King James I Quotes
A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.
Describing the smoking of tobacco
James I, 1566-1625, King of Great Britain & Scotland, A Counterblast to Tobacco, 1604
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The deaths and health problems caused by smoking exist the world over. In Islam the religion is overriding into all facets of society and life. Whereas this lack of separation of church and state presents many difficulties, this quotation demonstrates one positive aspect if the ability of Islam to improve the quality of life. Smoking cessation and avoidance becomes a religious obligation—not just a sensible thing to do to preserve health.
This is a classic example of the interaction between legislation, health and science. In 1931 the State of Michigan passed a law to protect the public health. It was written to ensure that there would not be unhealthy or dangerous substances added to cigarettes or the tobacco in cigarettes. No “ingredient deleterious to health” could be put in a cigarette. However, although it was not generally known at the time, there are few substances known to man that are as “deleterious to health” as the tobacco itself. The law protected public health, but the enforcement did not concentrate on the right ingredients.
The World Health Organization, a component of the United Nations, advocated national restrictive legislation to control and eliminate smoking. The smoking addict, hooked on nicotine was caught between public health efforts to regulate and eliminate tobacco and the efforts to treat the addicts and respect the individual’s right to freedom of choice.
TV commercial made just before his death—and broadcast after his death—from lung cancer caused by smoking.
The President smoked cigars but never in public:
In Japan it was illegal to manufacture and sell cigarettes except for the government which maintains the cigarette monopoly and reaps $18 billion annually as a result. This label was all the government could bring itself to use. Japanese health authorities saw it as a type of victory since prior to this there was no warning whatsoever.
James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union.
