIVES investigating an alleged rape in York now say it never happened.

Last week, North Yorkshire Police said a woman in her twenties had been attacked on a footpath near the University of York in the early hours of Friday, May 13, as she walked behind the Heslington campus.

On Wednesday, a police spokeswoman said the woman had since confirmed to officers "that the events reported did not happen", and "no further action will be taken in this case".

==References==

{{Reflist}}

John McClurey

2019-05-17T13:18:41Z

Paul: /* September 2010 */

[[John McClurey]] is an independant retailer<ref>[http://www.cdrex.com/j-s-mcclurey-limited-2439465.html J & S Mcclurey Limited] - Company Data Rex</ref><ref>[https://companycheck.co.uk/company/04918943/J--S-MCCLUREY-LIMITED/companies-house-data J & S MCCLUREY LIMITED Credit Report] - [[Company Check]]</ref>, for more than 30 years, in the North of England<ref name="ash_twitter">[https://medium.com/@ASH_LDN/how-ten-years-of-tobacco-control-success-has-helped-me-d65a8233f92e How ten years of tobacco control success has helped me] - [[ASH]] on Twitter </ref>, and LibDem Councillor for Gateshead<ref>[http://nannyingtyrants.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/how-to-spot-another-ash-stooge.html How to Spot Another ASH Stooge] - Nannying Tyrants</ref> since 2008<ref name="chavs">[http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gateshead-councillor-apologises-facebook-comments-1363412 Gateshead councillor apologises for Facebook comments] - [[ChronicalLive]]</ref>, who frequently appears in [[ASH]]'s media statements purporting to represent '''all''' retailers.

Top of his list of complaints is, apparently, that selling tobacco fails to generate sufficient/any profit, so he'd like to stop selling it, and free up all the money that's tied up in tobacco stock on... we're not sure.

And for some obscure reason, he has yet to simply... stop selling it.

==May 2010==
On being "forced" by evil Big Tobacco to do stuff:

{{quote|1=We are always under pressure from the industry reps to broaden our range of stock and try out new products. This means we’re often required to stock products that we wouldn’t otherwise choose to hold. It’s the industry rather than our customers who determine what’s on sale.}}

I'm not sure business works like that. They may provide incentives like cheaper product, gifts or competition entries, but no-one's forcing you to do it.

==August 2010==
The first reference found for [[John McClurey|John]] is when he's being a tad disingenuous about the cost of 'shutters' to hide cigarettes behind:

{{quote|1=I was amazed at how enthusiastic Irish retailers were. Complying with the legislation had not been expensive and sales to adults haven’t been affected. These displays aren’t really aimed at existing smokers; after all nine out of ten smokers know what brand they want before they come in and the rest will make their decision largely on price.<ref>[http://ash.org.uk/media-and-news/press-releases-media-and-news/shopkeepers-hoodwinked-by-tobacco-manufacturers/ Shopkeepers hoodwinked by tobacco manufacturers] - [[ASH]]</ref>}}

This, along with [[ASH]]'s claim that shutters would only cost £120<ref name="dick">[http://dickpuddlecote.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/everything-changes-but-ash.html Everything Changes But ASH] - [[Dick Puddlecote]]</ref> in a document that has now gone missing from [http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_939.pdf here] ([[:File:ASH 939.pdf|Wayback machine version]]) were subsequently debunked<ref>[http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/dark-market-redux.html The Dark Market Redux] - [[Velvet Glove, Iron Fist]]</ref><ref>[http://dickpuddlecote.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/do-lies-upon-lies-get-bigger-than-this.html Do Lies (Upon Lies) Get Bigger Than This?] - [[Dick Puddlecote]]</ref>.

{{quote|During the debate over legislation to end retail displays of cigarettes, I remember seeing lobbying claims from trade bodies claiming that the legislation could cost retailers over £10,000. 1 I’ve just worked out the bill for the curtains I will need to put over my gantry for cigarettes – it comes to only £120. And in most cases, the tobacco industry will pay the cost for affected retailers.<ref>[[John McClurey|John]] in [[:File:ASH 939.pdf|APPG Bulletin]]</ref>}}

Proper retailers on the other hand had more realistic quotes:

{{quote2|1=[...]retailers are extremely upset. They say the move will damage their businesses — especially as it could cost £1500 to install a special gantry to store the products<ref>[http://www.standard.co.uk/business/lords-cigs-vote-sparks-a-worry-for-newsagents-6787344.html Lords’ cigs vote sparks a worry for newsagents] - EveningStandard</ref>}}

Probably taken, as Dick Puddlecote observed<ref name="dick" />, from this:

[[File:1500.PNG]]

As of 2017, http://www.shelving4shops.co.uk/cigarette-gantry-1.html has one listed at £583.33 (£700 after tax.) https://www.shopfittingsuppliesonline.com/cigarette-gantry-unit-with-sliding-doors.html has one for £440 (£528).

==September 2010==
Displays won't affect sales because:

{{quote|1=“Displays aren’t really aimed at existing smokers – after all nine out of ten smokers know what brand they want before they come in and the rest will make their decision largely on price.”<ref>[http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/anti-smoking-group-dismisses-claims-cigarette-4986173 Anti-smoking group dismisses claims cigarette display ban would increase tobacco smuggling] - The Huddersfield Daily Examiner]]</ref>}}

==October 2010==
Off to Guernsey next and...
{{quote|John McClurey (pictured) was in Guernsey last night to give a presentation to local tobacco retailers and States members.

He has been a tobacco retailer for almost 30 years and is also a Liberal Democrat councillor in Gateshead.<ref>[http://guernseypress.com/news/2010/10/22/tobacco-ban-does-not-mean-death-of-retail/ Tobacco ban does not mean death of retail] - [[Guernsey Press]]</ref>}}

==January 2011==
More myths are peddled in [[The Guardian]]:

{{quote|1=Professor Ann McNeill suggests that removing tobacco displays will reduce youth smoking in the long term without harming small shops in the short term. I am a small shopkeeper myself. I've been to Ireland and spoken to retailers there and I think she's right. It will make it a little easier for smokers to quit and a little less likely for young people to start. <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jan/18/education-baccalaureate-free-school-meals Education letters] - [[The Guardian]]</ref>}}

Strange how, before [[Standardised packaging]] come in he claims loss of sales won't harm small shops, yet 6 years later (see below) he claims they're actually a burden he could well do without.

==April 2012==
It appears that smokers are the only people [[John McClurey|John]] seems to have a dislike for:

{{quote|1=A COUNCILLOR has been accused of demonising young people after supporting a Facebook page that implores people to ‘stone chavs’.

[...]

The page called ‘chavs are freaks, throw rocks at them’ has more than 3,600 fans, which until this week included the Gateshead shopkeeper and former North of England President of the Newsagents Federation.<ref name="chavs" />}}

==July 2012==
Three decades of selling tobacco allows [[John McClurey|John]] to wildly pontificate on [[standardised packaging]]:

{{quote|1=That’s why I feel it’s so important to present a balanced view on the subject of plain packaging,<ref name="politics_2012">[http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2012/07/02/comment-my-newsagent-will-be-fine-with-plain-packs Comment: A newsagent who'll be fine with plain packs] - politics.co.uk</ref>}}

says our [[John McClurey|John]], before presenting a highly unbalanced view.

For example the 'packaging makes tobacco irresistible to kids' line is repeated ad nauseam...
{{quote|1=Let me say now, I am certain that the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products would reduce the appeal of eye-catching tobacco brands and help lower the temptation for more children to start smoking.}}

Of course, if only it was illegal for the likes of [[John McClurey|John]] to sell them to kids, that might stop them smoking as well. Just sayin'.

And the [[slippery slope]] argument rears its head

{{quote|1=I don’t believe for a second that this is a slippery slope and that I will be selling chocolate bars or crisps in plain packs in years to come, as the tobacco companies are claiming.}}

It wasn't just the tobacco companies [[John McClurey|John]].

{{quote|1=Plain packs would cause no confusion or extra costs for small businesses like mine.}}

But what's this? 50 newsagents descending on Westminster to complain the exact opposite will happen?

{{quote2|1=“It means a lot of extra time while shop assistants find customers’ required brand on their gantry.

“It will cause delay and confusion and newsagents and small shops will lose business as people go elsewhere.

“People often buy chewing gum, a newspaper and other items when they pop in for packet of cigarettes.

“With the shutters to hide cigarette displays coming in next April this is unnecessary.<ref>[http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11775164.display/ Plain cigarette packaging triggers East Lancashire newsagents’ trip to Westminster] - The (York) Press</ref>}}

And here's the Association of Convenience Stores take:

{{quote3|1=The plan to implement plain packaging for cigarettes will hurt retailers and cause confusion in the industry, claims a leading pressure group.

