Mark Littlewood in Conversation with Simon Clark

May 28, 2019 | On 16th May 2019, to mark the 40th anniversary of the smokers' group FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), Mark Littlewood, director-general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, spoke to Forest director Simon Clark.

This country has gone completely over-the-top with its anti-smoking legislation. The war on smoking and smokers shows no sign of coming to an end, either. Smoking has become the bête noire of our day. Fact is, however, some people do far worse things than smoke a cigarette. Yet the powers-that-be do little about those questionable and unhealthy activities. Yet on smokers, it's open season. I write as an ex-smoker. But when I smoked, I smoked for pleasure and for no other reason. The problem today, though, is that trying to enjoy a cigarette has been made so difficult for people that much of the pleasure has been taken out of the pleasurable habit. There is also no rhyme – © Mark Alexander or reason in the taxes placed on cigarettes. Smokers are easy targets for the taxman. – © Mark Alexander

"Give Adults Freedom of Choice" - The Taxpayers Alliance Talks with Simon Clark

Nov 3, 2023 | Simon Clark, director of smokers' rights group Forest, joins us for this episode of TPA Talks. Reflecting on the upcoming smoking ban after decades of creeping regulation, Simon explains how the war on smokers and the rise of the nanny state have worrying implications for us all - smokers or not

I have been a lifelong Conservative voter, too. But I, like Simon Clark, will never vote for the party again if this ridiculous smoking ban really would be pushed through Parliament. Now, with an election imminent and the Conservatives unlikely to win, the Labour Party is likely to take up this ridiculous and illiberal policy proposal. I speak as an ex-smoker. I gave up smoking in April 2022. I used to smoke twenty cigarettes a day which, back in the day, used to be considered normal, not heavy. Heavy smoking used to be 40 - 60 cigarettes a day! However, with the price of a packet of Marlboro Reds, my cigarettes of choice, brushing £16, it became far too expensive to continue with the habit. So, I gave up. Bang went one of the main pleasures in my life! And I resent that. I object to this Conservative government taking older people's pleasures away from them. I really do. This sort of thing is expected from a more left-wing, socialist government, but not the Tories. — © Mark Alexander

This is one VERY IMPORTANT REASON why I am so against governments interfering with people’s smoking rights. These bans will not stop at smoking. I have said it all along. Now here comes the evidence! Left-wing do-gooders are on the warpath:

Extend success of UK sugar tax to cakes, biscuits and chocolate, experts urge: Exclusive: Co-author of analysis for WHO calls on government to control the food industry rather than being subservient to it »

Something for the Killjoys of This World!

Sunak comes immediately to mind!
Many thanks to Elis Cliffe on Pinterest for this priceless image!
I have nearly lost my life on three separate occasions. I am being serious. I have survived each misadventure and have fully recovered from everything. I can assure you that after such experiences, one has a very, very different take on the dangers of smoking. People who go on about the dangers of smoking come over to me as snowflakes. And as for people caring about secondhand smoke – what a joke! Don't make me laugh! I was once run over by an oncoming car, smashing the man's windscreen! Worrying about the dangers of smoking is rather pathetic by comparison with such an experience. People who worry about such trivialities need to get out a bit more; they need to start living! Even though I no longer smoke (though I could always decide to go back to smoking), smokers are very welcome on this website. They are not welcome in so many places these days, I know. But rest assured, you ARE welcome here. Very welcome, in fact. This website is a website for grown-ups. – © Mark Alexander

Vape Ban, Smoking Ban: Rishi Sunak's "Nanny State" | The New Statesman Podcast

Feb 3, 2024 | This week's disposable vape ban follows a generational ban on smoking and an XL Bully ban. Is this Rishi Sunak's legacy?

The mere idea of having a smoking ban for an adult is OUTRAGEOUS! Kick Sunak OUT of OFFICE NOW!

By the way: Maybe Sunak’s daughters will one day fall in love with, and marry, smokers. What a delightful, delicious thought! – © Mark Alexander

Those Were the Days! Jackie Kennedy Showing the World How to Enjoy a Smoke of a Real Cigarette with Elegance and Panache

When elegance for a lady meant smoking a cigarette in a cigarette holder, in a pre-Puritanical time when people understood how to enjoy themselves and had little appetite for preserving themselves for the old folks’ home! They lived life to the fullest and cocked a snook at the killjoys.
With many thanks to New York Magazine on Pinterest for this delightful photo of one of the most elegant ladies of the twentieth century.

