Smoke Signals on the High Seas - Seems the cruise ship crowd has taken up the fashionable cigar habit, and cruise operators are responding to the demand with elegant cigar lounges and special smoking cruises. From the fall, 1997 issue of Smoke magazine for more on this phenomenon in an article by Linda Marx.

Cutting Through the Smoke: Facts on the Cigarette Tax - As the U.S. considers tobacco tax hikes, it must wrestle with the unintended consequences of such a move. And the Canadian experience is mentioned time and time again. "Recently, Canada drastically cut its cigarette tax rate, not only to reduce smuggling, but also to prevent increased smoking among young people." From the pages of Mensch Magazine, an article by Lance Izumi, a Senior Fellow with the Pacific Research Institute.

We Have Ways of Making You Quit - "Backed by faulty science, the WCB will impose a smoking ban on B.C. business." We link to the archives of British Columbia Report, B.C.'s weekly newsmagazine. Thanks to B.C. Report for this thoughtful coverage of the issue, and for its mention of FORCES Canada in a sidebar in the print edition of this story.

Assumptions On Control Of Smoking Challenged - Anti-smokers' cherished beliefs may be nothing more than smoke and mirrors, it seems. Two new studies suggest "crack-downs" don't stop minors from smoking and healthcare costs aren't driven up in the long run by smokers. From the Seattle Times.

Former Smoker Loses Case Against R.J. Reynolds - A jury in Florida decided on October 31 that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was not liable for the cancer of a former smoker who had accused it of failing to warn the public about the dangers of cigarettes. Whoopie! Isn't that a revelation? Our great-grandfathers used to tell us: "smoking is bad for you", and it has beencommon knowledge that smoking may be bad for your health ever since, just as is fatty food, alcohol, etc. But the sharks of the legal system as well as the antismoking cartel want us to believe that nobody knew. Let us hope that more and more people can see through this scam, just like the jurors of Jacksonville did.

Destroying Families for the Glory of The Drug War: Part I - "While the Soviet Union is now on the junk heap of history, some police and public schools are using methods reminiscent of those used by Stalin in the American war on drugs and leaving a path of devastated families in the wake." We link to the pages of the Freedom Daily for a critical look at drug "education" in U.S. schools. - By James Bovard

Let's Make a Deal - On the U.S. tobacco settlement: "... whatever Congress ultimately decides, the crusade for a smoke-free society will continue, because it is aimed at the behavior of individuals, not the behavior of corporations. Even if tobacco's opponents could achieve the chimerical goal of eliminating smoking by minors, they would not be satisfied. " From the October, 1997 issue of Reason magazine. - By Jacob Sullum

A Society of Suspects: The War on Drugs and Civil Liberties - By Steven Wisotsky - "Every friend of freedom . . . must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the U.S. into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence." A public policy analysis by a legal scholar and member of the advisory board member of the Drug Policy Foundation in Washington, sounding alarms over the consequences of prohibition to a free society.

The Spirit of Salem goes global - A left-wing journal examines the modern phenomenon of health scares and other bugaboos. A review of several new books on the subject of "why we live in a world of moral panics and witch-hunts." From the September, 1997, issue of Living Marxism, by Mike Fitzpatrick.

Do Smokers Have Rights? - The media are deeply sensitive to the rights of "minorities": the poor, the disabled, blacks, gays and immigrants, among others. But there is one minority much larger than any of these (at least 25 percent of the population) whose rights we deny, ignore or minimize: smokers. - By Robert J. Samuelson

Casualties of the Marijuana War - A stinging indictment of marijuana prohibition and its destructive consequences. A former speech writer for Al Gore interviews a noted journalist who specializes in the Drug War issue: "The war on marijuana has little to do with health. It has everything to do with culture. It's a moral crusade. And moral crusades often have perverse results. In this case, we're giving life sentences without parole to first offenders for small amounts of a relatively harmless substance." We link to the pages of Salon magazine. - By Lowell Weiss

Prisons: Wrong Growth Industry - "For the last two years, America has been No. 1 worldwide in locking up its citizens." Bad, persecutorial drug policies are one reason why: "More and more prison space is taken up by petty drug offenders... When they get out, they are likely to be very violent. They have just attended one of the most violent schools in the world." - By Denise Johnson

Pot Of Trouble - A 38-year-old father of three gets 93 years for medical marijuana which he used to treat his rheumatoid arthritis. We link to the pages of Reason magazine. - By Adam J. Smith

Where There's a Will, There's a Way - "I was in a SmokeEasy. All of a sudden it made sense. I had been checked out at the door. I was joking when I said, 'Joe sent me', but, apparently, that was the password." A tale of dining out during prohibition - By The Renegade Smoker, a.k.a. Derf

The Drinking Dilemma - Hot on the heels of a spate of tobacco settlements, here is a US News and World Report cover story on alcohol. Many predict that alcohol will be the next target for heavy-handed lifestyle engineering. And while this piece is moderate, a survey of current views on the treatment of problem drinking, note the subhead: alcoholics are a financial burden on society. The piece takes care to distinguish the expensive (problem) drinkers from others. We'll be watching the public debate on this topic! - Article by Nancy Shute

An Example Of Moral Inversion - These are times of moral inversion. The sociological process that makes heroes out of villains is both fascinating and terrifying. Let's take the case of Stanton Glantz, the famous University of California "professor" responsible for so much of smokers' grief and loss of liberties.