ANTI-TOBACCO CRIMINALS LAUNCH A MAJOR PROPAGANDA
ATTACK AGAINST SMOKERS IN CALIFORNIA
Supported with the money of their victims, anti-tobacco criminals know no modesty anymore. They have lauched an attack on smokers so far unprecedented in size. Virtually without opposition, these gangsters feel quite comfortable in divulging all kinds of false information to the population, instigating hatred and fear in the process. Multilingual messages make sure that the ethnics know who rules, and who obeys. The accomplices in the media -- the monopoly of which has been secured for a long time -- help without reservation.
When will California begin to see the light, and use the necessary force to secure these criminals to justice?
Please note the suggestive invocation of violence referred to in the last paragraph. Does that mean that smokers have to prepare themselves to answer in kind?
By Michael Miller LOS ANGELES, July 17 (Reuter) - California on Thursday
launched an aggressive anti-tobacco campaign aimed at the state's large
ethnic minority population.
The campaign features a series of billboard ads, TV commercials and radio
spots highlighting the dangers of secondhand smoke and the tobacco industry's
alleged targeting of children in its advertising.
James Stratton, Deputy Director of the state Health Dept.'s Prevention
Services, said recent focus group studies had found a key message that could
change behavior patterns, particularly in ethnic communities, was the danger
of secondhand smoke to children and other family members.
"Based on this information we are certain that these ads will have a positive
impact," he said.
Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, a professor of preventive medicine at the
University of California, speaking at a press conference to launch the
campaign, said smoking-related illnesses could hit ethnic communities harder
than the population at large.
The campaign targets Hispanics, Blacks, Asians and Native Americans and
features ads in Spanish and four Asian languages, Mandarin, Cantonese,
Japanese and Vietnamese, as well as English.
Baezconde-Garbanati said that despite the state's successful anti-smoking
campaign among adults, which has seen a drop from 26 percent to 18 percent in
the number of smokers in that category, "The increase among ethnic youths is
particularly disturbing."
In the 15 to 17 age group, she said, the number of addicted smokers had
doubled among Blacks, risen by more than 50 percent among Asians and
increased by 33 percent among Hispanics.
Baezconde-Garbanati said that in the general population nationwide, lung
cancer accounted for 13 percent of all cancers, but among African-Americans
it accounted for 25 percent. In addition, 42 percent of deaths among American
Indian men and 37 percent among American Indian women were attributable to
smoking, compared to 12 percent and 18 percent respectively in the general
population.
Hispanics, she said, were more prone to asthma than the general population
while Asians were more likely to suffer from chronic tobacco-related
illnesses such as emphysema and bronchitis.
One billboard ad aimed at African-Americans shows a black mother playing with
her young son on his bicycle with a cigarette in her hand. The caption reads,
"You brought him into this world. Don't let secondhand smoke take him out!"
Another billboard ad, in Spanish, shows a skeleton wearing a leather jacket
featuring a drawing of the "Marlboro Man."
"Are you dying for this leather jacket?" the caption reads.
An Asian TV commercial shows five friends driving across the Mojave desert
from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. When one of them lights up he is
unceremoniously thrown out of the car and lands by a mileage sign reading
"Death Valley 44."
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