Chief executive of the Association of Convenience stores James Lowman says the regulations will make it harder for retailers to accurately control stock and place orders and will increase the time it takes to serve customers.<ref>[https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2014/06/11114-plain-cigarette-packaging-will-hurt-retailers-claims-acs/ Plain cigarette packaging will hurt convenience stores, claims ACS] - Retail Gazette</ref>}}

==May 2014==
A passing mention in another article about illegal tobacco, but he's asked about [[standardised packaging]]...

{{quote|1=But today John McClurey, 59, whose 66-year-old dad, also named John, died of lung cancer 20 years ago, said more must be done to cut smoking levels.

John, who has owned a newsagent in the West End of Newcastle for more that two decades, said tobacco firms were opposed to plain cigarette packaging because it wiped-out a “unique selling point and advertising”.

He said: “When my dad was dying I had a major problem about what I was selling and I had a long talk with him and what we said was that it was business and I would continue to do what I was doing.

“But I promised to promote anti-smoking campaigns and encouraged people to stop smoking. That’s how I came to terms with that.”
<ref>[http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/north-tyneside-mp-calls-end-7083537 North Tyneside MP calls for end of bootleg tobacco sales]] - ChronicleLive</ref>}}

That 'balanced view' didn't last too long.

==October 2016==
ASH produce a report [[:File:Counter-arguments-online.pdf|Counter Arguments - How important is tobacco to small retailers]] where [[John McClurey|John]] unequivocally states in the foreword:

{{quote|1=Small retailers in Britain have little choice but to sell tobacco as many of our customers still smoke.}}

Actually [[John McClurey|John]] has every choice to not sell tobacco. It's just that he makes a profit from doing so, and so he's lying when he states

{{quote|1=But tobacco makes me very little money while tying up plenty of cash in stock.}}

The report goes onto blandly state:

{{quote|1=Despite the high volume of tobacco sales in convenience stores, accounting for 25% of total sales
income in our sample, small retailers make very little money from tobacco. The margin on tobacco products
is around 6% compared to an average of 24% for the other products they sell.}}

But those numbers include the 'cost' of the tax on the products. If a £8 packet of cigarettes generates 48p of profit (using the 6% cited) and you work out how much the packet would cost if it only had 20% VAT on it instead of the 233% it actually did in 2012, then it would cost £2.84. Now that 48p works out as 17% profit. If you treated it as zero-rated (as some of the things in his shop probably are) then it works out as 48p/£2.37=20%.

Or you could use realistic figures instead of cherry picking:

{{quote2|1=Paul’s top-selling cigarette brand is Marlboro Lights, which he sells with a 13% margin at £6.82, helping him to make a 76p profit on a pack of 20. <ref>[https://www.conveniencestore.co.uk/advice/products-in-depth/cash-in-tobacco-sticking-around/216384.article Cash in: Tobacco - Sticking around] - [[Convenience Store]]</ref>}}

==June 2017==

During the 10-year celebrations of the English tobacco ban, John pops up again...

{{quote|1=Tobacco companies try to tell me that I make a lot of money from selling cigarettes, and that if it weren’t for people coming into my shop for their smoking materials I’d have very little business. This is so far from the truth as to be almost funny. It’s true that there’s big money to be made from tobacco, but it’s not made by me - it’s made by the tobacco manufacturers.<ref name="ash_twitter" />}}

On the topic of profit margins:

{{quote|1=Tobacco contributes less than 10% of total weekly profits, and average profit margins are only 6.6% for tobacco products compared to 24.1% for all other products.<ref name="ash_twitter" />}}

.. which sorta ignores the fact that while most of the stock in his shop is taxed at either 20% VAT or 0% (presuming he sells zero-rated food) the tax on tobacco can be anywhere from 233% (for an £8 pack) to a massive 900% (for a £5.50 pack. Both 2012 rates)<ref>[[Cost_of_smokers#Cost_to_the_NHS|Cost of Smokers]] - Tax calculations for a packet of cigarettes</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]
[[Category:Tobacco]]
[[Category:Government]]

Eveline Lubbers

2019-05-15T11:45:15Z

Paul:

== Positions held ==
* - 1984 - Political Science graduate<ref name="evel">http://www.evel.nl/</ref>
* 1984 - ? - Co-founder (with [[Peter Klerks]]<ref name="nlwiki">http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eveline_Lubbers</ref>) of [[Buro Jansen & Janssen]] - spin-off from an 80's squatter's movement, that (still) spies on other organisations.<ref name="evel" />
* 2002(?) - Present(?) - Freelance journalist<ref name="evel" />
* 2004 - ? - Founder of spinwatch.org<ref name="evel" /> - a site that's apparently not adverse to spinning itself<ref>http://spinwatchwatch.wordpress.com/</ref>
* ? - Present - Research Fellow at the [[Bath University|University of Bath]]<ref name="mc">http://us.macmillan.com/author/evelinelubbers</ref><ref>http://www.bath.ac.uk/health/staff/</ref>
* ? - ? - Professor of Investigative Journalism at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam<ref name="mc" />
* 2012 - Present - Founder and co-managing editor of [[TobaccoTactics.org]]<ref name="tt">http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/Main_Page [http://www.webcitation.org/68svxs15I Archive]</ref>

== Qualifications ==

== Views ==

== Conflicts of interest ==

== General ==
Ms. Lubbers is a Danish Activist<ref name="nlwiki" /> who co-founded a [[Buro Jansen & Janssen|company]] (that was a spin-off from an 80's movement) that prides itself on spying on other organisations. More recently, in 2012, she was a co-founder of [[TobaccoTactics.org]] that does much the same but also spies on private individuals.

She has also published books based on works of a similar subject:
* Secret Manoeuvres in the Dark: Corporate and Police Spying on Activists<ref>http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Manoeuvres-Dark-Corporate-Activists/dp/0745331858/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341337129&sr=1-1</ref>(14 Jun 2012)
* Battling Big Business: Countering Greenwash Front Groups and Other Forms of Corporate Deception<ref>http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battling-Big-Business-Countering-Greenwash/dp/190399814X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341337129&sr=1-2</ref>(25 April 2002)
* La grande mascarade : Ces multinationales qui lavent plus vert<ref>http://www.amazon.co.uk/La-grande-mascarade-multinationales-lavent/dp/2841901068/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341337129&sr=1-4</ref> (The Great Masquerade: Those multinationals that wash greener) (13 Dec 2006)
* Schone Schijn - Smerige streken in de strijd tussen burgers en bedrijven.<ref>http://www.evel.nl/pandora/schoneschijn.htm</ref> (Body Beautiful - Dirty tricks in the struggle between citizens and businesses)(2002<ref>http://www.biopolitiek.nl/pivot/entry.php?id=86</ref>)

In June 2018, she - rather hypocritically, co-signed a letter complaining about being spied upon.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/04/as-victims-of-spycops-we-stand-with-lush-in-campaign-for-full-disclosure - As victims of spycops, we stand with Lush in campaign for full disclosure] - The Guardian</ref>

'''To be confirmed,''' whether this is the same person, but in 2019 a 'Dr Eveline Lubbers' was the author of a report by Scottish Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (SCOPS) - i.e. an organisation against spying on people:

{{quote|1=A report published by the Scottish Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (SCOPS) said a number of controversial undercover operatives travelled north of the border for activities including spying on the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and infiltrating activists ahead of the 2005 G8 summit at Gleneagles.

[...]

Written by academic Dr Eveline Lubbers, the SCOPS report said SDS officers John Dines, Mark Jenner and “Carlo Neri” all travelled to Scotland with women they had “targeted for long-term relationships”. Neri is said to have spied on the SSP while visiting Glasgow. Another officer, Mark Kennedy, is said to have been accompanied to Scotland by women on multiple occasions.<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/police-spies-took-sexual-partners-to-scotland-1-4926162 'Police spies took sexual partners to Scotland'] - The Scotsman</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]
[[Category:People]]

Victims

2019-05-13T10:08:35Z

Paul: /* Named individuals */

== Victims of anti-smoking policies. ==
This is a list of people who have suffered from rules and restrictions put in place to prevent people from smoking, especially indoors.

Contrast with the purported victims of [[SHS]] for whom the rules were put in place with no evidence for [[SHS]] to back them up.

More [[victims]] may be found in [https://thesmokersgraveyard.wordpress.com/ The Smokers' Graveyard]

== Named individuals ==

===Beulah Toombs===
{{quote|1= A grandmother who has been smoking most of her 89 years is being kicked out of her home because she won’t quit smoking.