France to Ban Smoking on All Beaches in Effort to Create ‘Tobacco-free Generation’

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Public parks, forests and areas near schools will also become smoke-free as part of nationwide move

Two small parts of the beaches in Cannes are cigarette-free, but its mayor questioned the government’s smoking ban. Photograph: Sébastien Nogier/EPA
France is to ban smoking on all beaches, as well as in public parks, forests and near schools, after Emmanuel Macron promised to create “the first tobacco-free generation” by 2032.

“From now on, no-smoking areas will be the norm,” said the health minister, Aurélien Rousseau.

There are already 7,200 tobacco-free areas in France – including in Nice, on the French Riviera, which was the first to establish a cigarette-free beach in 2012 with the approval of France’s League Against Cancer.

The government said that instead of smoke-free areas being decided by individual local authorities, central government would introduce a nationwide ban. “We are now shifting the responsibility and establishing a principle which will become the rule,” Rousseau said.

Taxes on cigarettes will be increased, with a pack of 20, now priced at about €11 (£9.50), rising to €12 by 2025 and €13 the following year. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Tuesday, November 28, 2023

It was bad enough that the Anglo-Saxon world was working overtime to kill off the concept of joie de vivre; now, Macron’s government is also hell-bent on taking la joie out of la vie too! Clearly, the end is nigh for freedom in the West. Maybe Macron should think of changing the motto Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité into just Égalité, Fraternité, because liberty in France is clearly being eroded.

I think that this is a very unwise move on Macron’s part at this time because this could help sweep Marine Le Pen to power at the next election. Populists are already gaining strength right across the Continent anyway. This will surely help populist parties become even stronger. – © Mark Alexander

France urged to accept the science on how to stop smoking: France’s Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment has concluded that a drastic change in approach is required to get cigarette smokers to stop smoking, A report prepared by members of both chambers of the French Parliament recommends a risk reduction approach that offers smokers the chance to switch to much less harmful electronic cigarettes, writes Political Editor Nick Powell. »

Tabagisme : « Il faut avancer sur la voie de la réduction des risques » : Alors que les politiques publiques semblent perdre en efficacité avec le temps, des spécialistes des addictions appellent, dans une tribune au « Monde », à tenter une nouvelle stratégie d’accompagnement des fumeurs. »

Being that France (and other Western countries) are on a banning spree... just as smoking can cause cancer, so can drinking alcohol. So, why not ban alcohol, too? Why stop at smoking? Ban all sources of pleasure! Don't waste any time: Ban the bloody lot! Why not?

Alcohol and its link to cancer »

Joint statement by WHO/Europe and IARC to the European Parliament – raising awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer »

Ireland signs law requiring cancer warnings on all alcoholic beverages: The Irish government says the measure — opposed by drinks industry chiefs worldwide but cleared by EU and WTO regulators — will come into force in May 2026. »

WHO Declares Loneliness a ‘Global Public Health Concern’

GUARDIAN EUROPE: The World Health Organization has launched an international commission on loneliness, which can be as bad for people’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared loneliness to be a pressing global health threat, with the US surgeon general saying that its mortality effects are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

WHO has launched an international commission on the problem – led by the US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, and the African Union youth envoy, Chido Mpemba – of 11 advocates and government ministers, including Ralph Regenvanu, the minister of climate change adaptation in Vanuatu, and Ayuko Kato, the minister in charge of measures for loneliness and isolation in Japan.

It comes after the Covid-19 pandemic halted economic and social activity, increasing levels of loneliness, but also amid a new awareness of the importance of the issue. The commission will run for three years. » | Sarah Johnson | Thursday, November 16, 2023

Every bloody thing bad must be compared with smoking cigarettes these days! Smoking cigarettes, one of the greatest pleasures in everyday life, has been turned into the bête noire of our day. These people touting this fantasy are batshit crazy! And as dumb as they come! Don’t they realise that by waging this ongoing war on cigarettes and smoking that they have caused the very problem – loneliness – that they now are trying to combat?

