Stogie Commentary: World No Tobacco Day vs. Memorial Day
2 Jun 2010
If you’re like me, you probably thought this past Monday was Memorial Day, a day for pausing to think about the men and women who gave their lives to protect the freedoms we take for granted. As I did, you may have also celebrated the unofficial start of summer with some time spent outdoors, around the barbecue, and enjoying a fine cigar or two.
But, for the bureaucrats at the World Health Organization (WHO), May 31 wasn’t Memorial Day. Rather, it was “World No Tobacco Day“—a day for promoting the policies they call “Tobacco Control.”
No time to celebrate freedom, the WHO issued a Call to Action, with such action items as implementing a complete ban on advertising of tobacco; enacting total workplace smoking bans that presumably include restaurants, bars, and even tobacco shops; and creating “gender-specific tobacco control policies.”
For those of you at home counting, those are calls to violate such fundamental American principles as freedom of speech, property rights, and equal protection under the law, respectively. And it’s all part of the international organization’s “Tobacco Free Initiative” which, as it sounds, seeks to stamp out the so-called “tobacco epidemic.”
The contrast couldn’t be starker. The day we honor U.S. soldiers who gave their lives for our country, often fighting against authoritarian dictatorships, anti-tobacco forces seek worldwide enactment of laws designed to strip citizens of their choice to enjoy even an occasional cigar.
One can’t help but look back through history, when America sent soldiers to battle with a daily ration of tobacco. In World War II, a K-Ration, or daily combat ration, included four cigarettes. On the other side of the battle field, Hitler despised smoking (which he saw as a filthy Jewish habit) and led Nazi Germany to enact the first modern smoking ban.
No, they aren’t Nazis, but in today’s struggle between freedom and oppressive collectivism, international bureaucrats use the projects like the Tobacco Free Initiative at the United Nations to infringe on fundamental individual rights. Meanwhile, our troops continue to put themselves in harms way as they seek to uphold their oath to the Constitution and the individual liberties that it stands for.
That’s why I hope you joined me in honoring our troops on Memorial Day. And if you also happened to smoke a cigar as part of your Memorial Day, then all the better. Now, why not take the opportunity to donate some cigars to the troops? That’s what the last Monday in May is supposed to be all about, not stamping out our freedom to smoke.
photo credit: Stogie Guys
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
Yup it was our Spring Bank Holiday on Monday (UK). I was a little upset that i couldnt sell my tobacco wares to the Nottingham public with a grin on my face, so i opted for a day of tobacco. Snuff, Cigars, Pipe, Pre Made Cigarettes and my own personal Hand Rolling blend. Ahh another day of tobacco. Keep smoking folks
Patrick S, Thank you for the history. I had never heard of the Nazi smoking ban nor that smoking was another "bad" thing for Hitler to call "Jewish". In 2010 I conclude that anti-smoking work is a way for people to express anger and serves as a distraction while all the big problems are not being solved. Non-smokers are able to enjoy bullying smokers, another instance of a majority making a minority miserable supposedly for a better world.
Maybe we should enact a "Shove a Lit Cigar Up the WHO's Ass" Day. You say they are not "Nazis" and since the word means "National Socialist" you are most likely right; these people are more of the "International Socialist" variety of totalitarian: Communists. Surprise, kids! The Commies never went away…they just went to work in the U.N., environmentalist organizations, and the "public health" sector.
Thanks for keeping us informed. Not sure where I would have heard about this if you hadn't shared.
It's amazing that there are people out there who just cannot find a way to live and let live. Why is it anyone's concern if I want to use tobacco? I think non-smokers are capable of ignoring advertising if they choose. We've come along way since the Puritans, but still have a long way to go.
Whats worse about the WHO is that they paid for one of the most comprehensive studies to date on second hand smoke. It clearly indicated that second hand smoke was not a factor for non-smokers to get lung cancer. Yet they ignore it and promote smoking bans worldwide.