Leading German public health experts who played down the dangers of cigarettes – including one who argued that discrimination against smokers was like the Nazi persecution of the Jews – have been secretly financed for years by the tobacco industry, it has been alleged.
(Source: The Independent)

Yet more manipulation by the tobacco multinationals. Look at any “smokers’ rights” group and you’ll find big tobacco money financing their ridiculous bleating.

“What about our freedom to smoke?”

What about my freedom to not get cancer, you cunts?

I watched the McLibel documentary last night and the actions of McDonalds reminded me of BAT. How must it be to be Martin Broughton, to know that your product is giving millions of people cancer? What level of evil does a human have to reach for them to think, “Fuck ’em! They’re stupid, let’s sell them more cigarettes!”

When I heard the voices of the McDonalds’ executives trying to bully the Greenpeace activists in the documentary, they had exactly the same oily tones as tobacco exectutives, CBI members and Tories. The same “join us and you can be RICH like us” message that every capitalist uses to try and bribe their opponents.

And yet…

Once, these men and women must have been children. Once, surely, they must have believed it was wrong to hurt people, to lie, to cheat, to bully. What happened to them? What happened to their sense of humanity, to their honour?

The German branch of the WHO said the close relationship between health experts and the tobacco industry had effectively blocked attempts to curb smoking in Germany for the past two decades.
(Source: The Independent)

For these scientists to have taken tobacco money to distort the truth is appalling. They can’t even plead ignorance: they’re educated enough to know very well the horrendous damage smoking can do. What kind of scum squashes all that down and just keeps taking the money? How can anyone do something so dishonourable?

I really can’t understand it.