It’s a Housing & Urban Development section 202 home for low-income seniors, but it is privately owned. The smoking grandmother is Buelah Toombs, who prefers Dorals.

HUD, by law, cannot mandate what a private owner does, but HUD is moving ahead anyway.<ref>[https://www.housingwire.com/articles/29753-grandmother-evicted-from-hud-home-for-cigarettes Grandmother evicted from HUD home for cigarettes] - HousingWire</ref>}}

{{quote2|1= Beulah Toombs started smoking a long time ago. She isn’t sure exactly when, but she was young. Maybe it was 1935, the year Babe Ruth quit playing baseball. Or maybe 1939, the year “The Grapes of Wrath” was published. But it was definitely before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.<ref>[https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/04/20/smoking-grandma-rather-move-quit/7951293/ Smoking grandma would rather move than quit] - Cincinnati.com </ref>}}

=== Emma Martin ===
{{quote|A Gold Coast disability pensioner has allegedly been savagely beaten and kicked to the ground for smoking a cigarette in an underground carpark.

Emma Martin and her friend were in the carpark of their Southport apartment building when they were approached by fellow tenant, Rewi Borell, who argued the 36-year-old was not allowed to smoke at the location<ref>[https://www.9news.com.au/2018/11/23/20/28/southport-pensioner-assaulted-in-underground-carpark-for-smoking-cigarette Pensioner allegedly assaulted for smoking cigarette] - 9News</ref>}}

=== Eduard Assylov ===
{{quote|Eduard Assylov, a 37-year-old motor mechanic, was stabbed to death and his head, limbs and genitals chopped off with a knife.

His roommate confessed to the crime and said that had become fed up with Assylov's smoking, and had eventually 'gone berserk' when the mechanic lit up in their home. <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5202221/Non-smoker-hacks-room-mates-penis-smoking.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 Non-smoker hacks off his room-mate's penis and decapitates him because he was fed up with his cigarettes] - [[Daily Mail]]</ref>}}

===Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann===

Feeling the need to incessantly hector smokers can have dire repercussions...

{{quote|The calls come after the death of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who was allegedly punched in the head in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital after expressing concern about people smoking near the hospital entrance.

<ref name="cowra">[http://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/4928813/safety-concerns-could-see-hospital-smoking-ban-reviewed/?cs=2452 Health workers attacked and abused over hospital smoking ban] - Cowra Guardian</ref>}}

{{quote2|It is alleged Esmaili had followed Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann into the foyer of Box Hill Hospital and allegedly hit the surgeon's head from behind.

The heart surgeon told Esmaili off for smoking in the non-smoking area outside the front entrance of Box Hill Hospital.

Esmaili was visiting a patient with friends.

The court heard Esmaili had been suffering from drug withdrawals and psychiatric illness, and he did not apply for bail.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4645278/Melbourne-surgeon-dies-one-punch-attack-hospital.html 'We are devastated': Family of heart surgeon 'punched in the head when he told a man to stop smoking' outside a Melbourne hospital] - [Daily Mail]</ref>}}

===Shannon Vincel===
August 16, 2016, 46 yr old Shannon Vincel was attacked in a area popular with smokers outside the grounds of a non-smoking cancer treatment centre property late evening on Monday 15th August. She died the next day.

{{quote|Shannon Vincel, of Springfield, Mo., was hit in the head with an unidentified object as she sat on a folding chair with another person outside the hotel facility about a mile from the hospital about 9:30 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from Zion police.<ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/crime/ct-lns-zion-cancer-patient-killed-st-0818-20160817-story.html Police: Patient dies after attack outside Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion] - Chicago Tribune</ref>}}

{{quote2|I wonder why Shannon Vincel was sitting out on the street outside the Cancer Treatment Center at 10 pm at night? There was no explanation for it in any of the news reports I read, or any of the news video clips I watched. Nor any explanation for why this area was so ‘popular’ with patients.

[...]

The reporter didn’t mention smoking. But she was standing outside the Center near the spot where Shannon Vincel was murdered (above), and right behind her was a big sign that said: “Entering a smoke free campus. NO SMOKING.”

[...]

And then the penny dropped. The ‘popular area’ was where patients went to smoke and chat. Maybe she didn’t even smoke, but had gone outside to be with a smoking friend.<ref>[https://cfrankdavis.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/driven-to-her-death-by-tobacco-control/ Driven To Her Death By Tobacco Control] - Frank Davies Blog</ref>}}

===Dean George===
April 2016, 40 yr old prisoner commits suicide because jail introduces smoking ban.
{{quote|A prisoner has killed himself after allegedly being stopped from smoking in Swansea jail.

Inmate Dean George, 40, was found dead in his cell at one of eight jails trialling the "no smoking" ban on health grounds.

Prison Service chiefs are investigating his death at Swansea prison which started the smoking ban four months ago.

Other prisoners say tensions are running high over the smoking ban - and that George had threatened to kill himself.<ref>[http://www.swanseasound.co.uk/news/local/prisoner-suicide-over-smoking-ban/ Prisoner Suicide Over Smoking Ban] - swanseasound</ref>}}

===Eric Garner===
July 2015, 48 yr old Eric Garner was arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. During the arrest he was put into a chokehold, and in a video taken at the time<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-man-dies-puts-choke-hold-article-1.1871486 Staten Island man dies after NYPD cop puts him in chokehold — SEE THE VIDEO] - Daily News</ref> appeared to have his head slammed against the sidewalk. He later died as a result of his treatment by the police, prompting some to ask "Is Selling Untaxed Cigarettes Now a Capital Offense<ref name="daily-caller">[http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/22/is-selling-untaxed-cigarettes-now-a-capital-offense/ Is Selling Untaxed Cigarettes Now A Capital Offense?] - Daily Caller</ref>":
{{quote|Garner didn’t die of lung cancer or emphysema. He died during a struggle with at least five police officers as he protested repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. If the video is accurate, the officers escalated the physical confrontation rather quickly. One appeared to put Garner in a chokehold.<ref name="daily-caller" />}}

===Andy Nowicki===
April 2014, World War II veteran Andy Nowicki was at the center of a conflict over the Newington Housing Authority's newly enacted no smoking policy. Having lived there for 20 years, he was in the middle of being evicted for having the temerity to smoke in his own house, and also smoke within 10 feet of the property. He died in the middle of it all, aged 90, from a stroke<ref>[http://articles.courant.com/2014-04-29/community/hc-newington-smoker-dies-20140429_1_andy-nowicki-newington-housing-authority-janet-nowicki Vet At Center Of Newington No-Smoking Conflict Dies] - The Courant</ref>.
{{quote|Housing Authority Executive Director Melinda Harvey defended the authority Tuesday, saying Nowicki had been caught smoking in violation of the settlement and therefore had to vacate his apartment.

"He continued to not comply," Harvey said. "So we contacted Paul [Doyle] and met with him."}}

===Jonathan Brace===
April 2013, Jonathan, a 33 yr old software engineer, died because his mother forbade him to smoke in the house. Instead he sat on the window ledge of his bedroom, from which he apparently fell 20 ft hitting his head on the patio below one evening. His mother found him the following morning.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2308190 Software engineer, 33, died after falling from bedroom window...] - Daily Mail</ref>

===Lorraine Adolph===
December 2008, Lorraine, 68, - a patient at Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Canada, went out in sub-zero temperatures to have a cigarette. She was found one week later, frozen to death<ref>http://elderadvocates.ca/inquiry-for-lorraine-adolph/</ref>, 400 meters<ref>http://elderadv.posterous.com/lorraine-adolph-fatality-inquiry-half-truths</ref> from the building.
===David Arnett===
David, 12, committed suicide rather than admit to his parents he'd been smoking. After smelling smoke on him and finding cigarettes, his form tutor gave him 24 hours to own up to his parents<ref>http://www.theargus.co.uk/archive/2004/07/21/The+Argus+Archive/6713314.Pupil_caught_with_cigarettes_found_hanged/</ref> before the school contacted them. David strangled himself with his school tie while his father was preparing dinner<ref>http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local-news/david_12_is_found_hanged_after_he_was_caught_with_cigarettes_1_1437882</ref>.
=== Dana Blake ===
April 2003, Dana, a bouncer in a New York night club, was stabbed to death in a fight that started when Dana tried to evict a patron who was flouting the newly enacted smoking ban two weeks previously.

: Travis Keyes, the owner of B3, a bar next door, didn't hesitate to blame the new law, which has been billed as a way to safeguard the health of pub employees.