As an ex-smoker, and as a widower, I know a thing or two about smoking and loneliness. I can tell you that when you make all public places out of bounds for smokers, you are creating the very problem of loneliness, especially among older generations, for whom enjoying a smoke was a given right in life. That is until the health Nazis got involved.

What does a smoker do when he is retired, and probably lost his life’s partner? Where can he/she go to enjoy him-/herself and meet some like-minded friends? Cafés, pubs, hotel bars, restaurants or any other space where people gather are well and truly out of bounds these days. And because people have been made paranoid about the dubious dangers of second-hand smoke, friends don’t want you smoking in their homes either. Almost all are snowflakes these days.

For WHO’s information, there are health benefits to smoking cigarettes, especially light smoking. People in the World Health Organisation should check them out on Google! Even though it is true that not smoking is healthier than smoking in an ideal world, we do not live in Utopia. And there are REAL benefits to smoking a few cigarettes.

Moreover, don’t these people realise that EVERYTHING in life is bad for your health if not done in moderation. Moderation is key to all healthy living. Too much food, especially the junk people generally eat today, is bad for you. Drinking too much is bad for you. Walking down a street with cars puffing out exhaust is terrible for your health. And what about the health dangers in smoking soft drugs on which laws are being relaxed at a rapid pace in many Western countries, and all the health dangers of opioids? Turn your attention to the REAL dangers to health! So, for heaven’s sake, stop comparing all things bad and unhealthy with smoking a few cigarettes. It is so tiring to hear the same old record, over and over and over again.

If you really wish to combat loneliness, relax the laws on smoking in public places. Provide smoking areas for smokers. Let smokers meet their friends for a chinwag, instead of confining them to their homes.

It must also be said that with your stupid war on smoking, you have created a generation of paranoid people – people who mistakenly think that even if they get a few whiffs of second-hand smoke, they are doomed to a certain death from lung cancer! How stupid can you get? If they were only to consult good sources on Google, they would discover that it is only about 10%, maximum 20%, of HEAVY smokers that end up with lung cancer. And as for Parkinson’s disease and possibly also Alzheimer’s disease, smoking can have a protective effect. So go put that in your pipe and smoke it! – © Mark Alexander

A Handsome Man Enjoying a Smoke

For Christ’s sake, kill this political correctness which pervades the erroneous thinking of our age! There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with a smoke in moderation. Is the smoking of weed really healthier than the smoking of a cigarette? For Christ’s sake, get a grip! (I write as an ex-smoker.) There are few things in life on a day-to-day basis that are more pleasurable than the smoking of a cigarette. – © Mark Alexander
With many, many thanks to Iva on Pinterest for this superb photo of a handsome young man enjoying a cigarette.

There’s Something about a Man Who Smokes!

Make smoking cool again! Forget all this political correctness. Let’s make having pleasure okay again. Put the killjoys back in their caves! – Mark
Many thanks to Aaron Eckhart on Pinterest for this great photo.

By the way, smoking cigarettes is far less harmful to health than breathing in polluted air whilst walking down the street. And God only knows what the long-term health consequences of vaping are. And don’t get me even started on the legalization of cannabis for pleasure and recreation! If that is to be allowed, then smoking tobacco certainly should be allowed.

By the way, I write this as a non-smoker. I haven’t smoked a cigarette since April 10th, the day after my birthday. That is now more than six months ago.

Do I miss smoking? No, not really. Have I ever had a craving for a cigarette? No, certainly not. But do I have fond memories of the years I used to smoke daily? Certainly. I derived lots and lots of pleasure from cigarettes. I smoked only because I enjoyed smoking. I never was, nor did I ever feel, addicted to tobacco/nicotine.

But we are living in a Puritanical age, especially in the Anglosphere. The concept of joie de vivre is totally alien to most English-speakers. This is the sad reality of life today. – © Mark Alexander

Make Smoking Cool Again!

Sexy, pleasurable and cool.
Many thanks to Google Images for this great photo.

