Jump to full article: FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), 2006-04-13
Author: Updated * October 2006
Intro: g Tobacco.
When was it founded?
It was launched in 1979 by a former Battle of Britain fighter pilot (and pipe smoker) Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris who died in 2004. Legend has it that he was standing on the platform at Reading station in Berkshire, puffing on his pipe, when an old biddy walked up and demanded that he put it out. He was so annoyed that he decided to get a few like-minded individuals together and launch a campaign to defend smokers' rights. The rest, as they say, is history. . . .
Who funds you?
Most of our money is donated by tobacco companies.
A smaller sum comes from Friends of FOREST (ordinary smokers and the occasional wealthy benefactor). Contributions from the latter are increasingly important because funds have become increasingly tight in recent years as companies such as Philip Morris decided that placating government is more important than defending the hard-pressed consumer.
OK, but aren't you still just a mouthpiece for the tobacco industry?
Not at all. We speak our mind as we see fit and we guard our independence jealously - whatever the cost. In 2001, for example, our decision to pursue a successful campaign against Customs and Excise (see Cross-Channel Shopping) cost us dearly when the tobacco company Gallaher decided that because of our work in this area it would withdraw funding. C'est la vie. We represent smokers (who want to smoke) and tolerant non-smokers, not the tobacco industry. . . .
Now that Scotland has banned smoking in enclosed public places and England, Wales and Northern Ireland are about to follow suit, what future is there for FOREST?
Good question. We may have lost this battle but we don't intend to go away. We will never give up arguing that people should be allowed to smoke in some indoor public places (it's called freedom of choice) but the reality is that the debate is moving on. Already some people are calling for a ban on outdoor smoking and there is a deliberate, publicly-funded campaign to "denormalise" smoking. This can only lead to further discrimination against people who smoke and our role is to combat those who want to promote intolerance and illiberal policies designed to target a substantial minority of the population.
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