See for yourself: The spiked PSA

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This video (QuickTime, 3.2 Mb) is a anti-smoking public service announcement that aired in California until it was pulled by governor Pete Wilson.

In the May/June issue, Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Klein writes:

Dr. [David] Kessler’s imminent ruling that nicotine is a drug will up the ante for tobacco. The industry is already gearing up its disinformation campaign to label opponents un-American health nazis who want “big government” to curtail natural freedoms. But we’re not calling for prohibition. Adults have a choice whether to smoke. Yet even most adult smokers want curbs on tobacco marketing so that it won’t hook a new generation.

The tobacco industry knows which curbs work and which don’t. The most effective anti-smoking campaigns expose Big Tobacco’s cynical manipulation of a public it deems gullible. Such ads had a considerable effect in California until they were yanked from the airwaves by one of tobacco’s stealth allies, Gov. Pete Wilson. He and the industry prefer finger-wagging ads that encourage adults to call an 800 number if they see youngsters buying cigarettes. The first type of campaign tells kids they’re suckers if they light up; the second subtly encourages them to rebel.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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