@ — Wednesday, June 12, 1891 - North Shore News Smoke from both sides of the tobacco debate THE MOST amazing thing about the anti-smoking lobby is its suceess — especially when you consider we are talking about a band of pushy, sanctimonious fanatics who are doing the right thing, but doing it with scornful indif- ference to the suffering (or rights) of those they purport to Save. While any degree of triumph over the merchants of lung cancer and emphysema is wonderful, there are — it has to be said — proto-fascist tendencies inherent in any crusade, and the anti-nicotine offensive is hardly any exception. I say this as a guy who has quit many times and has therefore been on both sides of the bar- ricades. When I am in my non-smoking mode (like now), I tend to be thankful for rules and regulations that drive smokers out of my vicinity. I would rather they were out in the rain or snow, getting pneumonia, than puffing away at the next desk. It’s not so much the secondary smoke that bothers me. It’s the temptation. Seeing someone else smoking, at least for the first few months (years!) off cigarettes, is enough to make a reformed smoker salivate. You actually twist on the withdrawal cross. It is a thoroughly unpleasant experience, this lusting after a cigarette. It makes you weak in- side. It makes you angry. It ups your stress level. All of which makes the urge for a smoke that much stronger. And harder to resist. In the struggle to free oneself from the great legal killer drug, one quickly discovers that there are people who are helpful, but there are plenty of others who are not helpful at all. Frequently, these are the ones who claim to be helping. I personally find ‘‘superior’’ non-smoking people to be low- level, pettily-officious power-trip- pers. By that, I mean people who make much of their small authori- ty. Clerks at ticket booths can be like that. They’ve only got you for a moment, but for that moment you are completely in their hands. Quality Menswear Evens | CAPILANO MALL LOCATION ONLY! PRICES EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! Bob Hunter STRICTLY PERSONAL Whether one smokes or not, it is easy to see that non-smokers — the reformed evangelical types, in particular — actually derive pleasure from putting down smokers. All a person has done is quit a dull little weed addiction and sud- denly he or she is pure and fully- awakened. A kind of Calvinist madness comes over them. The Light shining upon them is the Light that shines on the righteous only. A nimbus replaces the haze of the smoke around their heads. The war of the sexes having ended in a draw, it is the war be- tween smokers and non-smokers that dominates the workplace and homestead alike these days. In some ways, this is good news. I think it does wonders for a person’s self-esteem to feel persecuted. Thanks to Draconian anti-smoking regulations, think of all the older white Canadian males who find themselves discriminated against for the first time in their fives! (Or at least for the first time since the peak years of the feminist wave.) Don’t let them kid you. They love it. It’s the best thing since Scouts. Smokers nowadays form instant tight-knit groups. It didn’t used to be that way. If someone asked to bum a smoke, you just flipped one his way without thinking about it. Today, the simple act of han- ding someone a cigarette, or ac- cepting one, is a rite of passage. It is a signal. A secret code-sign. In much the same way that pot-smokers used to huddle together off to one side at parties, nicotine junkies gather now in clusters out on patios or on the porch with their backs to the others, talking in their own drug subcuit language, or ‘‘argot,’’ as sociologists like to call it. Mainly they grumble about creeping fascism, or about how the American system (where smokes still cost barely more than a buck) is better, and how we might as well join up with the States, like Mulroney wants, and get it over with. Smoking has gone from being a very minor factor in any relation- ship, since nearly everybody smoked anyway, to being one of the key modern components, along with have-you-got-AIDS and do-you-eat-meat. It is fascinating how any at- tempts by government to legislate or outlaw anything ultimately has the opposite effect. During the early stages of the anti-smoking campaign, smokers felt guilty and filthy. They basically went along with the rap that they were inferior creatures, utterly lacking the moral fibre of their more highly evolved non- smoking brothers and sisters. But overkill has set in. Having surpassed the point of absurdity in the relation between cost of pro- duction and cost of purchase, the common cigarette package has acquired new prestige. It’s almost a statement about status: Hey, I can actually afford to smoke! Stay tuned. REMEMBER FATHER’S DAY — JUNE 16th SUITS from: Reg. to $450.00 SPRING JACKETS B from: a Reg. ta i $60.00 American Express 2 | Q” fom SWEATERS sQ Q° kom Reg. to $70.00 DRESS PANTS Reg. ta $65.00 Personal Cheques NO DEALERS PLEASE! a CAPILAN O MALL LOCATION | JACK FI 980-4349 [* E-ROOFING 21 piQ CALL CONSOLIDATED ROOFING SERVICES FREE ESTIMATES - PROMPT, COURTEOUS SERVICE © Re-Roofing cnd New Roofing © Genero! Roof Repoir © Cedar Shakes and Shingles © Asphalt Shingles 980-0677, Disting uished Outvzen Awards To mark the District of North Vancouver’s 100th Birthday, the Centennial Committee is pleased to invite the nomination of District Residents, who have distinguished themselves in a particular field of endeavour, for recognition as Distinguished Citizens. Ms. Kay Staley Centennial Coordinator District Municipal Hall 355 West Queens Road North Vancouver, B.C. For nomination forms or further information please contact: Tet: 987-7131 THE DISTRICT OF NORTH VANCOUVER CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE DEADLINE: JUNE 30,1991 SPORTSCOAT SHORTSLEEVED | ; $99 | or $999 Reg. to $230.00 Reg. to $28.00 CASUAL POLO-STYLE T- SHIRTS fom $Q99 Reg. to $24.00 A ; ¢ ‘SE RK ay NY Nes all styles WWW, * available in all sizes but we will do our best to please you. Shop early for best selection!! N WAY wv YS