: "It all started over a cigarette," said Keyes, who helped chase down the Chans. "It's so ironic: Something that's supposed to save lives has already taken a life."<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,84090,00.html</ref>

Isaias Umali, not one of those involved with the initial flouting of the smoking ban, was convicted of First Degree manslaughter, and sentenced to 17 years in prison<ref>http://gothamist.com/2005/02/17/east_village_murder_followups.php</ref>.

=== Elena Brennan ===

Shortly after 6am on 13th July 2011, Elena Brennan was discovered by a passing private ambulance driver dead, still in her dressing gown, from massive head injury she sustained after falling 20 feet onto a concrete ramp beneath her second storey flat (3rd floor in the US)<ref>http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/streathamnews/9455300.Pensioner_died_after_smoking_cigarette_out_of_window__inquest_hears/</ref>. The inquest found that she'd fallen from her window because she had been leaning out of the window to have a cigarette<ref>http://www.courtnewsuk.co.uk/online_archive/?name=Elena+Brennan&place=&courts=0</ref>.
=== Barry Collen ===
January 2008, Barry Collen (74) was found frozen to death at 4.30am at his care home in Winnipeg, Canada, after going outside in -20°C temperatures at 1am for a cigarette<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2008/01/11/collen.html</ref><ref>http://www.forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=689</ref>

"He was banned from the smoking room, for smoking too much.<ref>http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/01/11/pf-4767877.html</ref>"

=== Jane O'Grady ===

In October 2011, it was reported that Ms O'Grady, a 97 year old, was threatened with eviction from her independent living facility. Her smoking wasn't a problem when she moved in in 2005<ref>http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_indian_river_county/vero_beach/jane-ogrady-97-in-jeopardy-of-eviction-from-lakes-at-pointe-west-home-because-of-smoking-habit</ref>, but in 2008, The Lakes at Pointe West implemented a no-smoking policy.

In a letter to the media in Feb 2012, The Lakes stated they wanted her to either stop smoking, or move to accomodation where she can be given mobility assistance to smoke outside because of the other 197 residents. Ms O'Grady wants neither.<ref>http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/09/letter-vero-beach-senior-home-wants-smoker-stay-mo/</ref><ref>http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Facility-Defends-Eviction-of-97-Year-Old-Smoker-139087514.html</ref>

Jane died 20th Feb 2012<ref>http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/26/letter-great-void-with-passing-of-great-lady/</ref>
=== Matthew Long ===
August 2007, Matthew fell 2½ft from a brick terrace into the car park, and was brain-damaged from the fall<ref>http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/1889489/Man-sues-after-falling-over-on-cigarette-break.html</ref>. He went on to sue the owners of the pub for encouraging use of the area without putting warning signs up. His sister is quoted as saying "He smoked only ten cigarettes a day but he must be the worst victim of the smoking ban. If he hadn't had to step outside to light up it would never have happened."
=== Miles Patterson ===
January 2008, Miles, 65, a resident of Manitoulin Lodge in Gore Bay, Ontario, Canada was found suffering from hypothermia after he'd gone outside for a cigarette "sometime after the established smoking period"<ref>http://www.thestar.com/news/article/177526--death-puts-spotlight-on-anti-smoking-law</ref>. He later died after being admitted to hospital.
=== Angel Raich ===
Angel, 46, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor early 2012. In April 2012 she was kicked out of University of California, San Francisco (USCF) Parnassus campus for using medical marijuana<ref>http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Dying-Patient-Kicked-Out-of-Hospital-for-Using-Medical-Marijuana-142425965.html</ref>. USCF stated:

: UCSF is a smoke-free campus and this includes medical marijuana. Several members of the media have asked if UCSF allows the use of a vaporized form of marijuana. It does not. Even a vaporized form of medical marijuana releases particles in the air that are damaging to the lung. Any particles from vapor and odor could have an impact on other patients and hospital employees.

Apparently unrelated, USCF conducts studies to test the effacacy of medical marijuana on patients with chronic pain<ref>http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2011/12/11077/ucsf-study-finds-medical-marijuana-could-help-patients-reduce-pain-opiates</ref>.

=== Richard Read ===

On the 29th October 2011, Richard Read, 61, suffered severe burns, and subsequently died, after he accidentally fumbled with the Zippo lighting his pipe<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2101560/Smoker-killed-fireball-dropped-Zippo-lighter-car-seat-lighting-pipe.html</ref> while sitting in his parked car outside of his home. The dropped zippo caused the car to catch alight and subsequently explode.

It appears he had a stroke<ref>http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk/news/local/tributes_to_man_in_car_fire_tragedy_1_3926460</ref>.
===Stacey Solomon===
Stacey is an English singer, television presenter and reality TV star, who rose to fame during the sixth series of X-Factor. She was photographed smoking when she was seven months pregnant, even though she was trying to give up. As a result FoxyBingo sacked her as a judge on their 'Foxy Mum' panel, and dropped her from their shortlist for Celeb Mum of the Year 2012<ref>http://www.foxybingo.com/skin/community/celebmum.php</ref>[[http://www.webcitation.org/65waQEseI archive]]<ref>http://uk.omg.yahoo.com/gossip/googoogaga/stacey-solomon-smoking-while-pregnant-criticism-little-harsh-143800312.html</ref>
===Lawrence Walker===
In June 2008, taxman Lawrence Walker committed suicide by jumping off cliffs in Newquay after the smoking ban left him a virtual recluse<ref>http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/taxman-kills-himself-over-smoking-363784</ref>.

===Eamonn Mulvenna===
October 22nd, 2005, Eamonn, 20, fell from a 2nd-floor fire escape when he was having a cigarette, due to a smoking ban within Whispers club.

{{quote|The inquest heard that as a result of the smoking ban Whispers lap-dancing club had allowed customers to go out a fire exit on to the fire escape that was 27 feet above an alleyway.<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/news/smoker-died-after-fall-from-fire-escape-1.1006536 Smoker died after fall from fire escape] - [[The Irish Times]]</ref>}}

== Unnamed people or groups ==

===Health Workers in Australia===

So, when people get in your face and demand you stop smoking outside...

{{quote|Rules banning smoking outside Victoria's public hospitals could be reviewed because health workers are being attacked and abused while trying to police the policy.

[...]

The calls come after the death of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who was allegedly punched in the head in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital after expressing concern about people smoking near the hospital entrance.

Last month two patient transport officers were reportedly assaulted outside Dandenong Hospital after refusing a request for a cigarette.

Ambulance union state secretary Steve McGhie said one of the officers had surgery because of an injury sustained in the assault. <ref name="cowra" />}}

===Psychiatric Patients in New Zealand===

August 2016, lawyer goes to court to argue that non-smoking policies in psychiatric facilities actually prolongs the incarciration time that patients spend there.

{{quote|Mr Francois said nicotine withdrawals mirror the symptoms of a mental illness and can be misinterpreted by staff - leading to patients spending longer in an institution than necessary.

"Those symptoms are interpreted by nurses and staff as just being another signal, another sign, of how insane they are."<ref>[http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/larry-williams-drive-with-anz/audio/banning-confined-vulnerable-patients-from-smoking-inhumane-under-bill-of-rights-lawyer/ Banning confined, vulnerable patients from smoking inhumane under Bill of Rights - Lawyer] - Newstalk ZB</ref>}}

===Six Irish students (one with dual American nationality), Berkely, Calafornia, USA===
June 2015:
{{quote|Early Tuesday, 13 people, most of them young Irish students here on the visa program, were crowded onto a fourth-floor balcony off Unit 405 for what neighbors described as a loud party when the balcony collapsed, sending people tumbling onto the street below.

Six people were killed; five were Irish and the sixth had dual Irish-American citizenship, according to the Irish Embassy. Three of the dead were men, three were women, and all were in their 20s. At least seven others suffered injuries, some serious.

[...]

Residents here said that apartments were often crammed with students trying to hold down living costs, and that people typically went out to the balcony to smoke.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/balcony-collapse-berkeley-dead.html?_r=1 Deaths of Irish Students in Berkeley Balcony Collapse Cast Pall on Program] - The New York Times</ref> }}

===Female Backpacker, Scotland===
2004, a female backpacker was found dead at 3am after falling off the roof of a hostel<ref>http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BACKPACKER+DIES+IN+FALL+FROM+ROOF.-a0117839097</ref>. One theory is that she climbed on to the flat roof of the no-smoking Edinburgh Backpackers hostel for a cigarette.

=== Female Students ===
September 2011, on-campus students University of Montana must go to the edge of the campus to have a cigarette. Female students have been discouraged from walking across campus alone at night<ref>http://www.montanakaimin.com/news/ban-places-smokers-in-dangerous-situation-1.2602457#.T02MPYzKa7J</ref> for their own safety. Previously ashtrays were placed 25 feet away from entrances<ref>http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_b3f8cba8-d76b-11e0-8ef3-001cc4c03286.html</ref> but they were all moved to the edge of the campus as part of the new policy.

