problems with tobacco
Here's a quick and colorful bit of history:
Edward Bernays, the creator of public relations as we know it,
helped make the bacon-and-egg breakfast and the Dixie cup
staples of American Society. As the nephew of Sigmund Freud, he
knew a thing or two about marketing and herd mentality. All one
had to do was market something to a few people, and by wildfire,
the herd would be influenced.
The image of fire is not lost in Bernays 1920's campaign:
Working for the American Tobacco Company, Bernay's hired a group
of young female models to march in the New York City Easter parade. He
then told the press that a group of women's rights marchers
would light "Torches of Freedom." On his signal, the models lit
Lucky Strike cigarettes in front of the eager photographers,
erasing the stigma of women smoking and ushering in generations
of tobacco problems (Source -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays).
In 1992, some members of PANAT met Edward Bernays and he
admitted that there was no scientific knowledge about smoking's
peril back then. When we asked him how he would curtail
tobacco's prevalence, he gave us the idea of a petition to the
Pope, the first official effort of PANAT. We credit him with
lighting a new torch, a torch of liberation from tobacco.
Elsewhere on this website, you can read about the costs, ills,
and perils of smoking. Many of these statistics will sound
familiar, and many might surprise you. The knowledge we have
about tobacco is the result of years of sacrifice on the part of
scientists from all over the world. Just as the ancients had to
reconcile philosophical and mathematical truths, we need to
reconcile scientific truths with human behavior.
When we neglect reason and act according to feelings and
passions, our behaviors will cause suffering. In fact, they
already have... Just ask a health care worker or someone who has
buried a chronic smoker.
The pervasiveness of tobacco makes no sense. Why do we continue
to embrace it as a society? Why do we continue to socially
sanction a drug that is more costly than any other drug on
earth? Why do we continue to walk around the 500 pound gorilla
in the room?
It just might be that the allure of smoking currently outweighs
the perceived dangers. As Physicians and Nurses Against Tobacco,
we hope to shift the weight.
Anywhere on this planet at any given time, cigarettes are
ablaze. Elsewhere, heart monitors rattle, oxygen tanks fizzle,
and gravestones drop.
Isn't it time to admit our mistakes?
Quite simply, a new generation needs to step in and interrupt
this tradition of tobacco that serves no purpose. Let us be that
generation. Let us stomp out the "torches of freedom" and bring
something else to light: The eradication of tobacco.
We all have a stake in this debate. By doing nothing, we will
not be able to defend ourselves in the court of future
generations. Get involved today!
Click here and get
involved now! You can help us change the world!