How to Start Smoking (Again)

THE GUARDIAN: There's nothing quite as dull as a how-I-quit-fags story. Taking up cigarettes, however, can be pretty interesting, says Tim Wilson, who has begun smoking seven times

I have started smoking about seven times. The best one was the last. It always is. Practice makes perfect, so you have a more textured awareness of what is unfolding. There's the moment of fatal nostalgia, the decision, the dizzy embrace, and, between 10 to 15 minutes later, the desire to repeat. Quitting cigarettes grabs headlines, (understandably, it's a trial) but starting them deserves scrutiny also. Just because something is easy, doesn't mean it isn't significant.

I'm not alone, apparently, in my vacillation. Studies say that smokers who quit may fail three to seven times before making the final abstention. "Relapse rates" are estimated to range from between 60 and 90 per cent in the first year. Relapse, indeed. Medical language is so cold-blooded. If I'm relapsing, why does the event feel like a reunion? It's like bumping into an ex-girlfriend, finding she is still trouble, and knowing that just this once more, you're up for it.

My last... fling began at a party. I was with intelligent and attractive people, and on the wagon. My doctor had told me not to get off the wagon, so there I stood, clutching my sparkling mineral water. The sex columnist I was talking to was smoking. I looked about me. Everyone was smoking. Cigarettes hung in the air, being tapped insouciantly, being sucked as a prelude to delivering clever remarks. The bubbles in my water continued to rise, cheerful and empty. Something was missing from my life. Risk.

To an ex-smoker, good health can pale because its benefits are quickly absorbed into daily existence. Clean breath and a lack of morning phlegm are instances of absence rather than presence. You quit because you are tired of the smoking rigmarole, the locating of matches and the coughing. You start because well-being is, well, tedious. » | Tim Wilson | Tuesday, December 17, 2002

...

MARK ALEXANDER: I came across this delightful article recently. It is delightful precisely because it goes against the current poltitically correct narrative about how awful and dangerous smoking tobacco is. I don’t agree with this narrative.

Let’s get this straight: I am an ex-smoker. I smoked for most of my adult life. I smoked twenty cigarettes a day, which I consider a normal, moderate number of cigarettes to smoke in a day.

Smoking gave me great pleasure: I loved a smoke. I never felt addicted to cigarettes. I simply wasn’t. That is why I was able to give up smoking from one day to the next; and I haven’t had any cravings for cigarettes after quitting.

My only 'naughty' pleasures in life were a few alcoholic drinks and some cigarettes. These days, even though the smoking of cigarettes is frowned upon by many, people do far, far worse things than smoke a cigarette. You don’t need me to tell you what they do. I have never ever indulged in anything stronger than a few glasses of alcohol—Scotch whisky and red or white wine, usually; and perhaps gin or vodka, more usually in summer.

I quit the lovely and enjoyable habit of smoking on April 10th this year. The day after my birthday. I had three cigarettes left in the pack from the day before. I smoked them; and that was the end of my smoking career (I think!).

The only negative thing I find about not smoking is that I have gained weight. Smoking helped me maintain a fairly constant weight all of my adult life.

When you tell people that after giving up smoking, one gains weight, they immediately think that one eats more. Not so! At least not in my case. One thing I have learnt is that smoking increases one’s metabolism; so, when one stops the pleasurable habit, one’s metabolism slows down. A slow metabolism means that one’’s ingested calories are more slowly burnt off, of course. Hence the weight gain.

Most people these days don’t smoke cigarettes anymore, at least not in public in the Anglosphere. But are they healthier because of this abstinence? Emphatically not! I have never seen so many obese people in my life. They may not be smokers; but they are certainly not any healthier. These days, they eat junk food instead, or puff on e-cigarettes (the long term consequences of which are as yet unknown), or puff, perhaps, on cannabis.

Some of the nicest, happiest people I have ever met in my life have been smokers. By contrast, some of the nastiest, most miserable people I have met have been non-smokers, especially when being militant about not smoking. Think about the non-smokers we know of: Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin; and many others besides.

I am not suggesting that smoking tobacco makes one a nice person. Obviously it doesn't. But it is interesting to note that some of the worst people who have ever lived have been not only non-smokers, but also militantly anti-smoking. Just some food for thought.

Anyway, enjoy the article. Such articles are a rare find today. © Mark Aleander

Holy Smoke

Quand fumer devient sacré. / Wenn das Rauchen heilig wird.
Many thanks to Yahoo News on Pinterest for this delightful photo.

