273 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
273 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
The Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco
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Viewpoints No. 3
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"THE NOBLE EXPERIMENT":
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A SOCIALIST-ANARCHIST FABLE ABOUT THE PROHIBITION OF SMOKING
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By Jack Robinson
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FOREST is supported by voluntary donations from smokers, non-smokers and
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by Britain's free enterprise tobacco companies. This campaign is not
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funded by taxpayers. Details of how to subscribe to FOREST are
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available from the address below.
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FOREST
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Freedom Organisation For The Right To Enjoy Smoking Tobacco
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2 Grosvenor Gardens London SW1W ODH
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Tel: (071) 823 6550 Fax: (071) 823 4534
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Chairman: Lord Harris of High Cross
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Director: Chris R. Tame
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Campaign Manager: Majorie Nicholson
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ISBN 1 871833 30 2
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Copyright: FOREST; Jack Robinson, Anarchy, 1992
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All rights reserved.
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The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not
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necessarily those of FOREST.
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FREEDOM ORGANISATION FOR THE RIGHT TO ENJOY SMOKING TOBACCO
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"THE NOBLE EXPERIMENT":
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A SOCIALIST-ANARCHIST FABLE ABOUT THE PROHIBITION OF SMOKING
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By Jack Robinson
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Jack Robinson, who passed away in the 1980s, was, during the period
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1940-1970, a leading British socialist anarchist. A conscientous
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objector during the last war, he was involved with the campaign against
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capital punishment and with Amnesty's work for international human
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rights. He worked in the bookshop of Freedom Press and was a regular
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contributor to the magazines "Freedom" and "Anarchy". Although himself
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a non-smoker, a teetotaler and a vegetarian Mr. Robinson wrote in 1967 a
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trenchant attack on the anti-smoking lobby, which was then begiining to
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get into gear.
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In the form of a witty science fictional fable about a future
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prohibition of tobacco, Mr. Robinson draws from the actual histories of
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the prohibition of alcohol, of drugs and of pornography the lessons that
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the moralistic fanatics never seem to learn. Mr. Robinson was
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remarkably accurate in his prediction of the role of "women and
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children" in his imagined future. Should the prohibitionist goals of
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ASH and others in the anti-smoking lobby ever be realised it is
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distressing to think that his other predictions would be equally
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accurate. Let us hope that his little satire will add to the growing
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backlash against the petty bullies and authoritarians of the anti-
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smoking and "health" lobbies.
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This essay is reprinted from "Anarchy", Vol. 7, No. 6, June 1967, where
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it appeared under the original title "The Noble Experiment". The
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sub-headings have been added for this edition.
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FREEDOM ORGANIZATION FOR THE RIGHT TO ENJOY SMOKING TOBACCO
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Women ....
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In the year 1993 the dangers of the inhalation of the nicotine tars came
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to be a focal issue in the campaigns waged by women's organsations.
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Women like Judy Knight had waged a hatchet war against cigarette
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machines; and lobbying had succeeded in getting cigarette posters
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banned and advertising time denied to the agencies on television.
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Certain clergymen with largely feminine congregations (which meant a
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great many of them) preached sermons against nicotine and failed to find
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any scriptural sanction for the noxious weed. The anti-cigarette
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faction found allies in the Empire Party which wished to limit foreign
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imports, and since tobacco was a product of the United States it was
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un-British to amoke. Even that little of the fragrant weed which was
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grown in the British possessions was "wasting acreage which maight be
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used to grow food".
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The Empire Party and the United States supporters (backed by the tobacco
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companies) stormed the country with a campaign for and against smoking.
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Bands against dope were formed with pledges signed renouncing the vile
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habit of inhaling, or exhaling. The Church was so largely committed to
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the anti-tobacco interests that personal salvation seemed to imply the
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renunciation of tobacco.
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The history of the stuggle against the cigarette was long and
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complicated. The definitive history has yet to be written but a
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summary, although omitting some of the details, can give but an outline
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of this history of human stupidity.
