Fumiphobia

Fumiphobia n. (alt. capnophobia): Intense fear and/or hatred of smoking, primarily from cigarettes, cigars and/or pipes. The fear that smoke is polluting the air, while questionably rational, can be caused by non-tobacco smoke (e.g., vehicular exhaust, bonfire smoke, marijuana smoke, etc.).

The definition is my own variant. I’ve got ShelbySugarShock to thank for turning me on to these terms in the first place. When I came across her “Capnophobia” photo on deviantART, I found that she’d even included the definition that’s been circulating on anti-smoking sites.

A History of Blood and Smoke: The anti-tobacco movement makes a lot of money. They’ve cost thousands of lives over the centuries… and their war has cost science its integrity and they have economically crippled empires. For more on the movement, check Wikipedia.

In Germany, Hitler funded one-twelfth of his war machine using tobacco taxation, banning its use on any government property and rationing smokes to soldiers (after the ban didn’t work).

In the Ottoman Empire, tobacco was banned alongside alcohol and coffee. The Sultan personally executed any offenders. His weapon of choice was a mace. Centuries later, smokers would name a brand of cigarettes after him—“Murad”.

In Russia, the patriarch “forbade the sale of tobacco and sentenced men and women who flouted the ban to have their nostrils slit and their backs whipped until skin came off their backs”.

In China, tobacco consumption was considered “a more heinous crime than that even of neglecting archery”.

The Catholic Church threatened excommunication for anyone who “took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose.”

In modern America (the new Reich), wars are at an all time high… matching U.S. tobacco taxation. There is no longer a minimum age, as the prohibition on cloves, bidis and flavored cigarettes created black markets for those varieties.

In academia, if a scientist produces any tobacco-findings that are positive, they are attacked on a personal level instead of scientifically rebutted.

Wherever tobacco is banned (or where taxation has been too heavily levied), black markets form to supply tobacco… bringing with them gangs, weaponry and every other sort of crime. Also, the black market doesn’t ask to see anyone’s IDs, subverting any attempt to restrict an age limit on tobacco.

…and this is the short list. The modern anti-smoking movements is nothing new. This socially acceptable form of racism and injustice has been practiced for centuries. History repeats itself.

We are smokers. We are one in six living humans on this planet. For centuries we’ve been persecuted. Yet, despite the efforts of institutions, governments and religions… we thrive! After hundreds of years, it is apparent that the anti-tobacco movement is more dangerous to our health and to the health of the planet than the tobacco itself. Sadly for these tyrants, we smokers have a tendency for defiance… ‘n we just so happen to be “cool” and have less sexual inhibitions. Needless to say, more smokers are born every day. What sets us apart is our unity as we bum each other smokes and huddle together for warmth… or over a cup of coffee. We stand in defiance against those who abuse our rights and the rights of others. We burn as one!

Photo Credit: Photo © ShelbySugarShock, re-presented with permission.Lil’Shelby Baby is movin’ her gallery to MySpace. Click here to visit her profile.