Chris Snowdon is a historian from England who is fascinated by the smoking prohibition, and the growth of antismoking hysteria as a social phenomenon.
Mr. Snowdon has a beautiful site that we encourage everyone to visit: Velvet Glove, Iron Fist. In this interview, the differences between old-fashioned prohibition and the current fixation with health are examined, along with delusions about long life and eternal health.
In this interview, the fraud of passive smoking as an excuse for the legitimization of smoking bans is, of course, discussed in depth. The “evolution” of the antismoking movement into utter superstition is also explored, and we look at ridiculous assertions such as "toxic" smoker’s breath (smokers have become some sort of 21st century dragons), the daffy assertion that smoking causes Communism, and so on.
The historical errors of smokers as a group are finally examined: when “public health” said that it wanted a smoke-free world it wasn’t taken seriously, and energetic measures against its abuse of power and its perversion into an industry of fraud were not taken. We see the consequences. And we still deny that prohibition is coming!
Is there any hope? Will the excesses of antitobacco be its undoing? It remains to be seen. Snowdon makes an important observation: the alcohol prohibition in America actually worked, as alcohol consumption dropped by 50%. It was the violence of organized crime that destroyed prohibition as an institution, not the rebellion of people who were mindful of their own dignity and freedom.
Do people deserve prohibition and oppression? The answer is locked in their own behaviour: if they obey the bans and don’t destroy prohibition with whatever it takes, then they deserve whatever it comes. It may not be pleasant to hear, but it is the inescapable, historical truth.
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