Norwegian sociologist Karl Erik Lund was banned from a conference on e-cigarettes because…..er, for no good reason
Early in November, a website called Tobacco Tactics, which calls itself “the essential source for rigorous research on the tobacco industry,” posted information about a small organization called the International Association on Smoking Control and Harm Reduction, or SCOHRE.
Based at the University of Bath in England, Tobacco Tactics is funded by, among others, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the philanthropic vehicle of billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg, by his own account, leads a global campaign against the tobacco industry and all its products, including safer nicotine products.
Tobacco Tactics’ 1,000-word description of SCOHRE is a model of innuendo and guilt by association. The founders of SCHORE, including a Norwegian tobacco control expert named Karl Erik Lund, stood accused of having “tobacco industry links” as well as “connections” to the Foundation for A Smoke Free World, which is funded by Philip Morris International.
For Lund, the repercussions were swift. On November 26, the organizers of a conference on e-cigarettes run by the national French Cancer Research Institute, known as INCa, removed Lund from his position as co-chair of the conference’s scientific committee. They canceled his talk at the event, which he had helped organize, and banned him from attending.
Marc Gunther – Medium – 2022-12-06.