Denormalization refers to efforts to force smokers to quit by branding them as a sub-human, nicotine addicted species, unworthy of common courtesy or consideration.

It started with smoking bans; first on commercial flights, then all forms of public transit. Bans, first implemented in public buildings, were then expanded to private establishments: bars, restaurants and private clubs. Now, bans have grown to include privately owned automobiles where minors might be present. And the zealots are now pushing (and, in some cases succeeding) to ban smoking in public parks and even in private homes.

The smoking bans were predicated on the contention that secondhand smoke was a health hazard rather than a mere nuisance to non-smokers. But the evidence was, and still is, flimsy, at best.

But, the real reason for the smoking bans is to force smokers into social isolation. In a blatant attempt at behavioural modification. The anti-smoker cult reasons that, if they can reduce the number of places a smoker can light up, they can reduce the number of people smoking. Cultists, you must understand, hate smoking, and by extension, they hate smokers.

The campaign of denormalization is intended to stigmatize smokers, by making them appear, in the eyes of the public, as abnormal individuals engaged in a filthy habit that is injurious to both themselves and those around them.

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