=== Scottish care home residents ===
February 2012, Canmore Lodge, Dunfermline bans smoking; spokesman for the care home said: “Canmore Lodge can confirm that they will be closing the smoking room at the home as the health and wellbeing of our residents is always our utmost priority." Instead they will have to use, in winter as well as summer what amounts to, as one relative called it "basically a bus shelter."<ref>http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/02/09/pensioners-forced-into-freezing-shelter-for-smoke/</ref>
=== Unnamed Barmaid ===
A bar manager blames the smoking ban for one of his staff being raped while going outside for a cigarette<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/1103369/posts</ref>. Councilman Bill Sova says it's inappropriate to blame the ban. "It should be Calantino's [manger's] responsibility to ensure his employees and patrons are safe."

=== Unnamed Hospital Patient ===
One evening in December 2000, a 54 year old patient at [http://g.co/maps/vpqc9 Seven Oaks General Hospital] in Winnipeg was trapped outside in -30°C temperatures in only her hospital gown, when the door locked behind her and she couldn't find another way in<ref>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/hospital-smoking-bans-endanger-patients-study-132980933.html</ref>. She was found, comatose, an hour later suffering from hypothermia and frostbite to her hands and feet. Four fingers on her right hand had to be amputated. She was left with limited mobility in her left hand.

=== Unnamed Tourist ===
Around 11pm on 2nd April 2010, a 25 yr old German Tourist was dragged from the street and raped in an alleyway while having a cigarette outside a Covent Garden restaurant.<ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23821871-tourist-raped-while-smoking-outside-covent-garden-restaurant.do</ref><ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/tourist-raped-in-londons-west-end-1937270.html</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Smoking]]

Fake attacks

2019-03-26T18:08:01Z

Paul: /* February 2019 - Jussie Smollett - Racist and Homophobic Attack - Chiacago */

This is merely a selection - there's a longer list at [http://fakehatecrimes.org/ http://fakehatecrimes.org/]

== February 2019 - Jussie Smollett - Racist and Homophobic Attack - Chiacago ==
{{quote|1=“Empire” star Jussie Smollett was hospitalized early Tuesday following an assault in Chicago in what is described as a possible hate crime, Variety has confirmed.

According to a statement released by the Chicago Police Department, Smollett was beaten by two men who approached him by yelling out “racial and homophobic slurs” at approximately 2 a.m. Tuesday morning in the 300 block of E. North Water Street. They proceeded to assault Smollett and “poured an unknown chemical substance” on him.

The two men are also said to have put a rope around Smollett’s neck before fleeing on foot. Smollett then transported himself to an area hospital and is described as being in “good condition.”<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-assaulted-chicago-1203122135/ ‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett Assaulted in Chicago in Suspected Hate Crime] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Chicago police are pushing back on media reports that said the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax and say the reports are “unconfirmed by case detectives.”

Two Chicago media outlets reported Thursday that multiple sources told them that investigators believe the attack was staged.

Police spent much of Thursday interviewing two persons of interest in the case, who are believed to have been seen on surveillance images on the night of the attack.<ref>[https://variety.com/2019/music/news/jussie-smollett-attack-staged-1203140464/ Chicago Police Say Reports Jussie Smollett Attack Was Staged Are ‘Unconfirmed’] - Variety</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=
Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records that were heavily redacted and do NOT prove he was talking to his manager at the time of racist, homophobic attack
* Smollett submitted phone records on Monday morning, two weeks after the attack
* They were redacted, according to police, and do not prove he was on the phone with his manager Brandon Z. Moore when he was jumped
* Moore submitted a screenshot of his call history on February 5 to prove their * He is the only person to have claimed to have heard or witnessed Smollett being attacked
* The frustrated Empire star hit out at police on Monday for suggesting that he had not been cooperative<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6695695/Chicago-police-say-Jussie-Smollett-gave-insufficient-redacted-phone-records.html Chicago police say Jussie Smollett gave 'insufficient' phone records] - Daily Mail</ref>}}

{{quote3|1=“The new direction of the investigation is now based on the premise that Mr. Smollett was an active participant in the incident,” a law enforcement source close to the situation told Deadline today.

“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” a Chicago PD statement late Saturday declared. “We’ve reached out to the ‘Empire’ cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”<ref>[https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-attack-suspect-chicago-police-cnn-empire-1202559032/ Jussie Smollett Viewed As “Active Participant” By Cops In Alleged Assault] - Deadline</ref>}}

{{quote4|1=More than three weeks after he alleged that he was the victim of a hate crime, actor Jussie Smollett has been arrested on suspicion of filing a false report about it, Chicago police said Thursday morning.

...

Smollett faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false report claiming he was attacked by two men, including one who was masked, in the early morning of January 29 in Chicago. He alleged they yelled racist and homophobic slurs, tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown substance on him<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/21/entertainment/jussie-smollett-thursday/index.html Jussie Smollett arrested and faces a felony charge for allegedly filing false police report] - CNN]</ref>}}

Later
{{quote|1=Calling himself a man of faith, “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that he felt vindicated after a stunning reversal by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office to drop all charges against him in an alleged hate crime hoax.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-wont-be-prosecuted-on-charges-he-faked-attack Jussie Smollett hoax charges dropped, actor wants to 'move on with my life'] - Fox News</ref>}}

== November 2018 - Racist notes - Drake University ==

{{quote|1=In mid-November, a Drake University student told school officials she had received four racist notes in one of the residence halls, at least one of which was addressed to her.

After a police and school investigation, the student, who has not been charged or named, admitted to writing one of the notes. The Des Moines Register reports that Drake officials “are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes.”<ref>[https://www.dailywire.com/news/38921/hate-crime-hoax-student-claimed-she-received-ashe-schow
HATE CRIME HOAX: A Student Claimed She Received Racist Notes. Guess Who Sent Them.] - The Daily Wire</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=An 18-year-old Drake University student is responsible for four of five racist notes found in residence halls and now faces criminal charges, school officials said.

The student admitted to writing one of the notes, officials said. She also reported receiving at least one of the notes, officials said.

A Drake spokesman said officials are confident the four notes reported by the female student were hoaxes. A fifth note, received by a different student in early November, is not connected to the other four notes, now considered copycats, officials said.<ref>[https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/11/30/drake-university-student-fakes-alleged-racist-note-racism-campus-des-moines/2162705002/ Drake University officials: Four of the five racist notes found on campus were hoaxes] - Des Moines Register</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racial slurs - U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School ==
{{quote|1=In late September, five black cadet candidates found racial slurs scrawled on message boards on their doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School. One candidate found the words “go home n‑‑‑‑‑‑” written outside his room, his mother posted on social media, according to the [https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/09/28/racial-slurs-written-on-dorm-room-boards-of-black-air-force-academy-cadet-candidates/ Air Force Times.]

[...]

But on Tuesday, the school made a jolting announcement. The person responsible for the racist messages, the academy said, was, in fact, one of the cadet candidates who reported being targeted by them.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/08/a-black-student-wrote-those-racist-messages-that-shook-the-air-force-academy/?noredirect=on A black student wrote those racist messages that shook the Air Force Academy, school says ] - [[The Washington Post]]</ref>}}

== November 2017 - Racist graffiti - Riley County ==
{{quote|1=A man who defaced his own car with racist graffiti and filed a false police report to Riley County Police Department will not face charges because “having done so would not be in the best interests of the citizens who comprise the Manhattan community.”

Dauntarius Williams, 21, of Manhattan, “was genuinely remorseful and expressed sincere regret” of the negative media attention received as a result of his actions, Riley County Police Department said in a Nov. 6 release. <ref>[https://www.kansas.com/news/state/article183090886.html
Kansas man said he defaced his own car with racist slurs] - The Wichita Eagle</ref>}}

== November 2014 - Jackie Coakley - "A Rape on Campus" - University of Virginia ==

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone magazine retracted its article about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity after the release of a report on Sunday that concluded the widely discredited piece was the result of failures at every stage of the process.

The report, published by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and commissioned by Rolling Stone, said the magazine failed to engage in “basic, even routine journalistic practice” to verify details of the ordeal that the magazine’s source, identified only as Jackie, described to the article’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely. <ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/media/rolling-stone-retracts-article-on-rape-at-university-of-virginia.html?module=inline Rolling Stone Article on Rape at University of Virginia Failed All Basics, Report Says] - The New York Times</ref>}}

{{quote|1=Rolling Stone has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the University of Virginia fraternity at the center of a discredited article about an alleged gang rape, effectively closing the door on a pivotal and damaging chapter in the magazine’s history.

