Bashing ASH = missing the point

Dick Puddlecote and Velvet Glove often do posts criticising the taxpayer-funded anti-smoking propaganda spewed out by ASH, but it strikes me that they are going after the wrong target.

I'd completely agree with them that what's behind it all is lobbying by providers of 'righteous' nicotine (patches, gum etc) in order to take market share from the providers of 'unrighteous' nicotine (tobacco), and that this has precious little to do with 'public health' and a lot to do with corporatism.

As a general rule, when it comes to creating false markets, encouraging government subsidies and then creating barriers to entry, the European Union is behind it - for example white asbestos removal, using windmills to generate electricity etc. I don't think that the EU has any coherent approach to any of this, apart from jumping on any bandwagon heading vaguely in the direction of 'righteousness', and if the tobacco companies upped their game and offered even bigger backhanders than Big Pharma, the pendulum may well swing in the other direction

Simply Googling the phrase European Union smoking ban produces 319,000 hits, the second one on the list being this:

EU countries urged to pass tougher anti-smoking laws.

The commission is calling for an EU-wide ban on smoking in public places by 2012. Currently all EU countries have regulations of some kind designed to protect people from second-hand smoke and its harmful effects. But the rules vary widely from country to country.

The UK and Ireland have the strictest laws - a complete ban on smoking in indoor workplaces and public places, including public restaurants and bars. Bulgaria is due to follow suit in 2010*. Greece, Italy, Malta, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Slovenia, France and Holland have introduced smoke-free legislation that still allows special enclosed smoking rooms.

The EU is now proposing that uniform laws be drafted for all 27 countries to regulate smoking more strictly in public areas and workplaces.

Second-hand, or passive, smoke has been linked to heart disease and lung cancer. Back in 2002, some 19 000 non-smokers are thought to have died in the EU due to second-hand smoke at home or at work. Tobacco is the leading avoidable cause of death in the EU, claiming some 650 000 lives a year. One in three Europeans - about 170 million - uses tobacco.

As part of a new anti-smoking campaign, the EU is inviting people to upload videos showing how they kicked the habit. Hundreds have responded and their work can be seen on the campaign website.

Just sayin', is all.

* Update 1: Spartan in the comments informs us that the Bulgarian parliament are not playing ball for the time being. Don't worry, the EU will get its own way sooner or later.

Update 2: Dave A reminds me that the World Health Organisation (part of the United Nations) is behind this as well. Given the WHO's talent for whipping up hysteria and ordering governments to spend billions on ineffective treatments, e.g. swine flu, this all fits the pattern.