"Sex, Lies and Cigarettes", a documentary film by Christof Putzel, and aired in the "Vanguard" series on Current TV, is now available on YouTube.

Press coverage of the 11th annual Stairclimb for Clean Air: Hundreds take part in Stairclimb for Clean Air fundraiser

Errol was #218 on the list of finishers, with a time of 11:36.

Article by Carlito Pablo in the Georgia Straight: Demand for smoke-free housing on the rise in Metro Vancouver

Article by Stuart Kreisman mentioned: Toward smoke-free multi-unit dwellings

Survey showing that 80% of Ontarians living in apartments, condominiums or housing co-ops want to live in a smoke-free building: 80% of People Living in Apartments, Condos and Co-ops Want to Live Smoke Free

The Conservative Party of Canada is telling us that crime is something we should be concerned about. They want to increase mandatory sentences (especially for drug-related offenses), limit pardons, and, presumably, build more prisons.

There was also a press release from the Fraser Institute, dutifully reproduced by the Toronto Sun, telling us that tobacco smuggling is a problem, and the way to solve this problem is to reduce taxes on cigarettes.

We've heard this before, and we've also heard that the Fraser Institute wants to abolish public health care, public schools, and provincial and federal parks. Most Canadians who are aware that the Fraser Institute exists regard them as cranks, but they still get very generous media coverage.

Now, here's a couple of news stories that the Canadian media is not telling us about:

Article by Paul Christopher Webster in the Canadian Medical Association Journal: Tobacco control measures under industry assault

Excerpt: "Tobacco industry bids to undermine tobacco prevention and control measures by mounting legal challenges based on international trade treaties appear to have become all the rage, to the dismay of public health advocates. Australia, Norway and Uruguay now face such trade-related lawsuits. Two similar suits against Thailand and the United States were recently settled in the industry’s favour. And as [Dr. Margaret] Chan indicated, legal skirmishing underway at the World Trade Organization suggests that many more countries will soon join the list of industry targets."

To hear their proponents tell the tale, you could be excused for believing that e-cigarettes are the health equivalent of the Second Coming.

The most harmful part of smoking is the smoke, which e-cigarettes eliminate while keeping the experience of smoking. Physically resembling cigarettes, they are actually electronic devices containing a cartridge of liquid nicotine solution that is heated and vaporized for inhalation.

For addicted smokers, e-cigarettes are a kinder, gentler way to needlessly empty their wallets into a wealthy corporation’s bank account in order to gratify an artificially manufactured craving for a toxic non-essential.

But e-cigarette proponents resolutely refuse to address the two major flaws in their argument.

Backwards burden of proof. They believe that e-cigarette use or “vaping” should be permitted everywhere that smoking is not. Then, if in 50 or 60 years we find out that, like secondhand smoke, e-cigarette vapour harms bystanders, we can spend another 30 to 50 years fighting to outlaw their use in public. They describe anyone who objects to being volunteered as a lab rat to protect their comfort and convenience as a heartless zealot at best and genocidal maniac at worst.

Irrelevant safety standard. Few doubt that inhaling e-cigarette vapor is safer than smoking. Or for that matter, leaping in front of an oncoming train. Or gargling drain cleaner. If we used smoking as a benchmark against which to measure acceptable safety standards for everything, there would not be much left in the world to describe as harmful.

Add Tanzania to the list of countries where child labour is used in the harvesting of tobacco. Article by Ludovick Kazoka in Tanzania Daily News: Combating child labour in tobacco areas

Excerpt: "These children work long hours without rest or food, endure extreme weather without appropriate gear, carry heavy loads that can affect their growth, face exposure to harmful agrochemicals, and do not have time to go school. On average, they work 8 to 12 hours per day."

Airspace President Errol Povah and Philip Morris International CEO Lou Camilleri made a trip to Victoria on November 10 to participate in Occupy Victoria and draw attention to the British Columbia Investment  Management Corporation's continued investment in the tobacco industry. They walked from the Occupation at Centennial Park to the BCIMC offices. A transcript of Camilleri's speech appears below the fold.