Smoking Cigarettes : The bête noire of Our Day

Image: Pinterest
The West has gone stark staring mad!
Western politicians make me so angry! They have been waging a war on smokers for years now. They have made it virtually impossible to smoke anywhere outside of one’s home, thus taking away all pleasure of socializing with others in cafés, restaurants, or in any other public space. This, by the way, has led to loneliness in society.

But more than this, they are pricing smokers out of the market. In the UK, the price of a packet of Marlboro Reds is £12.50! Moreover, I have been informed that the price of such a packet will soon increase yet again!

Of that £12.50, probably £12 of that price is tax! So taxing cigarettes so much is a good money-spinner for governments. This is shameless taxation, just as the use of speeding fines is. UK roads are peppered with speed cameras. Another great money-spinner for successive governments. But I digress.

I am fortunate inasmuch as I can do without smokes. In fact, I have gone a week without smoking even one cigarette. Being without is not a problem for me. I have decided that I am not going to fill the coffers of this dreadful government with any more tax than I absolutely must. But I must say that I do resent doing without a small pleasure because our governments are totally and utterly irresponsible re- smoking.

Why do I say this? For a number of reasons… First of all, I do not think that smoking in moderation is particularly harmful. People who have given up smoking look for other pleasures in life, pleasures like sweet foods, which lead to diabetes. I am diabetes-free, and I attribute that fact to being a moderate smoker for most of my adult life.

You see, not smoking is only better than smoking if people do not substitute one ‘bad habit’ with another. But only the few can do that. Most people, when they give up smoking, start partaking of other things to replace the pleasure of smoking.

But what really annoys me about the pathetic Western politicians we are being led by is this: They are relaxing the laws against smoking other substances whilst at the very same time taking the pleasure of smoking a simple cigarette out of the reach of many hard-working people. Such politicians deserve to be voted out of office. Pronto!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Check this out: A ‘Wild West’ of Marijuana Shops Grows in Toronto: Permitted to operate during the pandemic, even during lockdowns, Toronto’s marijuana shops have flourished and changed the character of an iconic neighborhood. »

Smoke Fags, Save Lives

SP!KED: Scientists believe nicotine might protect against coronavirus.

There’s not much to laugh about these days, but the news that smokers might be protected from Covid-19 is certainly one of them. With study after study showing that smokers are under-represented in coronavirus wards, the renowned French neuroscientist, Jean-Pierre Changeux, is working on a randomised control trial to test the effect of nicotine patches on Covid-19 patients.

This is far from being a crackpot theory. Changeux has explained his hypothesis at length here. In simple terms, he says that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors play a key role in the development of the disease and that nicotine can put a brake on it. If he is right – and the banter heuristic says he is – it would not only save thousands of lives but would also be one in the eye for the ‘public health’ groups who have been claiming that smoking and vaping are risk factors for Covid-19. » | Christopher Snowden | Thursday, April 23, 2020

Obama's Smoking Struggle

THE GURADIAN: Obama photo ignites rumors that the president has rekindled smoking habit: The photo appears to show the president holding a packet of cigarettes during last weekend’s G7 summit. Unless it’s gum. But who steps outside to chew gum? » | Tom McCarthy in New York | Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Islamic State Bans Skinny Jeans and Smoking

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Jihadists threaten to jail any young man in Raqqa wearing skinny jeans, smoking or keeping music on their mobiles

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa have threatened to jail any young man wearing skinny jeans, smoking or keep[ing] music on his mobile phone.

Residents found in breach of the new restrictions will face at least ten days inside the province's jihadist-run jails, according to anti-Isil activists in the area.

Only those who pass a prison-based 'Islamic course' will be allowed to leave at the end of their initial sentence.

Home to hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Raqqa is known as the "capital" of the jihadist's embryonic Islamic State. Male and female morality brigades patrol the provincial capital on a regular basis, and residents believed to be gay, or to have had sex outside of marriage, face brutal executions justified by obscure [?] Islamic teachings.

The new penalties for practices deemed un-Islamic reveal the extremists tightening their grip over the social mores of millions of Syrians living under its rule. » | Louisa Loveluck in Cairo | Saturday, April 04, 2015

They Can’t Stop Keeping On, Can They? Smokefree Zones Trialled In Bristol

BT: Two city squares will become Britain's first major public outdoor spaces to go smokefree when a voluntary pilot launches today.

