|
| |
|
|
 stablished in 1978, The Gatlinburlier is a premier retail tobacco shop, nestled in the resort town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee surrounded on three sides by the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Please feel . . .WE INTERUPT THIS HOME PAGE TO BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT. A LETTER TO THE EDITOR TO APPEAR IN OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER. THESE ISSUES AFFECT US ALL, OUR VERY RIGHTS ARE AT STAKE. Editorial on Smoking Leglislation 6/3/07 Dear Editor, The statement in last weeks editorial on the Smoking Bills going through the State Assembly could have as easily read, “ Finally after six years into the 21 Century, enough wrong minded California thinking has sloshed over the borders of Tennessee to cause its legislators to join the quasi-religious movement called Anti Tobacco. The reason I say “like religion” is that their opinions (and yours) are based on beliefs and faith not recognizable science. The reason I say “ quasi-religious” is that this movement does not have a God other than its self promotion, enrichment and aggrandizement. Fact- Fears over the effects of second-hand smoke have been created and nurtured despite that OSHA the federal agency charged with the protection of workers from work place dangers has not undertaken the control of second hand smoke. “The reason that they have not taken on the control of second-hand tobacco smoke, even in indoor completely enclosed businesses, is that they have determined that it would take levels of second-hand smoke exposure more than 100,000 times greater for it even to be considered dangerous, and similar to dangerous airborne levels of other substances that OSHA does regulate.” Fact - A study conducted by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 2000 found that the actual exposures to second-hand smoke lower for bartenders, waiters and waitresses than had been believed. The ORNL study which used air sampling equipment rather than statistical estimations found that exposures to environmental tobacco smoke was one half to two thirds lower than earlier studies indicated. For more information, see: http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/get_press_release.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20000203-00 . Fact - A follow up study the "Restaurant and Tavern Workers" study, builds upon findings of this earlier ORNL study. It involved 16 cities and more than 1,500 subjects nationwide, using separate air sampling devices for workers. The 16-cities study, the largest of its kind ever conducted in a single country, found the highest levels of environmental tobacco smoke nicotine levels in workplaces where smoking was permitted to be far lower than the numbers assumed by EPA and OSHA. Fact- In another study (the largest ever study of actual exposure levels of non-smokers) using personal monitors in 2000, in Europe found that the risk from passive smokers was 10 times lower than suggested by either the statistical evidence or estimates. Fact - The FOURTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS , and the Congressional Research Service (CRS), (the scientific watchdog agency for the US Congress), both upon review of the EPA report found that the scientific foundations for finding “second hand smoke” to be hazardous were “fraudulent”. Fact - The Surgeon General’s Report says 36 times in the Executive Summary, “The evidence is inadequate to [infer, suggest, or relate] various health issues to secondhand smoke”. The whole report makes this or similar statements 108 times. Fact - According to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, a lie will become the truth if you tell it long enough, often enough and loud enough. This the dictum for the often quoted statement that the health costs from smoking for children is 2.16 billion dollars per year. Make them show you a study. Where did this number come from? Fact- This number comes from somebody just saying it. No proof. No study. Just take one unacceptable made-up national figure and you can come up with a made-up state figure. And it shall become fact because an Anti-Smoking Nazi said so. Fact - Anti-tobacco is a multi- billion dollar industry controlled by a coalition of businesses that profit from promoting the cessation of smoking and trial various attorneys. Fact - The statement that, “higher taxes will be taking food out of children’s mouths” apparently does not count if it means higher taxes on tobacco. Fact - In all other cases, other than tobacco, raising taxes on a product to which people are “addicted” would be morally repulsive. Fact- Truth, rationality, and fairness were the first victims of the Anti-Tobacco Wars. Since then, the attitude of this quasi-religion has been best exemplified by the reaction to the federal courts’ criticism by EPA administrator Carol M. Browner. She said, “We believe the health threats . . . from breathing secondhand smoke are very real. Never mind science”. It is this “to H_ll with the truth - full steam ahead” religious-like zeal that is a threat to other people’s choices and liberties. It is this rigidly maintained attitude in the face of contrary fact that makes