Under the terms of the settlement, the magazine agreed to pay the Virginia Alpha Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity $1.65 million. The fraternity had originally sought a trial by jury and $25 million in damages.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/business/media/rape-uva-rolling-stone-frat.html Rolling Stone to Pay $1.65 Million to Fraternity Over Discredited Rape Story] - The New York Times</ref>}}

== August 2012 - Charlie Rogers - Homophobia - Omaha ==
{{quote|1=Three masked men allegedly bound Rogers and carved homophobic slurs into her skin Sunday, Lincoln police said. The incident has been classified as a hate crime because derogatory terms for lesbians were used, said Officer Katie Flood, a spokeswoman for the Lincoln Police Department.<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/27/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Woman who had gay slurs carved in her body speaks out] - CNN</ref>}}

{{quote2|1=But the Lincoln Police Department said Tuesday that "the physical evidence conflicted with Charlie Rogers' version of events" and that "extensive investigation revealed numerous inconsistencies."

Rogers was arrested Tuesday, police said.

Her attorney, Brett McArthur, told CNN Tuesday night that Rogers had agreed as part of an arrangement to turn herself in, in exchange for a personal recognizance bond. <ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/21/justice/nebraska-hate-crime/index.html Lesbian who reported 'hate crime' attack staged incident, Nebraska police say] - CNN</ref>}}

== March 2006 - Duke lacrosse Rape ==
{{quote|1=The Duke Lacrosse Case was a widely reported 2006 criminal case in which three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. The case evoked varied responses from the media, faculty groups, students, the community, and others. The case's resolution sparked public discussion of racism, media bias, and due process on campuses, and ultimately led to the resignation and disbarment of the lead prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duke_lacrosse_case&oldid=882694038 Duke lacrosee case] - Wikipedia</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

Junk food

2019-03-08T13:48:12Z

Paul: /* Transport For London/London Mayor Sadiq Khan, FarmDrop */

Junk food is one of those "I know it when I see it" type of things for Public Health. It (currently) has no formal definition, yet lots of organisations want something to be 'done' about it.

However when someone comes up with a 'definition' of what junk food it, it inevitably encompasses things that any normal person wouldn't consider junk food.

{{quote|1=The nearest equivalent is HFSS food – food that is deemed to be high in fat, sugar and/or salt. For the purposes of advertising regulations, Ofcom uses a definition of HFSS food that encompasses a much broader range of products than the colloquial term ‘junk food’ implies.

[...]

But then there are the foods that hardly anyone would consider ‘junk’ but which still fail the test: cheese (including half-fat cheese), raisins, sultanas, soy sauce, mustard, most tinned fruit, most yoghurts, most breakfast cereals (including high fibre varieties), peanut butter, Marmite, mayonnaise (light and regular), tomato soup, most cereal bars, many pasta sauces, all butter, fat spreads and olive oil.<ref>https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-proposed-junk-food-ban-is-aimed-at-you-not-your-children/ The proposed ‘junk food’ advertising ban is aimed at you, not your children] - Christopher Snowdon, Spectator Health</ref>}}

== UK Government ==

{{quote|1=The proposals advocate severe restrcitions on the advertising, sale, display, and affordability of what campaigners call ‘junk food.’ But there is no legal definition of junk food...

[...]

This includes raisins, sultanas, most tinned fruit, most yoghurts, nearly all cheese (including half-fat cheese), cream crackers, tomato soup, hummus, ham, pesto, cereal bars, pure orange juice, olive bread, salami, many pasta sauces, butter, margarine, more than half of all meat, and one in every four sandwiches.

[...]

Under the Government’s proposals, all of these items (some of which are even recommended by the NHS as healthy ‘sugar swaps’) will be subject to pricing, promotion and advertising restrictions, a 9pm broadcast advertising ban, a ban on price promotions like meal deals and buy-one-get-one-free, and a display ban at shop entrances, checkouts and at the end of aisles.<ref>[https://order-order.com/2019/03/07/government-cracking-food-describes-healthy/ Government Cracking Down on Food It Describes as Healthy] - Guido Fawkes blog</ref>}}

== [[Transport For London]]/London Mayor [[Sadiq Khan]]/[[FarmDrop]] ==

{{quote|1=Junk food advertising will be banned on the entire Transport for London (TfL) network from 25 February 2019, as a new groundbreaking measure to '''help tackle child obesity in London'''.<ref>[https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/business-and-economy/food/tfl-junk-food-ads-ban-will-tackle-child-obesity TfL junk food ads ban will tackle child obesity] - London Assembly([http://archive.is/wMI86 archive])</ref>}}

But of course it won't. Because there [[childhood obesity|isn't a childhood obesity epidemic]], and because kids don't go doing the weekly shop. Regardless, there has been some... disagreement about what 'junk food' actually is. One 'purveyor of food' disagreed with TFL's opinion..

{{quote2|1=We know this because our latest campaign on the tube network has been rejected. Why? Because our [[FarmDrop]] posters include so-called ‘junk foods’. This is the photo in question.

[[File:TFL_11.jpg]]

[...] What you probably wouldn’t think they include are eggs and butter. Well you’d be wrong. We were told by TfL’s sales agent, Exterion, that these foods were not ‘high fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) compliant’. We ended up cropping the photo but even this wasn’t compliant with the new regulations.<ref>[https://www.farmdrop.com/blog/the-contradictions-in-tfls-junk-food-advertising-ban/#utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=TfL040319 Can You Spot The Junk Food In This Ad? TfL Could] - [[FarmDrop]] ([http://archive.is/8GNyC archive])</ref>}}

Naturally [[FarmDrop]] deny that they sell junk food. Exactly what an organisation that sells junk food would say...

Meanwhile McDonalds don't sell junk food in their Happy Meals - something which [[FarmDrop]] would rather be classified as such it seems:

{{quote|1=Under UK rules, children cannot be targeted with adverts for products that are high in fat, salt and sugar, and licensed characters should not be used to promote such products to them.

“We noted that 80% of mains, 100% of sides and 64% of drink options available in the Happy Meal were non-HFSS [junk food] products,” said the ASA, which cleared McDonald’s to continue advertising Happy Meals to children. “We therefore considered that the Happy Meal was, overall, a non-HFSS product combination.”<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/aug/08/mcdonalds-happy-meal-healthy-advert-children-asa
Watchdog backs ‘healthy’ McDonald’s Happy Meal ad on children’s TV
] - [[The Guardian]]</ref>}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

Junk food

2019-03-07T15:02:21Z

Paul:

Junk food is one of those "I know it when I see it" type of things for Public Health. It (currently) has no formal definition, yet lots of organisations want something to be 'done' about it.

However when someone comes up with a 'definition' of what junk food it, it inevitably encompasses things that any normal person wouldn't consider junk food.

{{quote|1=The nearest equivalent is HFSS food – food that is deemed to be high in fat, sugar and/or salt. For the purposes of advertising regulations, Ofcom uses a definition of HFSS food that encompasses a much broader range of products than the colloquial term ‘junk food’ implies.

[...]

But then there are the foods that hardly anyone would consider ‘junk’ but which still fail the test: cheese (including half-fat cheese), raisins, sultanas, soy sauce, mustard, most tinned fruit, most yoghurts, most breakfast cereals (including high fibre varieties), peanut butter, Marmite, mayonnaise (light and regular), tomato soup, most cereal bars, many pasta sauces, all butter, fat spreads and olive oil.<ref>https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-proposed-junk-food-ban-is-aimed-at-you-not-your-children/ The proposed ‘junk food’ advertising ban is aimed at you, not your children] - Christopher Snowdon, Spectator Health</ref>}}

== UK Government ==

{{quote|1=The proposals advocate severe restrcitions on the advertising, sale, display, and affordability of what campaigners call ‘junk food.’ But there is no legal definition of junk food...

[...]

This includes raisins, sultanas, most tinned fruit, most yoghurts, nearly all cheese (including half-fat cheese), cream crackers, tomato soup, hummus, ham, pesto, cereal bars, pure orange juice, olive bread, salami, many pasta sauces, butter, margarine, more than half of all meat, and one in every four sandwiches.

[...]