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... and Children
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The first step in the regulation of the traffic was to prohibit minors
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from buying cigarettes. Birth certificates were demanded at the shops
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but this circumvented by adults getting cigarettes for minors. Minors
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were prosecuted for smoking but this risk was found to give an
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additional "kick" to an already forbidden pleasure. The "smoke-shops"
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(which sold nothing else but tobacco) were granted limited licences,
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their numbers were limited, based upon the populated area, and their
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hours were swverely curtailed and strictly supervised. No smoking was
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allowed off the licensed premises and if a customer was seen exhaling
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smoke after leaving licensed premises he was deemed to be under the
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influence of nicotine and was summoned and fined. If a motorist was
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detected dropping ash in his car he was arrested for the criminal
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offence of driving whilst under the influence of cigarettes, his
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eyesight was tested and if it was below perfect he would lose his
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driving permit,. Regulations were made that smoking was allowed in the
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"smoke-shops" standing up but not sitting down, some "smoke-shops" had a
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licence for cigarettes to be supplied with alcohol only, and smoke-clubs
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sprang up that could supply "smokes" at all times to members. During
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all this period the tax on tobacco rose higher and higher. At first it
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was thought to be a way of limiting the consumption of tobacco but such
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was the craving that any amount would be paid and the government began
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to rely upon the income from the tax to balance their budgets.
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The licensed trade, as the tobacco trade was known, decided to try and
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set its own house in order. It decided to classify tobacco into these
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categories: "A" for adults only, strong in nicotine; "X", strong in
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nicotine and tars; and "U", weak in nicotine. Children were only
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allowed to smoke "U" tobacco alone, they could smoke "A" if an adult was
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with them to see that they didn't inhale. Adults could, of course,
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smoke "A", "X" or "U" brands, but they tended to develop a taste for "X"
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brand. Now and again the government of local authorities would ban a
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complete consignment in a rather arbitrary manner. It was though in the
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main the the trade was not the proper body to regulate consumption so
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this fell into disuse.
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The "Addiction" Bogey
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An early experiment in the complete banning of tobacco was tried in one
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county with severe imprisonments and fines for possession of tobacco.
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The merest shred was sufficient to produce a conviction and the campaign
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in this county was so vigorous against "the weed" that detectives
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covered themselves with glory and a reputation for zeal by "planting"
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cigarettes or fragments of tobacco on likely candidates. At the same
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time, the seizure of loads of tobacco tended to make an artificial
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scarcity and increase the price. Addicts found themselves resorting to
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other crimes in order to raise the necessary price for a "puff" or a
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"draw". Imprisonment was accompanied for addicts by the sadistic
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torture of total withdrawal of supplies which led in some cases to total
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mental collapse.
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In a neighbouring county tobacco smokers were classified and issued with
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cards from their National Health doctors as registered "tobacco
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addicts". They were given regular chemists' prescriptions for a daily
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allocation which they were allowed until such time as, in their own
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words, they "kicked the habit". Irregularities invariably occurred such
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as forgery of prescriptions and alteration of quantities, but in the
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main the "habit" tended not to increase, except by immigrants from
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neighbouring counties and the registration and issue of prescriptions
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served to de-glamorize the cigarettes for teenagers.
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... and the Results
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Outside of these two counties another attempt was being made to control
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smoking by legislation. From time to time various brand consignments of
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cigarettes were seized and the manufacturer, grower and shopkeeper were
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charged with manufacturing, growing or offering for sale tobacco, "the
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nature of which is likely to deprave and corrupt the taste of any person
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into whose mouth such cigarettes may be placed". The defence was
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usually made that the cigarette was not made with such a purpose in
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mind, that cigarettes of equal calibre had been marketed for many years
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but it was pointed out by the magistrates that cigarettes over a certain
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age and cigarettes in a high price category were obviously outside the
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reach of the main-in-the-street and could therefore do him no harm. The
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market was flooded with expensive cigarettes generally scented and
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wrapped in rose leaves, and with antique vintage tobaccos which had been
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held by the magistrates to be harmless.
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On the other hand the other side of the market was flooded with cheap,
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nasty and harmless cigarettes, made, so some alleged, from horse manure.
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Nevertheless, the magistrates, "having no scientific tests or training
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for measuring depravity and corruption of taste" (indeed assuming such a
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thing existed, as some scientists doubted) prosecuted these along with
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the rest.
