I nearly missed this nauseating charade when it appeared a couple of weeks ago, but unfortunately I have now witnessed it. In the Australian super-nanny state, two 'advocates'—including ASH UK's one-time director Mike Daube—have had a phony debate about what to do next now that plain packaging is on its way. The answer of "nothing, leave people alone" is not on the table, naturally.
Some dreadful bioethicist is calling for all-out prohibition while ranting about how people who smoke outdoors are engaging in "biological terrorism".
Meanwhile, Mike Daube takes the role of good cop by "only" calling for smokers be licensed, cigarettes be manipulated, tobacconists be closed down, smoking banned everywhere outside the home and other jackboot policies. Presumably, he hopes this will make him look like a moderate—and I guess that's the point of this quasi-debate.
I would fisk it all but I can't bear to read either of them twice and would rather pretend that such people didn't exist. Fittingly enough, Nannying Tyrants has taken on the Daube article and you can read my article about the Australian prohibition apologists here.