Under the Government’s proposals, all of these items (some of which are even recommended by the NHS as healthy ‘sugar swaps’) will be subject to pricing, promotion and advertising restrictions, a 9pm broadcast advertising ban, a ban on price promotions like meal deals and buy-one-get-one-free, and a display ban at shop entrances, checkouts and at the end of aisles.<ref>[https://order-order.com/2019/03/07/government-cracking-food-describes-healthy/ Government Cracking Down on Food It Describes as Healthy] - Guido Fawkes blog</ref>}}

== [[Transport For London]]/London Mayor [[Sadiq Khan]], [[FarmDrop]] ==

{{quote|1=Junk food advertising will be banned on the entire Transport for London (TfL) network from 25 February 2019, as a new groundbreaking measure to '''help tackle child obesity in London'''.<ref>[https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/business-and-economy/food/tfl-junk-food-ads-ban-will-tackle-child-obesity TfL junk food ads ban will tackle child obesity] - London Assembly([http://archive.is/wMI86 archive])</ref>}}

But of course it won't. Because there [[childhood obesity|isn't a childhood obesity epidemic]], and because kids don't go doing the weekly shop. Regardless, there has been some... disagreement about what 'junk food' actually is. One 'purveyor of food' disagreed with TFL's opinion..

{{quote2|1=We know this because our latest campaign on the tube network has been rejected. Why? Because our [[FarmDrop]] posters include so-called ‘junk foods’. This is the photo in question.

[[File:TFL_11.jpg]]

[...] What you probably wouldn’t think they include are eggs and butter. Well you’d be wrong. We were told by TfL’s sales agent, Exterion, that these foods were not ‘high fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) compliant’. We ended up cropping the photo but even this wasn’t compliant with the new regulations.<ref>[https://www.farmdrop.com/blog/the-contradictions-in-tfls-junk-food-advertising-ban/#utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=TfL040319 Can You Spot The Junk Food In This Ad? TfL Could] - [[FarmDrop]] ([http://archive.is/8GNyC archive])</ref>}}

Naturally [[FarmDrop]] deny that they sell junk food. Exactly what an organisation that sells junk food would say...

==References==

{{Reflist}}

Junk food

2019-03-07T11:10:45Z

Paul:

Junk food

2019-03-06T11:52:03Z

Paul:

Junk food

2019-03-06T09:49:31Z

Paul: Created page with "{{quote|1=Junk food advertising will be banned on the entire Transport for London (TfL) network from 25 February 2019, as a new groundbreaking measure to '''help tackle child..."

{{quote|1=Junk food advertising will be banned on the entire Transport for London (TfL) network from 25 February 2019, as a new groundbreaking measure to '''help tackle child obesity in London'''.<ref>[https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/business-and-economy/food/tfl-junk-food-ads-ban-will-tackle-child-obesity TfL junk food ads ban will tackle child obesity] - London Assembly([http://archive.is/wMI86 archive])</ref>}}

But of course it won't. Because there [[childhood obesity|isn't a childhood obesity epidemic]], and because kids don't go doing the weekly shop. Regardless, there has been some... disagreement about what 'junk food' actually is. One 'purveyor of food' disagreed with TFL's opinion..

{{quote2|1=We know this because our latest campaign on the tube network has been rejected. Why? Because our [[FarmDrop]] posters include so-called ‘junk foods’. This is the photo in question.

[[File:TFL_11.jpg]]

[...] What you probably wouldn’t think they include are eggs and butter. Well you’d be wrong. We were told by TfL’s sales agent, Exterion, that these foods were not ‘high fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) compliant’. We ended up cropping the photo but even this wasn’t compliant with the new regulations.<ref>[https://www.farmdrop.com/blog/the-contradictions-in-tfls-junk-food-advertising-ban/#utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=TfL040319 Can You Spot The Junk Food In This Ad? TfL Could] - [[FarmDrop]] ([http://archive.is/8GNyC archive])</ref>}}

Naturally [[FarmDrop]] deny that they sell junk food. Exactly what an organisation that sells junk food would say...

File:TFL 11.jpg

2019-03-06T09:45:26Z

Paul:

Main Page

2019-03-06T09:39:53Z

Paul: /* Food */

<div style="background-color: #b0e0e6; border-style: dotted; border-width:thin;">

<center>



[[Image:Normanjones.png|link=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/10058927.Prolific_Nelson_conman_spared_jail_after_collecting_for_fake_charity/]] <div style="background-color: #E7B8B1;">'''[[ASH]], [[Alcohol Concern]] and [[CRUK]] were, apparently, unavailable for comment.<ref>[http://4liberty.org.uk/2012/11/20/collecting-for-fake-charities Collecting for fake charities] - Orphans of Liberty</ref>'''</div>



</center>

</div>

== Why this site? ==

'''Harridan (n): A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.'''

{{quote|Whatever compassion we may feel towards Seraphie, charged with managing the Beyle household and provided with little in the way of emotional or material recompense, evidence scarcely softens Stendhal's portrait of an ignorant, vindictive, mean-spirited harridan. -- Jonathan Keates, [http://www.amazon.com/Stendhal-Jonathan-Keates/dp/B000HWZ3R6 Stendhal]}}

{{quote|Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C. S. Lewis<ref>[http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/33029.html Quotation #33029] Quotations page</ref>}}

{{quote|“Don’t ever think you know what’s right for the other person. He might start thinking he knows what’s right for you.”
― Paul S. Williams, Das Energi}}

Over the past few years - more and more often - governments, organisations (often funded by the tax payer) and special interest groups (again, often funded by the tax payer,) are enforcing their views on others in ever more vindictive ways, "for your own good," or, more typically, "because we don't like it."

Be it [[The Tobacco Template|tobacco]], [[Alcohol Consumption|alcohol]], [[Sugar|sugar]], [[Salt|salt]], [[Fat|fat]] or whatever happens to be the evil-du-jour, there is rarely anything which is enjoyed by a significant (but minority - less than 50%) part of the population for which there isn't a 'puritan' group willing to lobby governments for more and more controls, misusing statistics and using sub-standard [[:category:research|research]] to justify forcing their views onto others, while gratefully accepting the taxes, of those they villify, to fund their activities.

This site aims to collate evidence of this misuse, and document the activities of those who purport to 'save us from ourselves' while they sit on their high horses, alongside those (non-tax-payer-funded, irritated, people or organisations) who take an active interest in pointing out problems of having governments fund groups that in turn lobby government to do the government's wishes.

== Smoking ==

While it is widely accepted that smoking causes ill health to those who smoke, there are ever more shrill calls for controls on the pricing of tobacco, where it may be consumed, and in what [[plain_packaging|form it should be sold]], typically from those who suffer from [[ASDS]].

Measures used to control tobacco are being used as a [[The Tobacco Template|template to control other areas of life]], despite claims from anti-tobacco groups to the contrary, claiming tobacco is unique and measures like banning, excessive taxation and [[plain packaging]] would never be used for anything else.

However, like smoking, but unlike [[Passive Smoking|second hand smoke]], all the rules and regulations put into place do demonstrably [[Victims|kill and maim people]].

Of course, there are also things that are [[(Almost) As Bad As Smoking]].

== Alcohol ==
Alcohol has been around for millenia. Some religions forbid it, the United States even had a [[Wikipedia:Prohibition in the United States|go at prohibition]] where the government even went so far as to murder thousands of its own citizens in the name of 'scaring people':

{{quote|Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/02/the_chemists_war.html The Chemist's War: The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.] - Slate.</ref>}}

The UK Government is currently (Mar '12) trying to push through a [[Minimum Pricing‎|minimum price]] per [[Alcohol Units|unit]] of alcohol under the guise of 'preventing [[binge drinking]]' and the 'increased rate of liver disease,'<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17465403 Liver disease deaths reach record levels in England] - BBC News</ref> despite the fact that the annual consumption of alcohol has been decreasing in the past few years<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12397254 BBC: Why is alcohol consumption falling?] - BBC News</ref>, and trying to push people to go to pubs instead of buying their alcohol at the supermarket<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/23/coalition-minimum-alcohol-price-40p Coalition to set minimum alcohol price] - The Guardian</ref>.

Of course, since the smoking ban in the UK, lots of [[Pub Closures|pubs have closed]] that otherwise probably wouldn't have.

== Internet ==
[[Internet censorship]] and calls for a ban on [[internet anonymity]] - what more needs to be said?

== Food ==

Various attempts at governmental interference have been seen to 'adjust' what people eat, include [[fat taxes]], [[sugar tax|sugar taxes]], heart-string-pulling (fake) statistics on [[childhood obesity]] and bans on [[junk food]] advertising.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Main Page

2019-03-06T09:23:38Z

Paul: /* Food */

<div style="background-color: #b0e0e6; border-style: dotted; border-width:thin;">

<center>



[[Image:Normanjones.png|link=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/10058927.Prolific_Nelson_conman_spared_jail_after_collecting_for_fake_charity/]] <div style="background-color: #E7B8B1;">'''[[ASH]], [[Alcohol Concern]] and [[CRUK]] were, apparently, unavailable for comment.<ref>[http://4liberty.org.uk/2012/11/20/collecting-for-fake-charities Collecting for fake charities] - Orphans of Liberty</ref>'''</div>



</center>

</div>

== Why this site? ==

'''Harridan (n): A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.'''

