Hi all!
The conference was a great success! I was actually surprised at the amount of people who trekked all the way to Moscow to participate. Had one bloke from Jakarta, another from Chile, others from Europe. The confernece dealt with both cigarette and cigar smokers' rights, however, the whole occasion was organized by the Russian Cigar Union, and it seemed the majority of participants were cigar lovers. Unfortunately, due to work, I had to duck out for a few hours, so missed some of the speeches, but here's the memorandum which we all agreed on:
We, the participants of the First International Conference on Smokers’ Rights, have met in Moscow to share experiences and look for solutions how to achieve public consensus on the issue of tobacco smoking, and find effective ways to have our voice heard on a global level.
We observe many countries adhering to the balanced approach to tobacco regulation, equally respecting smokers’ and non-smokers’ rights, while others take very radical steps to exterminate smoking and to turn adult smokers into social outcasts. Strange as it may seem, the former often enjoy lower smoking incidence than the latter.
We believe that modern society cannot be divided into first-class and second-class citizens, so public consensus must be based on a mutual respect. The rights of one person should not violate other people's rights. We note that tobacco smoking is a legitimate
and conscious choice of millions of adults worldwide, and considered by many as an integral part of national economies and historical heritage.
We are deeply concerned by the raising efforts to stigmatize and discriminate people who have consciously chosen tobacco as a part of their everyday life, fully aware of its positive and negative aspects. We believe that adult smokers deserve appropriate tobacco smoking conditions that do not appear derogatory or pose additional health risks, but effectively protect non-smokers from tobacco smoke.
We cannot accept that tobacco consumers are deprived of their right to be informed about the product they buy, because tobacco products are legitimate all over the world. At the same time we recognize, that non-smokers and adolescents must be protected from any kind of tobacco advertising.
We urge all governments of the world to find the right balance on tobacco-related issues, taking into account the diversity of opinions, customs, behavioral norms, and not to ignore the interests of both smokers and non-smokers. Prohibitions and sanctions raise protest, while cooperation opens the way to public consensus and joint efforts in solving important societal issues.