Tobakkonacht -- The Antismoking Endgame

Book excerpt: TobakkoNacht -- The Antismoking Endgame, is a frontal attack on the misuse of science and language to promote unjustified levels of smoking bans and taxes. The author, trained in statistics and propaganda analysis at Pennsylvania's Wharton School, "dissects" the scary antismoking studies that have made headlines over the past ten years. He shows clearly in each case how the data and language have been juggled to reach and promote the conclusions of those handing out the grant money and backs up his arguments with solid science clearly explained at a level that will satisfy both laymen and professionals. The book isn't all business though. It opens with a dystopian future tale of an "Endgame" in which the antismoking movement has gained full power and smokers are generally treated as near-criminals. The author explores the roots that could bring such a fiction into being and looks at the world that could be created... a very sad world indeed. The pseudo science used to push goals like outdoor smoking bans is also attacked with satire and with short essays taking the form of "Letters To The Editor" focusing on all the microarguments used by antismoking crusaders playing with their "scientifical" instruments and by fanatic who'd happily apply the same methodology to reducing automobile and alcohol use. A few more formal communications showing how to approach local and national governmental bodies are also offered, again with the benefit of exposing false arguments while showing how to effectively attack the "authoritative sources" that seek to silence the opposition with their prestige while pushing for ever wider bans and ever higher taxes. The book concludes with a strong section painting a path toward a winning endgame for those in the Free Choice movement, pointing to the weaknesses of the current crop of smoking prohibitionists and suggesting how they can best be countered. TobakkoNacht can best be summed up like this: It shows how the denormalization of smokers has warped science and ripped holes in our social fabric while transforming a worthy public health effort into a destructive social force assaulting our lives, our families, and our communities -- and it shows how to fight back!