Two city squares will become Britain's first major public outdoor spaces to go smokefree when a voluntary pilot launches today.

The initiative will come into effect in Millennium Square and Anchor Square - both popular with families - on Bristol's harbourside.

It follows a major report last year by former health minister Lord Darzi which suggested that London and other UK cities should ban smoking in public spaces and parks.

Cities including New York, Toronto and Hong Kong have already banned smoking in key outdoor locations but Bristol is the UK's first to pilot smokefree zones. » | Press Association | Monday, February 02, 2015

China Considers Nationwide Ban on Smoking in Public

THE GUARDIAN: Rulers of country that is home to more than 300 million smokers mull ban that could be implemented within a year

China's leaders are considering a nationwide smoking ban in public, a leading health official said on Wednesday, as the country's tobacco-related health and economic costs continue to mount.

Yang Jie, deputy director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's Office of Tobacco Control, said China's cabinet was mulling over a regulation that would ban smoking in public places nationwide. "Optimistically," he said, it could be implemented within a year.

"If you look at the general development of legislation, I don't think there are a lot of problems," he said at a briefing about the health costs of tobacco use in China. "What is most troubling is how to enforce the law effectively."

China is home to more than 300 million smokers – a third of the global total – and produces nearly half of the world's cigarettes, according to official statistics.

Smoking-related diseases cause more than a million deaths in the country a year, and experts expect the number to nearly triple by 2030. Smoking is deeply ingrained in the country's business culture; cigarettes are doled out as a token of respect and given as gifts on formal occasions, especially outside of major cities, where there is no social stigma against smoking anywhere, at any time. » | Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing | Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Tasmania Considers Cigarette Ban for Anyone Born after 2000
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Australian state of Tasmania is considering a ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after the year 2000 in an attempt to create a smoking-free generation.

A week after Australia upheld its world-first laws plain packaging laws, Tasmania's upper house unanimously passed a motion to introduce the ban from 2018.

The measure was proposed by Ivan Dean, a Tasmanian independent MP, who said the ban would be easy to enforce because the state already has restrictions on sales of cigarettes to minors. It would be the world's first such age-based ban and is also reportedly being considered in Singapore and Finland.

Mr Dean, a former police officer and mayor, said the ban would prevent young people "from buying a product that they can't already buy" but would not affect adult smokers. "This would mean that we would have a generation of people not exposed to tobacco products," he said.

"It would be easier for retailers to enforce because when they ask for ID, all they would need to see if the person was born after the year 2000 ... As the generation reaches 18 years, there will be fewer of them smoking and while some of those first turning 18 might smoke, as time goes on fewer and fewer will."

The state government, which will now consider whether to back the proposal in the lower house, indicated support for the ban.

"Saying that those people who sell cigarettes legally cannot sell cigarettes to a certain age is appropriate," said Michelle O'Byrne, the state's health minister. "We do it now. What the smoke-free generation would say is that, potentially, anyone from the year 2000 would not be able to buy cigarettes ever, because every year, it would just get that little bit older." » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Tobacco Companies Blitz Airwaves to Block California Tax on Cigarettes
THE GUARDIAN: Two-thirds of California voters backed the $1 extra tax, but two months later, the margin is narrowing in run up to Tuesday's vote

An advertising blitz funded by tobacco companies has eroded Californians' support for a ballot measure to raise taxes on cigarettes, putting the vote's outcome in doubt.

Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds have flooded airwaves with warnings that the proposed $1 tax on cigarette packs is a flawed idea which would bloat government bureaucracy and funnel money out of the state.

The energetic $47.7m campaign – more than triple the yes campaign – has been fronted by anti-tax activists and dramatically reduced support for Proposition 29, a June 5 ballot measure backed by anti-cancer groups.

"We are still ahead but it's very close. Big tobacco has a bottomless budget to tell lies," said David Veneziano, head of the American Cancer Society's California chapter. "They are trying to protect their profits."

Two months ago about two-thirds of voters backed the measure but that has tumbled to just over half, according to a Public Policy Institute of California survey. "Today, 53% say they will vote yes, 42% say they will vote no, and 5% are undecided on the measure." » | Rory Carroll in Los Angeles | Monday, June 04, 2012