Timeless

A timeless Twitter thread from Bhattacharya.

Once upon a time, I thought it reasonable for public health to expect not to be contradicted. You know, *smoking is bad for you” and the like. But that idea was based on public health telling the truth about science. Post covid era, my trust they will do that is gone.

Several commenters make a rational point about smoking, a point I’ve been hitting for a long time. Yes, it’s bad, but not nearly as bad as some of the alternatives. Alcohol kills much faster than tobacco. The newer synthetic drugs, from Fentanyl to “microdose” LSD, are vastly worse in many ways. The worst drug of all is Public Health and its social media propaganda.

The older official approach to smoking was closer to reality. Everyone knew it was harmful. Nobody was fooled by commercials. But everyone also knew that tobacco keeps you sane, especially when you’re trapped in a crazy environment like a prison or an asylum or a country ruled by Public Health.

The serious prohibitions started, by no coincidence at all, under the Bush family regime, the same regime that accelerated into 9/11 and 2020.