In a move to protect the privacy of individuals and shield children from sexually explicit content, the United Kingdom wants to introduce a rule that requires adult users to buy so-called “porn passes” in stores, in order to verify their age online. While not necessarily being a restriction on people’s choices, the move is a […]
In my role of Policy Analyst for the Consumer Choice Center, I produced a video about mandatory plain packaging of tobacco products in the United Kingdom. Find out more below!
The European Union does everything it can to reduce the number of smokers in its member states. What appears to be a laudable goal, has turned into a fact-free obsession in recent years. In fact, member states and EU regulations have made the market less transparent for the consumer, and have made harm-reducing products less […]
In 1990, after a recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UK banned snus, a moist, smokeless tobacco product. Popular in Scandinavia, snus (Swedish for ‘snuff’) is sold in little prepackaged white pouches, which are commonly put underneath the upper lip. Unlike dry snuff or dipping tobacco, you don’t need to spit it out. […]
There are moments in life in which your expectations meet reality. The “Legal but Lethal” event, held on April 23 in Brussels, happened to be such an occasion. Organised by the WEMOS Foundation the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), this conference illustrated was a magnificent illustration of the dogmatic nature […]
Richtlinien zur Bekämpfung des Alkoholkonsums haben sich im letzten Jahrzehnt aggressiv vervielfacht. “Schützer der allgemeinen Gesundheit” sagen uns ständig, dass wir einfach nicht genug tun, um den hohen Alkoholkonsum in der Gesellschaft zu reduzieren.
Les politiques visant à lutter contre la consommation d’alcool se sont multipliées de manière agressive au cours de la dernière décennie. Les lobbyistes de la santé publique nous disent continuellement que nous n’en faisons tout simplement pas assez pour réduire la consommation d’alcool dans tous les secteurs. En conséquence, les politiciens ont procédé de la […]
The Scotch Enlightenment is a podcast which I produce together with Daniel Fallenstein, for the Freedom Today Network. In our second episode of The Scotch Enlightenment, Jeffrey Tucker (@jeffreyatucker) joins us for almost an hour full of society, economics and technology.
In the fight for the ideas of individual liberty and limited government, we often, and rightfully, argue about legislation. But while we go back and forth on the initiation or the repeal of laws and the regulations that surround them, we tend to forget to think about their enforcement. You could, arguably, have the most […]
Policies intended to crack down on alcohol usage have aggressively multiplied over the past decade. Public-health lobbyists continuously tell us we are simply not doing enough to reduce drinking across the board. As a consequence, politicians have been doing exactly that: they tax and regulate our favourite drinks, with little interest for the unintended consequences.
Bill Wirtz 