Sonam Tshering

Bhutan PM warns against protests over tobacco law - Channel NewsAsia

A well written article on the subject

Imagine people upset over such harsh treatment that they might rise up.

Imagine people so upset by the idea that they might try to create "hysteria" where none exists.

That people are upset enough to discuss this on blogs or on Facebook should send someone a message.

 Bhutan's prime minister warned against demonstrations and "attempts to create hysteria" on Monday over a monk jailed for three years for breaking the Himalayan country's strict anti-smoking laws.

Writing in the Kuensel daily newspaper, Jigmi Y. Thinley said that he felt sorry for the 23-year-old convict, Sonam Tshering, and hinted that the legislation might be reviewed.

But he urged that "we must avoid bringing in practices that are foreign to Bhutan".

"The government will not respond to any attempts to create hysteria on the issue through any forum, including the social media," he wrote referring to the launch of an "Amend the Tobacco Control Act" Facebook group.

"Likewise, street demonstrations and movements in such cases are unpredictable in their outcomes and are necessary only in countries where the rule of law is undermined by authorities."

Bhutan's tobacco control law is the most draconian I have ever heard of  (I think Blumberg took lessons from these folks).

I don't think any of us ever expected to read about someone convicted for possession of tobacco in our lifetimes.
It's a horrifying idea.
The idea that the law would outright declare that you deserve to go to prison for simple possession of less than approximately $2.50 worth of tobacco is mind boggling.
Most tobacco control laws aren't quite so harsh.

One imagines that the world of tobacco control is watching and taking notes on how best to implement some of the same types of laws here.

I think the smokers of the world will remember the name Sonam Tshering.
I think he will be a martyr of sorts if he really is going to serve the balance of his sentence.

The second person sentenced in "Happy Bhutan"under their new tobacco control law is named Lhab Tshering.
He is 24 years old,married and has children.
He is also set to serve 3 years for possession of tobacco without declaring it .

Lhab Tshering

FORCES - THE US $3,000.00 REWARD -- ANONYMOUS SUBMISSIONS WELCOMED

FORCES - THE US $3,000.00 REWARD -- ANONYMOUS SUBMISSIONS WELCOMED

Seemed like this belonged here for some reason.

It speaks for itself I think.

Today Bhutan Tomorrow...........................................

From Bumthang to all of Bhutan - Kuensel Online

Once again happy Bhutan is in the news.

When I read articles like the one linked above I always wonder,if it's the will of the people or nothing but a publicity stunt.

I can never do these sorts of articles justice but I can't stop myself from wondering if happiness and draconian measures can coexist.

I find it disheartening that in 2003 Bhutan: the world’s most advanced tobacco control nation? appeared in print in an issue of Tobacco Control.

Reading that makes it seem scary enough.

By 2003 19 out of 20 districts in Bhutan had banned the sale of tobacco.

Everyone I ever knew who smoked indoors at restaurants and bars,in stores and shopping malls,bowling alleys,roller rinks and in their cars never thought they'd be forced into the open to smoke,or forced out of their bars or pubs to light up.

Everyone I ever knew and know who smoked or still smoke can remember when this was never a possibility.

Those days are over and our enemy is the people we vote in to protect us and the doctors we trust to care for us when we are ill.

They have other accomplices in this,there can never be any doubt of that but the people we believed would protect us,would listen to us,would do what we as their constituents asked them to have done what they thought was best no matter what the opposition.

And in my head I imagine scenes like the one described here play out all over the world.......

In their justification, government, during the meet the press event held on Thursday, said the Act was not an imposition made by the government, especially when given the fact parliament exercised its own mind.

“We’re a democracy and, in it, there are ways in which we make laws,” said the prime minister Jigmi Y Thinley.

He said it was the responsibility of the leaders to prevent people from being victims of harmful effects of tobacco.

