The Stentorian has withdrawn from the anti-tobacco crusade

There is a saying that my enemy's enemy is my friend. I can never be friends with the tobacco industry due to my personal values and ethics but, for the reasons below, I have withdrawn from the fight against Big Tobacco.

I do not like what the tobacco industry sells, and their billboards antagonized me every day when I drove to work. The billboards are gone, and they have been replaced by antitobacco ads. (Note to fellow Libertarians: when I was fighting the tobacco industry, I never advocated restrictions on tobacco advertising, but rather antitobacco forces' use of the First Amendment to counteract tobacco advertising.) I do not like the tobacco industry. However, in fighting against it, I have found myself in some very questionable and undesirable company.

  1. I found myself agreeing with the Clinton Administration about Big Tobacco. I should have known something was wrong with this; even if Bill Clinton seems to be doing something good and virtuous, there's something behind it that stinks-- like his whole term of office has stunk.
  2. "Don't go there, don't open that box." I liked the lawsuits against the tobacco industry when they started. Unfortunately, various states and municipalities, and the Federal government, have now turned this approach against the firearm industry. For anyone who doesn't understand the difference between guns and tobacco:
  3. SLAM! Records (Virginia SLAM), which began by refusing to make music for the tobacco industry-- a stand for which I admired it-- has turned into a shill for Handgun Control Incorporated and has launched an unjust attack on the Second Amendment. I really hope this is because HCI has misled and deceived a well-meaning but starry-eyed and idealistic young singer, and not because SLAM has discovered the value of hatemongering and demagoguery in selling concert tickets and music CDs.

How SLAM! is misleading its Web site visitors

I am open to the possibility that, since SLAM is composed of young, idealistic, and perhaps naive musicians who don't understand how the wicked old world really works, they are merely swallowing Handgun Control Incorporated's lies whole. HCI and its allies are not above using young musicians as tools to mislead and deceive the fans who trust, respect, and look up to them. In any event, here is an overview of what SLAM's Web page says (as of June 19, 2000):

"For years they [the NRA] have opposed measures like the Brady Law, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and even attempts to ban 'cop-killer' bullets." SLAM also accuses the NRA of "pushing to make it easier for almost anyone, 'even stalkers, domestic abusers and child molesters', to carry handguns in public places."

"We are SLAM!ing the NRA for:" (first bullet is from SLAM, indented comments underneath are mine)


New York Mayor Rudolph Guliani announces his city's lawsuit against gun manufacturers
Image credits and copyright

The Stentorian's Second Amendment Rights Page 

For those interested in other antismoking links: 

If you choose to smoke:

If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do, quitting is the best way to assure your health. If you choose to smoke, however, the following product (I have no financial interest in it, and I'm linking more than one supplier) may reduce (not eliminate) the health risks of smoking while actually improving the flavor. The Middle Eastern water pipe, shisha, nargile, or hookah, may absorb some of the carcinogenic chemicals in tobacco smoke, plus other materials that make the smoke acrid and less enjoyable.

Two ways to keep both the government and Big Tobacco out of your pocket

Note on trademarks; I think I'm allowed to use A camel, as long as I don't use THE Camel.
Blow smoke in their faces by rolling your own cigarettes. As I understand it, there's no tax on loose tobacco (or, if there is, it's a lot lower than the tax on cigarettes). NOTE: filters may reduce (not eliminate) some of the dangerous particulates in tobacco smoke. Even better, blow NOsmoke in their faces. I stand by my position that it's best to quit (or not start to begin with). Information on water pipes and cigarette rolling machines is provided as a service to people who choose to smoke