Invasion of the Body-snatchers

Vancouver, B.C. - November 1998

World Health Organization (WHO) coming to town!

The self-appointed custodians of our bodies, otherwise known as 'public health experts', plan on meeting in Vancouver next month to develop a worldwide strategy for "dealing with health problems caused by smoking".

Will they also be developing a strategy to deal with the misery of broken families and friendships, lost businesses and jobs, and the hypochondria caused by their unremitting campaign to rule the world by fair means or foul?

Has the Hippocratic Oath been rewritten? Is "First Do No Harm" no longer a part of it? Has a clause been added - 'Treat Only If YOU Approve of What YOU Believe to be the Cause'?

Medicine is regarded with great respect in society, but with the issuing of the 11th Commandment 'Thou Shalt Not Smoke', the professional direction has changed. When can we expect this new Religion's bible?

Health is a very personal thing. We all have an appointment with death, and it's debatable whether we have as much to do with 'arranging' that appointment as we'd like to think. If longevity is your goal, everyone is free to forgo all risks, real or purported, and follow whatever lifestyle they believe will extend their existence.

There isn't a smoker, or someone thinking about beginning, that hasn't heard the dire pronouncements and warnings issued on this subject so the choice to continue, or start, can hardly be called uninformed. Our bodies do not belong to any profession, and most certainly the right of self determination, and legal choice, is nobody's business but our own.

It is said that The Hon. P. Priddy, Health Minister of the Province of B.C., is proud of WHO's choice of venue for this meeting. The Hon. Priddy should remember what 'pride goeth before'.