l  Monday 10 March 2003

 Smokers are ‘sick’ of No Smoking Day
says lobby group

Sick of smoking? No, says the lobby group FOREST, smokers are sick of No Smoking Day [Wednesday 12 March].

According to Simon Clark, director of FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), ‘No Smoking Day can actually be counter productive. Some of the activities are less about helping smokers to quit and more about policing their behaviour so they can’t smoke in public places. 

‘Smokers are sick of No Smoking Day. They are made to feel guilty about their habit and that puts them under pressure to quit, which is the last thing they need. Smokers know if they want to give up. They don’t need the nanny state to tell them when to do it.’

To mark the 20^th anniversary of No Smoking Day, FOREST has just launched a new website [www.forestonline.org]. ‘If you’re feeling under pressure to quit,’ said Clark, ‘FOREST Online offers an oasis from political correctness, a haven for people who feel victimised by health fanatics.’

The website offers news, advice and information. It records the history and the humour of smoking, provides advice on cross-Channel shopping and smoking at work, and even has tips on how to stop smoking.

There’s an online magazine with interviews, comment and special features, plus a message board for people to exchange information and discuss a wide range of smoking-related topics.

Writing exclusively for FOREST Online Claire Fox, director of the Institute of Ideas and a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze, commented:

‘There’s something about the moralistic tone of No Smoking Day that makes a lot of us want to reach for our fags in defiance. I don’t like being hectored, lectured or treated like a naughty child for having a habit, the risks of which I am well aware.’

For further comment about No Smoking Day contact FOREST on 07071 766537.

Claire Fox’s article, details of the 2003 FOREST Awards, quotes about smoking and FOREST’s No Smoking Day debate can be found on FOREST Online (www.forestonline.org).