世界各国政府应该开展严重的禁烟运动

If you smoke and you still don’t believe that there’s a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking. This needn’t make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures. In Britain, for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way to smoky, cancerous death.

如果你是一名吸烟者，并且还不相信吸烟和气管炎、心脏病、肺癌有着确切的联系，那么你一定是在欺骗自己。没有人会为此指责你的虚伪。我想告诉你的是你正在痴心妄想。这并不会让你觉得不舒服，因为你有很好的合作伙伴。每当提起吸烟与健康的话题，大多数国家的政府都会对此充耳不闻、视而不见。诚然，有些国家政府已经采取了较胆怯的举措。例如，在英国，烟草广告禁止在电视上出现。国家的良心得到了安抚，然而因为吸烟而造成的癌症死亡率持续上升。

You don’t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is wonderful commodity to tax. It’s almost like a tax on our daily bread. In tax revenue alone, the government of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking may, conceivably, be harmful, it doesn’t do to shout too loudly about it.

政府对医学研究的发现一直以来都很冷淡，无需深究其原因，答案非常简单，就是因为钱。烟草是一项非常棒的商品税，如同我们每天食用的面包的税收一样。仅仅凭借烟草税收收入，英国政府足以为所有的教育设施买单。因此，虽然权威结构非常小心翼翼地指出吸烟有害健康，也对此表示非常确信，但却从未大声宣告。

This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could imagine. While money is eagerly collected in vast sums with on hand, it is paid out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering from the disease. Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt that everybody would be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.

理所当然，这是你能想象到的最没有远见的一项政策。虽然急切地捞钱，但是大笔的钱却越来越多的花在别的方面。大笔的钱都用于治疗吸烟引起的疾病上以及癌症研究上。因为吸烟，失去了无数珍贵的生命。从长远来看，如果能够禁止吸烟，人们的生活会更加富裕。

Of course, we are not ready for such drastic action. But if the governments of the world were honestly concerned about the welfare of their peoples, you’d think they’d conduct aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spend staggering sums on advertising. Its advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are never shown pictures of real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would never do. The advertisements always depict virile, clean-shaven young men. They suggest it is manly to smoke, even positively healthy! Smoking is associated with the great open-air life, with beautiful girls, true love and togetherness, what utter nonsense!

当然，我们不准备做如此激烈的行动。但是，但凡各国政府诚实地考虑到人民的幸福，你便会认为他们会开展激进的禁烟运动。事实却远非如此！烟草行业可以在广告上花费惊人的数目，他们的广告跟行业本身一样的虚伪、阴险。我们从没见过一个真实的烟民清晨不停咳嗽的画面，他们也永远不会这么展示给我们看。广告里所展示的往往是一个阳刚的、胡子也刮得很干净的年轻人。这暗示了吸烟会让你看起来更男人，也是有益健康的！吸烟往往和室外生活、美女、真爱和相聚一起刻画，简直是胡扯！

For a start, governments could begin by banning all cigarette and tobacco advertising and should then conduct anti-smoking advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should be banned in all public places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be made to inform young people especially of dire consequences of taking up the habit. A horrific in every packet of cigarettes that is sold. As individuals we are certainly weak, but if governments acted honestly and courageously, they could protect us from ourselves.

起初，各国政府可以先禁止有关香烟和烟草的所有广告，然后再开展禁烟的广告运动。所有公共场合，如剧院、电影院和酒店都要禁止吸烟。要不遗余力地告诫青年人，尤其要告诫他们染上这一恶习的后果。每包香烟上都贴上可怕后果的提醒。作为个人，我们的力量确实很薄弱，但是如果政府能够诚实勇敢地行动起来，他们能够保护我们不受伤害。