Back to The evidence

THE SMOKING APPEAL OF THE ANTITOBACCO LOBBY

Back to main page

YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SMARTER THAN THEY THINK

 CHICAGO (Reuters) - Researchers reported Tuesday what they termed an alarming rise in cigarette smoking among U.S. college students, despite the barrage of anti-tobacco data to which young people have been exposed. The findings were unsettling because college students have traditionally smoked less than those less educated; but they also follow a large increase in smoking among pre-college teens earlier in the '90s that may be traced to youth-appeal cigarette advertising, authors of the study said. The report from the Harvard School of Public Health found a 28% jump in smoking on college campuses over a four-year period ending last year. 

Source: Infobeat

November 19, 1998

 Well, it is clear that anti-tobacco is failing its mission... Or is it" After all, the settlement will get them all they want: taxation that will fill their pockets and enable the mass-production of junk science and other false information, and an increased number of smokers to make sure that the flow of money never ends!

 But clearly, the young generation is beginning to be fed up with the brainwashing, intrusion, paternalism and prohibition of the anti-tobacco lobbyists.

 And its reaction is clear: "We'll smoke anyway, no matter what you say!" The "barrage of anti-tobacco data" does not change the fact that it is a barrage of lies.

 The faulty premises of anti-tobacco thinking are clear in this sentence: "The findings were unsettling because college students have traditionally smoked less than those less educated." It is precisely because college students are more educated that they can see through the statistical and scientific manipulation of data, as well as through the scare tactics and propaganda.

 We at FORCES always believed in education (the real one): that is why we have the largest scientific evidence section on tobacco and smoking of the WWW. And judging by the number of visits we receive from students, they are quite interested in real education!

 Of course, the anti-somer lobby claims that the increase in the number of young smokers is attributed to the "youth-appeal [of] cigarette advertising," conveniently neglecting that in countries where tobacco advertising has been forbidden since long ago, there is no difference in the percentage of smoking population -- actually, it is slightly higher.

 "Let's save the children" is the slogan of the criminal proponents of prohibition and propaganda. Well, it looks like the children are saving themselves... from the saviours! Perhaps there is hope for a better world after all.