“It was as a result of this consciousness and awareness that local leaders took up this challenge of saving their communities, their people from harmful effects of tobacco,” said the prime minister. “One dzongkhag after another took up this challenge long before the National Assembly took it up as the national challenge.”

A law official, who preferred anonymity, said the law that surfaced through due process must be upheld and abided by. “Ignorance of law isn’t pardonable,” he said.

Anger,Civil Discourse,Social Change

Hate mail, tobacco control and social change -- Malone 20 (2): 87 -- Tobacco Control

I think most of this article is hidden behind a pay wall unfortunately.

I know I can't do justice to this but I am going to try.

The author of this gem seemingly wonders why people in the blog-sphere might have problems with tobacco control.

The author seems to be drawing a comparison between people who write letters and comments on blogs and those who go into a crowd and kill people.

And the author seems surprised at the vitriol that one letter writer has displayed to them.

When people are tired of something they usually have somewhere to express that feeling and emotion but tobacco control is so successful that no one is given equal time anywhere but the blog-sphere.

Blogs are the last place any of these people have left to share thoughts,feelings and emotions.
One particularly true thought I see expressed all the time is the feelings of loneliness and separation smokers feel from the rest of society.
They have tobacco control and their alphabet soup partners to thank for feeling like social lepers,outcasts,hated,feared,maligned,marginalized,despised.

They are called killers,they see threats of death aimed at them by non-smokers.
Since many have been forced into the outdoors to smoke some have been stabbed,shot,beaten and raped.
Some have had their children forcibly removed from their homes,have lost custody in divorce cases to a non-smoking partner.
Some sit at home devoid of all social contact,denied friendship and social structure that almost all others in society receive on a daily basis.
Is it really hard to gleam why these people would be upset?

You talk about endgame strategies,about making the hatred these people are exposed to on a daily basis worse only you call it social pressure.

I see articles talking about the best way to make smokers quit by using shame,telling them they stink,reek and smell bad.
Is it really all that hard to imagine why after a good twenty to thirty years of this people would want to lash out?
Is it so hard to put yourself in the shoes of people who make no mistake pay for the tobacco control forces they are facing with their own money?

Let's never forget that we are constantly being told by tobacco control that they love smokers but hate smoking.

I guess I don't expect love to look like this.

Honduras law lets police be called on home smokers

Honduras law lets police be called on home smokers

I think the title says it all.

Hard to imagine a world where if you smoke in your own home the police can be summoned to deal with you.

Some problems I see in the law are smoking is banned in public places but not banned in homes.

If the law as it is written is to be enforced I imagine Honduras will have some problems as they only seem to have 12,000 police officers and 8 million people.


What a world.

Books,Ad's And Anti-Smoking

I always enjoyed a good book.

One of those scary kids who devoured books like they were candy or something.
I still do,one of my great joys in life is to sit and simply read.

Nothing is more enjoyable to me than being swept into some faraway land or even into a scientific debate about oncogenes.

I can't really think of a thing I'd rather be doing.

I can tell you that I own a kindle (love it) and yet still read some books in paperback or hardcover.

Maybe I am the only one bothered by the idea of this,it just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Because everyone will really enjoy having nanny scolding them while reading.

The idea that someone can put an insert into books urging someone to stop a behavior they don't like makes me cringe.

I am more appalled that they're working on a kindle version.

Isn't this an ad really?

I don't know how everyone else feels but I appreciate being able to pick up a book and escape it all.

Why can't they just leave us alone?

WHO tells Spain first 6 months of new smoking law will be key

WHO tells Spain first 6 months of new smoking law will be key

Interesting reading about Spain.

What boggles the mind is the quote here


EFE quotes him saying, ‘It is just as important that people believe the law is being complied with, as is actual compliance’.


So what matters is not just that people toe the line but that everyone believes they are being made to do so.
Heaven knows the last thing anyone wants to see is smokers standing up and saying no or property owners standing up for themselves.


That might give people hope and we can't have that now can we?