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Just ban smoking . . . then milk
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The imminent ban on brand advertising on cigarettes must give the so-called “health Nazis” enormous encouragement.

Never mind the fact they are trampling on intellectual property and valuable brands, the anti-smoking lobby will stop at nothing to advance their cause.

Why stop there? Why not ban brands on dairy products and meat as major contributors to heart disease?

As a non-smoker, I can barely tolerate smokers in my presence but I respect their right to smoke to their hearts content.

The reality is that while smoking is legal, then commercial freedom should not be threatened in this way.

If the Government had the courage of its convictions it would ban smoking altogether, followed shortly after by milk, butter, cheese, potato chips, fizzy drinks, alcohol and killer cars.

In the same issue of The Gisborne Herald we also have the usual histrionics from Professor Doug Selman of the National Additions Centre and a headline “Booze worse than legal highs: experts”.

Selman rails against alcohol and shows no differentiation between alco-pops drunk by teenagers and wine consumed in civilised fashion by responsible adults.

As a wine-producing region we should stoutly rebuff the likes of Prof Selman.

The fact is that marijuana has much more deleterious effects on teenagers than alcohol — just ask any medical professional.

Interestingly, if Prof Selman really wanted to deal with one of the root causes of alcohol abuse in this country he should start knocking at the door of Fonterra — the largest producer of whey alcohol in New Zealand.

That’s the alcohol which goes into the RTD alco-pops and, being an industrial distillate, makes them relatively inexpensive . . . especially when compared to good-quality table wine.

THOR
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