{{quote|Whatever compassion we may feel towards Seraphie, charged with managing the Beyle household and provided with little in the way of emotional or material recompense, evidence scarcely softens Stendhal's portrait of an ignorant, vindictive, mean-spirited harridan. -- Jonathan Keates, [http://www.amazon.com/Stendhal-Jonathan-Keates/dp/B000HWZ3R6 Stendhal]}}

{{quote|Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C. S. Lewis<ref>[http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/33029.html Quotation #33029] Quotations page</ref>}}

{{quote|“Don’t ever think you know what’s right for the other person. He might start thinking he knows what’s right for you.”
― Paul S. Williams, Das Energi}}

Over the past few years - more and more often - governments, organisations (often funded by the tax payer) and special interest groups (again, often funded by the tax payer,) are enforcing their views on others in ever more vindictive ways, "for your own good," or, more typically, "because we don't like it."

Be it [[The Tobacco Template|tobacco]], [[Alcohol Consumption|alcohol]], [[Sugar|sugar]], [[Salt|salt]], [[Fat|fat]] or whatever happens to be the evil-du-jour, there is rarely anything which is enjoyed by a significant (but minority - less than 50%) part of the population for which there isn't a 'puritan' group willing to lobby governments for more and more controls, misusing statistics and using sub-standard [[:category:research|research]] to justify forcing their views onto others, while gratefully accepting the taxes, of those they villify, to fund their activities.

This site aims to collate evidence of this misuse, and document the activities of those who purport to 'save us from ourselves' while they sit on their high horses, alongside those (non-tax-payer-funded, irritated, people or organisations) who take an active interest in pointing out problems of having governments fund groups that in turn lobby government to do the government's wishes.

== Smoking ==

While it is widely accepted that smoking causes ill health to those who smoke, there are ever more shrill calls for controls on the pricing of tobacco, where it may be consumed, and in what [[plain_packaging|form it should be sold]], typically from those who suffer from [[ASDS]].

Measures used to control tobacco are being used as a [[The Tobacco Template|template to control other areas of life]], despite claims from anti-tobacco groups to the contrary, claiming tobacco is unique and measures like banning, excessive taxation and [[plain packaging]] would never be used for anything else.

However, like smoking, but unlike [[Passive Smoking|second hand smoke]], all the rules and regulations put into place do demonstrably [[Victims|kill and maim people]].

Of course, there are also things that are [[(Almost) As Bad As Smoking]].

== Alcohol ==
Alcohol has been around for millenia. Some religions forbid it, the United States even had a [[Wikipedia:Prohibition in the United States|go at prohibition]] where the government even went so far as to murder thousands of its own citizens in the name of 'scaring people':

{{quote|Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/02/the_chemists_war.html The Chemist's War: The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.] - Slate.</ref>}}

The UK Government is currently (Mar '12) trying to push through a [[Minimum Pricing‎|minimum price]] per [[Alcohol Units|unit]] of alcohol under the guise of 'preventing [[binge drinking]]' and the 'increased rate of liver disease,'<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17465403 Liver disease deaths reach record levels in England] - BBC News</ref> despite the fact that the annual consumption of alcohol has been decreasing in the past few years<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12397254 BBC: Why is alcohol consumption falling?] - BBC News</ref>, and trying to push people to go to pubs instead of buying their alcohol at the supermarket<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/23/coalition-minimum-alcohol-price-40p Coalition to set minimum alcohol price] - The Guardian</ref>.

Of course, since the smoking ban in the UK, lots of [[Pub Closures|pubs have closed]] that otherwise probably wouldn't have.

== Internet ==
[[Internet censorship]] and calls for a ban on [[internet anonymity]] - what more needs to be said?

== Food ==

Various attempts at governmental interference have been seen to 'adjust' what people eat, include [[fat taxes]], [[sugar tax|sugar taxes]] heart-string-pulling (fake) statistics on [[childhood obesity]] and bans on [[junk food]] advertising.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Main Page

2019-03-06T09:22:31Z

Paul: /* Food */

<div style="background-color: #b0e0e6; border-style: dotted; border-width:thin;">

<center>



[[Image:Normanjones.png|link=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/10058927.Prolific_Nelson_conman_spared_jail_after_collecting_for_fake_charity/]] <div style="background-color: #E7B8B1;">'''[[ASH]], [[Alcohol Concern]] and [[CRUK]] were, apparently, unavailable for comment.<ref>[http://4liberty.org.uk/2012/11/20/collecting-for-fake-charities Collecting for fake charities] - Orphans of Liberty</ref>'''</div>



</center>

</div>

== Why this site? ==

'''Harridan (n): A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.'''

{{quote|Whatever compassion we may feel towards Seraphie, charged with managing the Beyle household and provided with little in the way of emotional or material recompense, evidence scarcely softens Stendhal's portrait of an ignorant, vindictive, mean-spirited harridan. -- Jonathan Keates, [http://www.amazon.com/Stendhal-Jonathan-Keates/dp/B000HWZ3R6 Stendhal]}}

{{quote|Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C. S. Lewis<ref>[http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/33029.html Quotation #33029] Quotations page</ref>}}

{{quote|“Don’t ever think you know what’s right for the other person. He might start thinking he knows what’s right for you.”
― Paul S. Williams, Das Energi}}

Over the past few years - more and more often - governments, organisations (often funded by the tax payer) and special interest groups (again, often funded by the tax payer,) are enforcing their views on others in ever more vindictive ways, "for your own good," or, more typically, "because we don't like it."

Be it [[The Tobacco Template|tobacco]], [[Alcohol Consumption|alcohol]], [[Sugar|sugar]], [[Salt|salt]], [[Fat|fat]] or whatever happens to be the evil-du-jour, there is rarely anything which is enjoyed by a significant (but minority - less than 50%) part of the population for which there isn't a 'puritan' group willing to lobby governments for more and more controls, misusing statistics and using sub-standard [[:category:research|research]] to justify forcing their views onto others, while gratefully accepting the taxes, of those they villify, to fund their activities.

This site aims to collate evidence of this misuse, and document the activities of those who purport to 'save us from ourselves' while they sit on their high horses, alongside those (non-tax-payer-funded, irritated, people or organisations) who take an active interest in pointing out problems of having governments fund groups that in turn lobby government to do the government's wishes.

== Smoking ==

While it is widely accepted that smoking causes ill health to those who smoke, there are ever more shrill calls for controls on the pricing of tobacco, where it may be consumed, and in what [[plain_packaging|form it should be sold]], typically from those who suffer from [[ASDS]].

Measures used to control tobacco are being used as a [[The Tobacco Template|template to control other areas of life]], despite claims from anti-tobacco groups to the contrary, claiming tobacco is unique and measures like banning, excessive taxation and [[plain packaging]] would never be used for anything else.

However, like smoking, but unlike [[Passive Smoking|second hand smoke]], all the rules and regulations put into place do demonstrably [[Victims|kill and maim people]].

Of course, there are also things that are [[(Almost) As Bad As Smoking]].

== Alcohol ==
Alcohol has been around for millenia. Some religions forbid it, the United States even had a [[Wikipedia:Prohibition in the United States|go at prohibition]] where the government even went so far as to murder thousands of its own citizens in the name of 'scaring people':

{{quote|Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/02/the_chemists_war.html The Chemist's War: The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.] - Slate.</ref>}}

The UK Government is currently (Mar '12) trying to push through a [[Minimum Pricing‎|minimum price]] per [[Alcohol Units|unit]] of alcohol under the guise of 'preventing [[binge drinking]]' and the 'increased rate of liver disease,'<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17465403 Liver disease deaths reach record levels in England] - BBC News</ref> despite the fact that the annual consumption of alcohol has been decreasing in the past few years<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12397254 BBC: Why is alcohol consumption falling?] - BBC News</ref>, and trying to push people to go to pubs instead of buying their alcohol at the supermarket<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/23/coalition-minimum-alcohol-price-40p Coalition to set minimum alcohol price] - The Guardian</ref>.

Of course, since the smoking ban in the UK, lots of [[Pub Closures|pubs have closed]] that otherwise probably wouldn't have.

== Internet ==
[[Internet censorship]] and calls for a ban on [[internet anonymity]] - what more needs to be said?

== Food ==

Various attempts at governmental interference have been seen to 'adjust' what people eat, include [[fat taxes]], [[sugar taxes]] heart-string-pulling (fake) statistics on [[childhood obesity]] and bans on [[junk food]] advertising.

==References==
{{Reflist}}