Gone are the days of lounging on a sun soaked patio, ridiculous looking fruity beverage in one hand, and stinky but oh-so-delicious death stick burning away in the other. In fact, even the days of huddling miserably under a restaurant front awning while jogging on the spot to keep warm are gone. To everyone out there without a swanky back patio and a bar equipped home, it’s probably a bit unsettling- though to be truthful, I find almost everything about smoking more than a little unsettling. To the best of my knowledge, it is the only product on the market today that will not be pulled from store shelves, even though the whole of humanity knows that they’re packed full of toxic chemicals. Not just “kinda bad for you” like too many doughnuts, but actually produced with poisons as ingredients. Unlike any other product that comes to mind, the powers that be have chosen to tax this death stick, rather than force the tobacco companies to alter their recipes to exclude all of those little gems like arsenic, or formaldehyde. I know some of you are thinking that booze falls into this same category, but I disagree. Hops, barley, corn mash, fermented grapes…… no where in the list of ingredients on the icy cold bottle of Alexander Keith’s that I am holding right now do I see the words “hydrogen cyanide” or “ammonia”. Of course, consumed with excess, alcohol can be the cause of some devastating consequences, but then again, so can almost anything that is abused. Point being, though certain things should be handled with caution, they’re still not made out of POISON! Don’t misunderstand me, cigarettes and I have had a long and intimate relationship. We have faced many perils together, and in my darkest hours, it was always that smiling “Export A” gold woman in the weird hat and kilt that held my hand.

Smoking has (rightly so) become so socially unacceptable that to open a magazine and see a full page cigarette ad is actually shocking. If you were to saunter over to a newsstand and pick up a Canadian Time Magazine or Vancouver’s Georgia Straight that is precisely what you’ll see. Canadian tobacco advertising laws, unlike most other countries, have a wee bit of “wiggle room” which basically means that the current government isn’t comfortable with an all out ban. Publications are able to advertise ciggies if 85% or more of their readership is proven to be over the age of 19. There are of course costly and rather convoluted hoops to jump through to prove this reader demographic, but considering the few publications that actually can and the big fad wads of advertising dollars that the tobacco companies want to spend, it’s well worth the effort. In 1988 an all out ban on tobacco advertising was introduced by the Conservative government but JTI-MacDonald, one of the big boys on the block, challenged this in court and in 1995 the Supreme Court of Canada agreed that the ban infringed on the corporations freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This ruling was based primarily on the government’s failure to prove that a method less intrusive than a total ban would achieve the same or similar outcome. Cynthia Callard, the executive director of Physicians for a smoke-free Canada is currently freaking out, to say the least. JTI-MacDonald has been advertising their new brand “Mirage” and those ads are centered on LSS (Less smoke smell) technology that they apparently have. Callard fears that the vanilla aroma emitted while smoking will lull people into a false sense of security when it comes to second hand smoke and will encourage new smokers.

It doesn’t smell unpleasant, therefore it can’t possibly be bad for me……..

JTI-MacDonald argues that they are advertising a new product to existing smokers which they are fully allowed to do. My problem with this little quandary is this; I do not want today’s youth to start smoking. I am in the midst of (depths of fiery hell) trying to quit. Simply not starting is an excellent way to avoid this torture. However, does the government deserve the right to decide those things which can and cannot be advertised based on each individual party’s corporate allies/enemies? The conservative party put the ban in place, JTI-MacDonald had it deemed unreasonable and their now hesitating to put the hammer back down on the loopholes that are available to the tobacco industry. If they did, wouldn’t that be a little thing called censorship?

Where do we draw the line? Should advertising foods that are high in cholesterol and therefore a major contributing factor to heart disease be banned as well? What about banning all advertising of video games as they promote an inactive a lifestyle? I’m all about stopping new smokers from starting this (delicious) horrid and devastating habit, but I am also extremely hesitant to grant any government carte blanch to decide what I can and cannot see advertised. I am torn on this one.  As much as I am cringing in anticipation of the inevitable public stoning, I have to agree with the bad boys on this one. Heavy restrictions in place in an attempt to minimize Canada’s youth from seeing tobacco advertising, YES! Absolutely! An all out ban and the government’s ability to decide what is in my best interest without my actual input or knowledge of the product in question, No! Absolutely not! (Let’s also flash momentarily to prohibition. That which is forbidden is the sweetest fruit of all….)

Their decision making record is far too sketchy for me to ever be comfortable with that scenario.

More random blather by me as published in September 08 in Off Centre Magazine.