01 Smoking And Antismoking History
Description
This article is from the Smokers FAQ, by jdawson@netcom.com (Joe Dawson) with numerous contributions by others.
01 Smoking And Antismoking History
Smoking of various plants has been widespread in many cultures
throughout history and throughout the world. At times it was thought
to have healthful effects, and at other times, injurious effects.
One of the earliest well-known Antismokers was King James I who,
in 1604 issued his "Counterblaste to Tobacco" and called it "a custome
vile to the nose, and loathesome to the eyes".
In more recent times we saw widespread movements by groups such
as the Anti-Cigarette League of the 1920s which actually succeeded
in getting legal prohibition of cigarette smoking in many US states.
As such prohibitions were overturned or ignored, smoking greatly
increased in the US and throughout the world in the 20th century.
However, in the 1960s articles in medical journals and the popular press,
as well as a prominent report by the US Surgeon General, cited smoking
as a leading cause of lung cancer and heart disease. This gave birth to
activities which have grown from simple educational efforts seeking
reasonable accommodations for those sensitive to tobacco smoke to a
widespread propaganda campaign based on fear, social engineering,
psychological manipulation and the control and distortion not just of
science and the popular media, but of the English language itself.
This last point cannot be over-emphasized. In articles and speeches
by Antismokers, the use of qualifying terms such as "may", "might",
"perhaps", "suggests", "possibly", etc., is all-pervasive. The subtle
use of such qualifiers is to confuse and mislead the reader/listener.
The Antismoking writer/speaker assumes that his audience will 'forget'
the qualifying terminology and believe the remainder of the message as
the gospel truth. Smokers and their supporters must be ever vigilant in
recognizing these tactics and understand the Antismokers' true agenda:
to control the behavior and action of everyone around them, to make
everyone live and believe *exactly* as the Antismoker does.
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