A non-controversial public health policy? The UK’s gradual ban on smoking has been a PR success. Really!

Bad news! Incredible! Whoever came up with this authoritarian nonsense especially in the UK!

Very clever move to avoid protests and resistance! And what about black markets etc.?

What is the heck is going on in the UK! Hopefully this truly awful law will be repealed ASAP!

Will a ban on alcohol be next?

"... Last week saw the passage of the tobacco and vapes bill, which has a very ambitious aim: to create a “smoke-free generation” and eventually end smoking for ever in the UK. Quite simply, anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be legally able to buy tobacco products.

From 2027, the minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco will increase by one year (from the current age of 18) every year. There will be a permanent generational line: everyone above it will still be allowed to buy cigarettes; everyone below it won’t. ..."

A non-controversial public health policy? The UK’s gradual ban on smoking has been a PR success | Devi Sridhar | The Guardian "The world will be watching to see how the ban for anyone born after 2009 works out. So far it’s been a win with smokers and non-smokers alike"

UK Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026

Credits: Global Health NOW

Big Tobacco’s Legislative Coups. Really!

For at least the past 50 years and more, the tobacco industry has been a welcome target! Most of it is propaganda and demagoguery!

Smokers have been persecuted and treated almost like outcasts or  criminals in many Western countries!

Let vices be vices! Humans are not perfect!

Sin taxes are a sin!

"Aggressive tobacco industry tactics have beat back legislation against its products and garnered support from multiple countries in the past two years, according to a report released this morning that tracks industry interference.  

 

Tactics: Industry has won favor by paying for junkets (such as visiting Philip Morris International’s facility in Switzerland), promising investment and jobs, and showcasing corporate social responsibility projects that draw attention from its negative impacts.  

Big Tobacco wins:  

• Legislative leaders in 14 countries have filed pro-industry bills or delayed passage of new anti-tobacco laws, per the report by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control and STOP, an industry watchdog. 
• 20 countries have signed memorandums of understanding with tobacco companies to tackle tobacco smuggling. 
• 10 countries have delayed or rejected tax increases.

..."

Global Health NOW: Big Tobacco’s Legislative Coups; and Senegal’s Disease Sentinel

Don't freak out!

This photo ... shows Jeremy Lee Pauley (age 40), of ... Pennsylvania, is free on $50,000 bond after police say he tried to buy stolen human remains from an Arkansas woman for possible resale on Facebook. (Source)

Bernisches Historisches Museum : Rausch – Extase – Rush

Die Schweizer Hauptstadt im Rausch (bis August 2023)? 😄

"The desire to experience euphoria appears to be a primal human tendency. Even as children, we sometimes experience a sense of euphoria when we play. Later in life, humans experience euphoric states from the rush of adrenaline gained from sports, music and dance, love, spirituality, art and through the consumption of psychoactive substances. For young people, experiencing these euphoric states seems particularly appealing – but managing risks or seductive advertising for tobacco and alcohol present a significant challenge.

What exactly is a rush? Why do we strive for feelings of ecstasy and what fascinates us so much about them? The exhibition explores the phenomenon of euphoria and its impacts. On a multimedia journey, visitors encounter the historical background, possibilities and risks involved in the pursuit of euphoric states. Along the way, they are confronted with the question of why our society deals with this phenomenon in such a contradictory way.

The exhibition is core to the focus topic for the Bernisches Historisches Museum in 2023, “Rush”."

Bernisches Historisches Museum : Rausch – Extase – Rush

RAUSCH – EXTASE – RUSH (exhibition website)

Credits: Der Mensch lebt nicht vom Brot allein, sondern auch vom Gift. Warum aber berauschen wir uns? Es gibt ihn zu allen Zeiten und in allen Kulturen: den Rausch. Der Mensch hat ihn schon immer gesucht.

Königliches Besäufnis – Jacob Jordaens: «Das Fest des Bohnenkönigs», um 1640/45, Öl auf Leinwand.

Sweden recruits crows to clean up billions of cigarette butts from its streets

Who cleans up after the crows? Would it not be better to develop a robot to do this job? Is this the butt of a joke?

Sometimes, you have to wonder about the ancestors of the Vikings! 😄

"... All the birds involved in this project are not being held in captivity, so they’re free to abandon the project at any time. For all intents and purposes, the crows are volunteering for this role. ...
A similar project was tested in 2017, in the Netherlands, and in 2018, at the Puy du Fou theme park in ​​Western France. ..."

Sweden recruits crows to clean up cigarette butts from its streets