WHO won’t rest with cigarette taxation

The drive toward global governance and taxation is a disturbing sign of much more to come, according to an editorial in the Washington Post commenting on decisions taken at the recent meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

‘The world, or a good part of it, struggles to cope with Ebola, and the United Nations continues to be obsessed by tobacco,’ the editorial said. ‘The World Health Organization, meeting in Moscow [COP6, October 13-18] came up with a treaty imposing a global tax on cigarettes and delegates of 179 nations signed it.

‘The United States isn’t a party to the agreement, but the drive toward global governance and taxation is a disturbing sign of much more to come.’

Later, the editorial made the point that decisions to balance risks and benefits can be made best by individual men and women without the heavy hand of legislative bodies.

‘Ceding such decisions to unaccountable international bureaucrats is ceding freedom,’ it said.

‘The global prohibitionists won’t rest with a cigarette tax. They’re not interested in good health so much as controlling the lives of everyone.’

The editorial is at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/24/editorial-prohibitionists-at-the-un/#!