With the Australian federal and Victorian state elections in sight, this week a coalition of twenty-four public health and medical organisations have called for the virtual elimination of tobacco smoking by 2025, according to a story by Terry Barnes on spectator.com.au.
Barnes, who is a fellow of the UK Institute of Economic Affairs, with a special interest in ‘nanny state regulation’, was scathing about the strategy outlined for achieving this goal, particularly the absence of any mention of the use of modern, reduced-risk products.
He said that all that was on offer to achieve the ‘do-good’ manifesto’s aims were five ideas that amounted to more of the same of the past four decades.
‘There is no recognition in this election-motivated manifesto that there are new technological weapons capable of disrupting the traditional cigarette and tobacco market, helping smokers to reduce or quit, and of leading to the sorts of real reductions in the number of lives to smoking the Pooh-Bah bullies dream of but, because of their arrogant bone-headedness, can never achieve,’ Barnes said.
Nothing new there then
