Wearing my "Forest Ireland" hat I have been on a few radio shows already today defending the innocent electronic cigarette. The chinese guy who invented that wonderful device should have thought of a different name for it because when the blind bigots hear the word cigarette, they draw their sabers immediately for war.

It isn't a cigarette, tastes nothing like one, doesn't even have tobacco next or near it and there's no smoke because you don't light it. There are no carcinogens emitted, no evil smells to offend the delicate nostrils, no litter afterwards to moan about and no credible research done to condemn them. But the word 'cigarette' after the 'E' for electronic is curdling the blood of the extremist fascists in the various anti-smoking rackets up and down the country.

That stupid crowd at Irish Rail banned them not only on their trains but in the train stations also. A few ignorant restaurants proudly declared they weren't welcome on their premises thus alerting decent people to places they shouldn't waste their money in. 

The anti-smoking racketeers were caught on the hop with the humble e-cig and in early debates with them on live media I noticed that they didn't have their homework done. They rattled off the same lying rhetoric they have used against smokers for the last twelve years in Ireland and then sat back smugly for your's truly here to defend the indefensible. Many of them were horrified as they listened to a scientific explanation of the genius simplicity of the modern e-cig. 

So they have retreated to a line of defense that states that they cannot endorse the e-cig until the dangers of long term use have been examined. How is such long term use to be examined though if they are trying to prevent them even being tried out? They have attempted all sorts of lies like popcorn lung, exploding devices and even hinted at carcinogens present but each has been roundly debunked. 

A report I heard of months ago hit the headlines here this morning. None other than the "Royal College of Physicians," in the UK released a 200-page report highly recommending  e-cigs for those wanting to quit smoking. The rabid anti-smoking racket here has gone into spasm over it. This report dismisses all of the lies they have previously used and has dismissals for many lies they have not already tried as yet. The authors suggest that the NHS in the UK should promote e-cigs as a harm reduction device. Even Dr. Michael Siegel, world renowned enemy of the smoker, has a lot to say in favour of this morning's report. He refers to the criticism of e-cigs as "Non-evidence-based rhetoric and propaganda from numerous health agencies, charities and regulatory bodies." They would collectively be known as the anti-smoking racketeers over here. He refers to the report as, "Evidence-based recommendations that aim to protect the public's health rather than to promote any particular bias or ideology." 
'And so say all of us Michael!'

Over the years as the sole voice of the smoker in Ireland I have been subjected to personal attacks on air, vilified in the press and by the press and insulted on the street for my high profile defending of smokers rights. For a quiet guy who has the motto, "If you're hit, hit back straight away without thinking," I have had to bite my tongue and endure it. So you will forgive me now on my own blog if I quietly gloat as the anti-smoking racketeers have had their lies in one area openly exposed and refuted. 

To clarify my position, you should have the right to enjoy tobacco if you wish and the right to quit enjoying as well if you so wish. Then, as a responsible adult, you must also have the right to choose your method of quitting, be that cold turkey, NRT's or e-cigs. My own father back in his day choose chewing gum, (Wriggleis) as his quitting aid. He was dead eight months later and I recall my Mother often bemoaning the fact that the doctor made him quit because she speculated that she might have had a few more years of his company if he'd stayed smoking. I have heard many similar anecdotes over time.

But whether you smoke, drink alcohol, eat the food you like or live the life you want, the freedom you assume you have to choose for yourself is coming to an end. A very vicious Nanny-style public health has found a way to profit greatly from stealing  your choices and forcing you firmly down the buying route of their choosing instead. And they lobby so hard and so incessantly for their way that they can obtain fines for you for disobeying them. 

I suspect George Orwell must have seen all this coming but I didn't until I began defending the innocent smoker over five years ago. Alcoholics and the obese are the next targets which translates into anyone mildly overweight and those who currently enjoy a couple of pints. Bans, restrictions and most of all, price increases are on their way as Nanny shifts to more interesting streams of revenue for itself. In Public Health, incitement to hatred is perfectly justifiable on the grounds that you 'disapprove' of someone else's lifestyle.

Remember that!