The War Begins In Earnest. (Poor Earnest)

I've just read an excellent post by Leg-Iron describing the nature of the war on smokers and how the two different camps operate. The anti's with their command and control structure and their constant visibility. The smokers who, operating as individuals can just pop out of the woodwork, give you a bloody nose and then disappear.

This last week has has proven just how correct Leg-Irons assessment of the situation is with two glaring examples.

The first being the stunt in Kent by the group calling themselves the Ciggy Busters. With the blessing of Rachel Noxon, Tobacco Control Strategic Coordinator Medway public health directorate, an arts teacher, Margherita Gramegna led a band of students from the Hundred of Hoo school, out onto the streets of Kent to steal cigarettes from smokers in public.

The backlash from smokers (and non smokers alike) has been so strong that now, if you Google Rachel Noxon, Margherita Gramegna or Hundred of Hoo School you get a list of blogs denouncing these people and their actions. The Youtube video of the children in action and the Facebook page of the Ciggy Busters have both been taken down. The homepage of Medway Breathes (some anti smoking council waffle from Rachel Noxon) has been made invite only and is password protected. The cameraman who filmed the stunt, Ollie Grapper, has distanced himself from the whole project, even removing anti smoker comments from his Youtube channel for fear his actions may jeopardise his career as a photographer.

Everyone involved in the Ciggy Buster has retreated behind their own lines.

The next story involves an old age pensioner fined by a local council jobsworth for dropping cigarette ash on the street. She refused to pay the £75 ticket and is now looking at a possible £2500 fine in the courts. The Anna Raccoon blogspot linked to has, at the time of writing, got 78 comments. Anna has pledged to do what she can to help this woman, similar to the Nick Hogan incident earlier. Legal help has already been pledged free of charge. If it comes to it, once again all the bloggers will chip together and make this go away. Be it financial or simply moral support.

The Anti smokers simply cannot win. Every time an injustice like this crops up, will will appear, as if from nowhere, fight, then disappear from whence we came.

And as Leg-Iron says. They don't know who we are. They don't know how to stop us.

Have a nice Sunday evening, smokers and non smokers all.
The Moose.