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A Mr. Jenkins introduced a variant on the procedure by putting through a
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bill which made it necessary for the magistrate (or the jury) to smoke a
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whole cigarette instead of taking a few "drags" and then condemning the
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assignment. It was also rendered admissible as evidence that the ground
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on which the tobacco was grown should be healthy and that the motive of
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the makers and vendors should be pure and not merely commercial;
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artistry in the manufacture of cigarettes was also found to be a
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mitigating circumstance. However the production of cigarettes or
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tobacco did not decline.
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An attempt was then made to control the sale of cigarettes by limiting
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them to credit customers who would then get them by post. The postmen
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were fully employed in the delivery of cigarettes. A small illegitimate
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cigarette trade was carried on furtively at street corners and in
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workshops. So frequent were police prosecutions in this matter that it
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was felt that the time of the police was being unduly occupied.
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The result was the Street Offences Bill which increased the penalties
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and drove the peddlers underground. Notices appeared in shop windows
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"Young Lady gives sexual intercourse", "Unusual sexual tastes catered
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for". This was a smoke-screen for what really went on. The retail
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small-time peddler of cigarettes went out of business and "smoke dens"
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sprang up in Paddington, Bayswater and the better parts of Fulham
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governed by "tobacco barons".
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The differences between men and women smoking had always been insisted
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upon and coupled with the Street Offences Bill there was a drive against
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male smokers, even if it took place in private. Detectives loitered in
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public conveniences and offered male persons cigarettes. If they
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accepted them they were arrested for "importuning". Females could hand
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round cigarettes amongst females with impunity.
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The Churches
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The religious repercussions of smoking were curious. The Catholic
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Church had an unyielding objection to filter tips, theologians of the
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church devised methods of exhaling without inhaling, of not finishing
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cigarettes, of times when smoking was safe. It was rather difficult to
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buy filter tips, the market being a hole and corner method. In many
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countries filter tips were banned altogether and an extensive smuggling
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trade went on.
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All these measures of regulating and limited controlling of cigarette
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consumption were found to be failures. In 1994 the acute menace of war
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and the absence of a great number of citizens on mobilization service
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made it possible to be put on the statute book the Eighteenth Amendment
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to Magna Carta prohibiting the manufacture, sale or importation of
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tobacco. This was rushed through parliament by reason of the need to
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conserve shipping space for foodstuffs and the need for workers and
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fighting-men to be in fit physical condition to face up to the menace of
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whatever would be the menace when they were fit enough to face up to it.
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There were, of course, loopholes in the law. It did not apply to
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Scotland, Wales or Ireland and border guards had to be strengthened to
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keep out tobacco smugglers.
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The price of tobacco on the illegal market rose so high that the trade
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attracted vast numbers of hoodlums and racketeers for the transport,
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smuggling and markeing of the "bootleg" tobacco. "smoke-easies" opened
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up on almost every corner and police, judges and politicians were bribed
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and bought to permit the importation of tobacco.
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Bootleggers went into the tobacco manufacturing business and the uncured
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rhubarb leaves were mixed with small quantities of real tobacco and
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palates ruined for lack of the "real stuff" surreptitiously inhaled this
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garbage and many died or ruined their bronchial tracts with the foul
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vapours. College students took to carrying illegal cigarettes cases in
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their hip pockets and many a necking party was followed by inhalation
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with its attendant evils.
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In addition to this, prohibition created an empire of suppliers who
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corrupted the police, prohibition agents, judges and politicians for the
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privilege of marketing tobacco. There grew up disputes about
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territories, hi-jacking of loads and double-crossing which is the normal
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outcome of business relationships but, being denied the sanction of
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legality which dignifies such disputes in the boardroom, the law court,
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teh stock exchange and the bankruptcy courts, the disputants resorted to
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the machine gun, the sawn-off shotgun and the "pineapple" or hand
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grenade. This alarmed both smokers and non-smokers and in 1994 an
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opportunist President gained cheap popularity by freeing tobacco from
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prohibition under a "New Deal". The gangsters transferred their
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activities to kidnapping and bank robbery.
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Since then there have been few legislative attempts on such a grand
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scale to control the noxious weed. It has been realised that smoking is
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a disease of civilisation. For civilisation, alas, there seems to be no
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cure. One inevitably dies of it.
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