The Globalization of Addiction
As mentioned in my post “Smoking is Declining in the US” the smoking rate in the USA has been dramatically reducing from a high of around 42% to 19% now, over a 65 year period. Nevertheless, I say it is due to the globalization of addiction and the whole dirty lesson-in-point of smoking and globalization.
Tobacco profits are already at an
astonishing historical peak according to Profs. S. Puig & Gregory
Schaffer in a recent Huntington Post article. Evidence of this abounds
everywhere.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-goodwin/watch-out-joe-camel-is-ba_b_7177592.html
Pressured to reduce tariffs in order to accept products for the economic benefit of the USA, developing and third world countries are fast falling into line and more tobacco products than ever are coming into their markets. Then this, taken along with more plentiful and cruder advertising for the same, then results in the tobacco companies getting richer and more third world people dying from smoking related diseases and impeding the economic health of their own country.
Smoking in the third world has increased even in traditional non-smoking continents and countries (eg: Africa, Thailand)
http://beautifulquitters.org/the-world-want-to-be-like-us-so-how-should-we-be
The TPP would validate and make all of this legitimate international “trade” policy.
Dr. Margaret Chan, director general
of the World Health Organization, remarked in a 2012
speech that “legal actions against Uruguay, Norway and Australia” to name
just a few, “were ‘deliberately designed to instill fear’ in countries trying
to reduce smoking.”
Indeed the TPP seems to be an
instrument of decentralized but unified economic control,
involving strong-arming countries regarding their own pro-health policies
and pumping up fear and powerlessness. It doesn’t admit all of the
above but does claim it will “harmonize” a global economy.
But if the idea of national
sovereignty, as a concept… involves being itself part of social planetary
“commons” then that commons is again being violated, and very tragically so.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13357313-the-tragedy-of-the-commons
And regarding tobacco,
there is to be sure a fightback move which has produced some interesting
trends. Of these are included an agreement drawn up by the World Health
Organization called “The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control” (FCTC)
.
According to three of its adherents, in a private correspondence to Dr. ER Shaffer of the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade & Health, “The success of this provides encouragement to positive proactive tobacco control strategies. It could offer a potential counterweight and an alternative to international trade agreements.”
They continued, “It is notable, however, that control advocates did not prevail in including language in the FCTC stating that it would take priority over trade agreements.”
Not good!!
http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/14/suppl_2/ii19.full
So there’s much work to be done
starting with making the FCTC a priority!
And don’t forget, if you are still smoking and ever want a skilled compassionate telephone coach on a donations-only
basis, please write to me at Morebeautifulquitters@gmail.com
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