Smoking gunned

November 20 could prove to be a red letter day for the Anti-Smoking lobby with the European Union voting to outlaw cigarette adverts in newspapers and magazines, on the internet and at sports events in every EU country. The Irish government has already legislated for such a ban here.

While the bill needs to be passed twice by the EU assembly and approved by other individual governments before it becomes law, campaigners are confident that the ban will be in place for July 2005.

The European Parliament vote follows on from the launch of the “Feel Free To Say No” campaign which has been masterminded by Irish EU Commissioner David Byrne.

“The message we’re sending tobacco companies is, ‘No, you can’t advertise for new addicts to replace the ones you’ve already killed’,” Byrne tells hotpress. “Our campaign slogan – Feel Free To Say No – is intended to hand the initiative back to young people and say, ‘Make your own mind up about this. Do you want to be addicted to the product of the tobacco multinationals for the rest of your life or do you want to be free of that?’”

With 25% of EU teenagers professing to being “daily smokers”, the €18 million campaign has its work cut out.

“There are some states in the US where that figure is now as low as 14%, so the message can and does get through,” Byrne insists. “They accept that it’s a loser’s lifestyle. We’ve got to do that here which is why we’ve asked sports and pop stars to get involved with us.”
Those giving freely of their time include Luis Figo, Paolo Maldini, Zinadane Zidane, Liberty X, Moby, Sophie Ellis Bextor and the Canadian boy band who’ve supplied the campaign’s clarion call single, B 4-4.

“The twins in the band lost a grandfather to smoking, so there are personal reasons for B 4-4 coming on board,” proffers Lou Pearlman whose managerial CV also includes Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and O-Town. “The ‘Feel Free To Say No’ single will be released simultaneously throughout the EU in January, and we’re confident that it’ll deliver the campaign message in a fun and effective way.”

Realising that there’s only so much B 4-4 and their pop brethren can achieve, Byrne is looking at other ways to make life difficult for the tobacco multinationals.

“If nicotine was invented today, it would be banned,” he states matter-of-factly. “There’s no scientist or regulatory authority, anywhere in the world, that would allow tobacco to go on sale. Half a million Europeans a year die prematurely of smoking-related diseases. That’s an appalling figure. The advertising and sponsorship ban is a good start, but we also need individual sovereign states to ban smoking in public places. Which is what Micheal Martin has just done in Ireland. That alone is huge step forward.”

He’s also hoping to see an increase in the number of lawsuits being brought against tobacco companies by individuals.

“That was the big success story in the United States,” Byrne reflects. “Lawyers launching big cases and getting huge settlements from tobacco companies who were hit where it hurt – in the pocket. There are similar cases in incubation in Ireland and I wish them well.”