Does anybody here remember that law, prohibiting any sort of public advertisement for tobacco, the strict and non-negotiable ban that nearly canceled one of Montreal’s most renowned events, Canadian formula one Grand-Prix?
Open any newspaper this week, from “Mirror” to “Ici”, “Hours” to “Voir”, and you’d be shocked by colorful, full pages ads for cigarettes, almost every other page!
Voila! They are back, stronger than before! Apparently, their powerful lobbies have succeeded to buy politicians while convincing the media, not to make a fuss about the whole issue!
Now, I have to admit that I am not an ardent opponent of cigarette advertisements, per say. To be honest, I would have to go with the natural selection if somebody is unable to resist a colorful picture of a box with an image of a cancerous lunge on it!
I am not even against smoking! If somebody wants to jeopardize his/her health and hence help the world’s overpopulation crisis, I do believe that the person should be left alone to do so, as long as the physical damage is solely confined to the person and the burden on the healthcare system is also being appropriately compensated by taxation on cigarettes.
What I am very much concerned about is, this apparent reversal of the law might be just a little entrée before the main course: abandonment of the prohibition on smoking in public places, the delicious fruit of more than three decades of active campaigning against tobacco companies.
Let’s stay vigilant about the subject while making some noise about it. One of these days, the “no smoking” signs might be expelled from public places, as quietly as the ads got re-invited to the pages of our newspapers.
No comments:
Post a Comment