IPCPR Says Dallas City Council Badgered by Well-Funded Anti-Tobacco Forces

Discussions at Monday's meeting of the Dallas City Council are expected to include possible expansion of the city's smoking ban and both sides of the issue are actively campaigning for their respective positions -- especially the anti-tobacco forces.

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) November 17, 2008 -- Discussions at Monday's meeting of the Dallas City Council are expected to include possible expansion of the city's smoking ban and both sides of the issue are actively campaigning for their respective positions -- especially the anti-tobacco forces.

"Nobody likes to say anything negative about the American Cancer Society, but they are pouring money on a problem that doesn't exist and their contributors should question how they are spending their money," said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.

The Cancer Action Network of ACS recently mailed full-color brochures against secondhand smoke to local citizens. McCalla says the material misrepresents the issue because "contrary to their twisted tall tales, evidence overwhelmingly supports the benign nature of incidental exposure to secondhand smoke."

The IPCPR represents some 2,000 retailers and manufacturers of premium cigars, including Dallas-based Up In Smoke cigar stores, the ownership of which is urging its customers to attend Monday's meeting in opposition to the proposed extension of the smoking ban.

"The Surgeon General's report is consistently misrepresented regarding the effects of secondhand smoke the evidence of which the report found 'inconclusive. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not position secondhand smoke as a significant workplace issue. A report on secondhand smoke by the Environmental Protection Agency was vacated and declared null and void by a federal court because it misrepresented false conclusions that were based on poorly conceived and badly executed research… and so on," McCalla said.

"But the anti-tobacco forces repeat their lies about secondhand smoke so often that the public has accepted them as the truth. It was Mark Twain who said 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics.' Those anti-smoking groups fabricate secondhand smoke statistics to suit their purposes and use illogical arguments to defend their otherwise indefensible positions," said McCalla.

He also cited the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as giving business owners the right to decide whether or not to allow smoking on their premises and for employees and customers to have the right to work or patronize these businesses.

"Piece by piece, governments are taking away our constitutional rights. Smokers and non-smokers alike in Texas and everywhere should battle against all such efforts," added McCalla.

Contact:
Tony Tortorici
678/493-0313
tony@tortoricipr.com

http://www.ipcpr.org

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