Health campaign: Regulation rather than costly litigation targeting the tobacco industry is the best way forward,according to one of the world's best-known anti-smoking campaigners.
"Health departments certainly have incremental costs as a result of tobacco companies," said Dr Jeffrey Wigand speaking in Dublin yesterday. "But I would rather see regulation than litigation. Look at the States - they will keep litigating until the government wakes up."
"They have no financial sense - we could fund another war with the money saved," he said.
Wigand notoriously exposed corporate deceit and wrongdoing in the tobacco industry in the late 1980s in spite of threats to his career and the personal lives of those around him.
After being employed by tobacco giants Brown & Williamson as vice-president of research and development, he became a key witness for continual litigation, and gained worldwide recognition through the film, The Insider, which was based on his life.
He has been a campaigner against the industry ever since and believes young people understand the moralities as well as the health questions surrounding tobacco. "The tobacco companies knew back in the 40s and 50s that smoking kills. They created controversy and conspired to commit fraud. Children now understand that this is morally wrong and accept the science behind this fact."
Wigand sees education of the young as a key strategy towards a smoke-free world. He spent yesterday morning in City West, Co Dublin, with 300 young students, averaging 12 years of age, reflecting on the dangers of cigarettes and the smoking ban which was a year old last Wednesday. "The kids are amazing. They have a fine understanding of the issues, [ they] recognize that smoking kills."
Only 12 of the participants smoked, a fact Wigand feels speaks for itself. He was also in Ireland to help launch the book, Clearing The Air - the battle over the Smoking Ban by Noel Gilmore, for which he has written an introduction - proceeds from sales of the book go to the Irish Cancer Society.