such meddlers threats to society. The Editor may think that there are too many loopholes and exemptions in a bill limiting rights of adults to choose to use a legal product, while I think there should not be such laws to make need of such exemptions. Only if you believe the fairy tale about second-hand smoke regardless of the lack of evidence, and only without reading the Surgeon General’s Report, the EPA report, and likely anything else on the subject, can you make the claims the Editor does. For some time now I have believed that the once “red state” of Tennessee has become more purple as democrat blue has bled from the western part to the middle and now to the eastern part of the state. The exemptions presented by the Editor are the reward of six overnight trips and all the accompanying expenses, time, and effort that I and others in the restaurant and tobacco businesses had to endure because of having to fight quasi-religious zealots cloaked as societal saviors. Granted, we obtained many exemptions for our efforts and we will be back to get others in the years to come. Given the fact that outside pollution is thousands of times more dangerous than second-hand smoke, where are these societal saviors when we don’t have any pollution devices on any trucks or equipment or any auto emissions testing or regulations? Is that too hard? Is that too real? It is easier to look proactive solving non-problems. New research shows that flu is a trigger of heart attacks. This study published (Wednesday 18 April 2007) in the European Heart Journal shows that Influenza vaccinations could save thousands of deaths from heart disease. Only about 60% of people in the USA who ought to have a flu shot actually have one. Up to 90,000 coronary deaths a year in the USA could be avoided if every high risk patient received an annual flu vaccination. This number of lives saved is 23% of the lives supposedly lost to smoking each year. The amount of money being wasted in fighting for more and more restrictive prohibitions on smokers, and not spent on programs resulting in a decrease in deaths due to lack of flu vaccinations represent the costs imposed by accepting the junk-science about second-hand smoke. Were 53,000, a widely accepted actual number of deaths due to smoking used, rather than the made-up 400,000 death figure, then the imbalance between what the American Heart Association does and what it should do is even clearer. Were they not wasting money and time fighting the bogeyman of second-hand smoke, they actually could be making expenditures that would be equal that of saving all the lives lost by smoking and an additional 37,000 lives. I can understand and accept the purpling of Tennessee if the bleed over is from democrat blue, but some of the blind fervor exhibited by those I now consider to be Purple Republicans makes me worry if the once “red state” of Tennessee has become more purple because of black seeping in from the swastikas of the Nazi flag. State discrimination, willful ignorance spread by demagogic media and pseudo-science formed the foundations and tools of the Nationalist Socialists. As I told the Senate and House Committees in my testimony “I fear a government that makes laws on the basis of junk-science and lies. I fear a government that makes laws on the basis of things that it is told a report says, without checking to see what the report says. I fear a government that makes laws on the basis of fraudulent information. Worse, I fear a government that makes laws in the face of proof that the foundations for such laws rest on fabricated studies. The dictum, “Tell a lie long enough, often enough, and loud enough it shall become the truth”, is not a basis for law.” Sincerely, Ira T. Lapides, PhD The Gatlinburlier Tobacconist Note: There are dozens of more items, omitted for space that really need open discussion. Issues surrounding: ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HELPING? VISIT The RTDA Legislative Action Center! WE NOW RESUME OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED HOME PAGE . . . welcome to stop in on us when you visit the National Park or any of the other area attractions. 
Browse through our Zippo Lighter database ... Over 450 classics and favorites ... you'll find something for everyone!
Want to know how old your Zippo lighter is? Click on the Official Zippo Dating System link to find out! Zippo Manufacturing Company. We have scheduled several Cigar, Pipe and Tobacco events for this year. You will certainly enjoy meeting these knowledgeable and informative representatives from your favorite tobacco and related industries. Be sure and check out our Events Calendar page for details.  Looking for OUT OF PRINT Issues of Cigar Aficionado? Look no further. We have issues dating back to 1997. We're not charging the $20 and $25 per issue like some are. You can get your OUT OF PRINT Issues for only $10.00 each. Check out these issues.
Meanwhile, here for your electronic perusal is our latest offering of pipes, tobaccos, and accessories for the smoker and chewer alike. If you find something you like, you can order in a variety of ways ~ phone, 24 hour fax, or right here at this site with our safe, secure online ordering system.
|
