The spokesman for Forest Éireann has said he is undertaking a tour of Ireland in response to “increasingly restrictive measures on smoking and tobacco, including campaigns to ‘de-normalise’ the habit”.
On the Limerick leg of his tour, John Mallon urged smokers to stand up to “Prohibition extremism in a free society”.
According to a story by Lynda Foley for the Limerick Post, Mallon is concerned that, following the public smoking ban, the prohibition of 10 packs and the display ban, campaigners now wanted to ban smoking in private vehicles carrying children. “What next?” he asked. “All cars? Private homes where children are present? Outdoor parks and beaches?
“And what about other products that carry a potential health risk such as alcohol and fizzy drinks? Will they be targeted too?”
Mallon said he was concerned also with the “unintended consequences of anti-tobacco legislation including the closure of pubs, an increase in the black market sale of tobacco and the increasing prevalence of smoking in Ireland”.